Targeted blended learning through competency assessment in an undergraduate information systems program

In this paper we report our study on the problem of competency acquisition when students progress from one course to another and more generally, from one term to the next. We observed that some students moved on to a second programming course without acquiring some of the competencies in the first programming course. This leads to problem in the second course, especially when these competencies are prerequisites for this course. We applied blended learning, which allows a student to learn at least in part through delivery of content and instruction via online media, to overcome this problem. Our approach is unique in the sense that we first assess student competencies and then develop targeted blended learning content to address competencies that have not been acquired in a pre-requisite course. We have applied the method to students doing the first year BSc Information Systems program.