Blended Learning and Academic Training: an Experiment in the University of Bari

This paper aims to discuss the formative effectiveness of blended learning in university education by reporting some of the results obtained as part of the research "Quality and Accessibility of University Education. Learning Analytics for Prototyping a Blended Learning Model." The project takes as its main purpose the prototyping of blended learning models in university education through the testing of pilot courses in blended mode pertaining to different disciplinary and departmental areas of the University of Bari. In addition, the project, launched in the academic year 2022-2023, is funded under the University of Bari's broader university program called Horizon Europe Seeds. The experiment was implemented by employing the systemic methodology of Design-Based Research. It is based on iterative analysis following a 4-step scheme: design, implementation, analysis, redesign. Successful implementation of blended learning pathways, in fact, requires careful instructional planning and consideration of multidimensional factors and imposes a professional development effort on teachers. The implementation phase involved designing the pilot courses within a structured online learning environment, such as the Learning Management System Moodle, a web-based e-learning platform designed based on the pedagogical principles of socio-constructivism. The analysis phase, on the other hand, involves the study and interpretation of data on student learning through Learning Analytics techniques and data on teachers' needs, perceptions, opinions, and competencies through statistical analysis techniques. As such, this paper aims to present the research design and report the data and analysis obtained from the administration of a questionnaire to teachers participating in the experiment. The questionnaire investigated teachers' perceptions and opinions as a result of the experiment. Specifically, the dimensions investigated concern the training value perceived by the teachers in conducting the courses in blended mode, the level of professional development achieved by them, from an educational and digital point of view, in participating in the project. The health emergency experienced in recent years has pushed training systems toward a rapid digitization of pathways even in higher education. This push to assimilate into the digital age, however, requires a professional development plan that involves academia in rethinking, not only the modes of training delivery, but also the pedagogical and didactic assumptions in the organization and design of courses. In this sense, a model of blended learning appears to be a possible mode of training delivery and fruition that meets the needs of users and is able to promote active ap-learning, in which the student develops skills of autonomy and meta cognization, expendable in today's society, and has the opportunity to build a more situated concept and meet their training needs and flexibility of access to training. Hence the intent to guide a conscious redesign of training paths, with a view to improvement and in the perspective of delineating a model of blended learning in university education, extendable in different disciplinary areas and in different universities, also based on the principles of Instructional Design.