Influence of Blended Teaching Strategies on Teaching Effectiveness in Government Owned Polytechnics in Anambra State, Nigeria.

Abstract

Education is a fundamental pillar for national development, technological advancement and socio-economic transformations. Blended teaching has the potentials to revolutionize higher education by enhancing academic performance, improve student engagement especially polytechnics because of its role in producing technical skilled manpower required for industrial growth, entrepreneurial development and innovation driven economies. The motivation for the study emanated due to lingering issues and educational concerns bordering on declining academic performance, limited instructional innovation and inadequate integration of educational technologies experienced in government owned polytechnics in Anambra State, Nigeria. These challenges have therefore hindered the quality of education in these government owned polytechnics. The introduction of blended teaching has therefore changed the narrative because it is an advanced tool which has the capacity to improve students’ academic performance and engagement. Therefore, this research work investigated how teaching effectiveness could be enhanced in government owned polytechnics through blended teaching strategies. Specifically, the study examined how learning management system enhances accountability and transparency in administrative, academic and financial operations in tertiary institutions in southeastern, Nigeria. The study also investigated how AI driven automated grading systems fosters accountability and transparency in selected tertiary institutions in southeastern, Nigeria. Thirdly, the study also ascertained how artificial intelligence driven chatbots can enhance accountability and transparency in selected tertiary institutions in southeastern, Nigeria. Accordingly, the study adopted a descriptive research design using a survey method to source the needed data from the respondents. The target population of the study consist of the staff and management of the selected tertiary institutions in south eastern part of Nigeria. Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses formulated to guide the study at 5% level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that personalized learning, automated grading system and AI powered chatbots significantly and positively enhance accountability and transparency in higher institutions in southeastern, Nigeria. The study recommended that tertiary institutions should engage more on personalized learning platforms such as Goggle Classroom, Class54 etc. for tailored content to meet students’ academic needs. The study recommended that tertiary institutions in Nigeria should be more engaged on automated grading system systems such as Gradescope, Custom AI in order to reduce bias in assessment thereby promoting accountability through standardized auditable trail. The study also recommended that AI powdered chatbots should be deployed more in tertiary institutions in order to enhance accessibility and responsiveness in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The study suggests that further studies could be done on the effect of artificial intelligence on accountability and transparency in other areas such as deposit money banks, government parastatals, FINTECH Companies, Corporate organizations etc. The study is expected to offer both managerial and practical implications to various stakeholders such as technology developers, the management of tertiary institutions, Policymakers, students, academia, future researchers, government and even the general public.