Teachers' perceived roles and their constructivist engagement practices in blended learning environment courses in Tanzanian universities

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between teachers' perceived roles and their constructivist engagement practices in constructivist-based blended learning environment (BLE) courses in Tanzanian universities. The study used a mixed-methods research design with multiple data collection techniques to collect data from 261 teachers across ten selected universities. Step-by-step statistical analyses and content analysis were used. The results show that teachers' main perceived role is one of support, followed by leadership and design roles in constructivist-based BLE courses. The results also suggest that collaboration was a preferable mode of engagement to motivation or facilitation in terms of teachers' constructivist engagement practices in constructivist-based BLE courses. The findings further reveal that there is a statistically significant correlation between teachers' perceived roles and constructivist engagement practices in constructivist-based BLE courses. The results advance the knowledge base regarding teachers' perceived roles, teachers' constructivist engagement practices and constructivist-based blended learning. Furthermore, the results could be beneficial to higher education institutions (HEIs) attempting to implement constructivist-based BLE courses, demonstrating that the deployment and implementation of constructivist-based BLE courses in teacher education should align with teachers' perceived roles and their constructivist engagement practices.