Measuring the Effect of Blended Learning: Evidence from a Selective Liberal Arts College

We increased the amount of time spent in our introductory microeconomics courses on active-learning pedagogies like groupproblem solving and simulations. In order to make time for these activities, we employed a blended learning approach that shifted much of the basic content delivery of material outside of the class. In this paper we explore some of the effects of this shift, by asking whether the potential increase in higher-level learning outcomes brought about by the class activities were offset by reduced basic content knowledge without the in-class content delivery. To answer this question we employed a difference-in-differences approach comparing the preand posttest scores on the Test of Understanding in College Economics (TUCE; Walstad, Watts and Rebeck, 2007) across students in the blended and control sections. Students in the four blended sections of the course increased their TUCE scores by more than the students in the four control sections even after controlling for basic student demographic characteristics. This difference also persists after controlling for students’ self-reported measures of attitude regarding the examination process via the Student Opinion Survey (SOS; Sundre, 2007).