A thematic and grounded theory understanding of faculty adoption of blended learning in higher education

Abstract

This paper assesses the teaching and learning experiences of faculty understanding of blending learning in a Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Ghana. The driving force for this paper is the transformational agenda of most HEIs to integrate technology with teaching and learning. The study posits that the adoption of blended learning for teaching and learning by faculty members in HEIs interplay with external and internal factors within and without the universities. Nonetheless, blended learning approaches in teaching boils down to motivation as the core concern around which these afore mentioned factors revolve. The experiences of fifteen faculty members using blended learning at the Ghana Technology University College was analysed using Thematic Analysis and Grounded Theory to develop a BL model. The paper describes the faculty blended learning adoption model and explains the model constructs and their relationships. The study indicated that staff motivation is at the core of the emergent theory of faculty adoption and presents institutional readiness, faculty technology affinity, student disposition to adopt blended learning and pedagogy fitness as constructs within and without the blended learning environment which positively influences faculty to adopt blended learning for teaching and learning. � The Authors, 2019. All Rights Reserved.