Sloan-C Blended Learning Research Perspectives

In this 2003 paper, Stephen Laster of Babson College (now at Harvard Business School) shares their experience of using model-driven design in delivering blended programs.

Following is the introduction to the paper, read the attached for the remainder:

INTRODUCTION

Blended teaching and learning in an integrated curriculum creates opportunities for learning that are not
found in a traditional discipline-specific, pure classroom model. These opportunities include:

• the multi-dimensional analysis of complex issues and concepts
• the exploration of discipline domain problems from new vantage points
• the ability to collaborate with students and colleagues in a geographically and socially diverse
  community

However, developing blended, integrated experiences is complicated and can be expensive from both
work-hours and financial perspectives. For example, in an integrated experience, faculty need to spend
more time coordinating materials and exercises that support the desired outcomes than they would in a
more traditional stand-alone, discipline-specific classroom course. When this integrated model is delivered
in a blended format, the design team needs to coordinate delivery techniques in addition to integrating the
material. The result is a highly orchestrated teaching plan that rivals the design and development of any
complex system.

This paper explores Babson College’s experience designing, developing, and implementing blended and
integrated curricula for undergraduate, graduate, and executive business education. The paper examines the
process from a systems thinking approach and attempts to develop an effective, repeatable, practice:
model-driven design (MDD).

This paper also includes a brief history of Babson’s migration from discipline-based teaching to integrated
teaching. This migration serves as the foundation for Babson’s recent evolution to the blended delivery
model. A review of these transitions provides the necessary context for understanding the evolution to
model-driven design.

A note on language: While many definitions exist for integrated teaching, blended learning, and systems
thinking, for the purpose of this paper, we will use the following working definitions:

• Integrated teaching: Teaching complex concepts and skills from a multi-disciplinary
  perspective.
• Blended learning: Using a mix of technologies and educational activities in support of identified
  learning outcomes.
• Systems thinking: A mindset for understanding how things work. It is a perspective for going
  beyond events, to looking for patterns of behavior, and to seeking underlying systemic
  interrelationships which are responsible for the patterns of behavior and the events. [1]