Abstract
This research aims to explore the experiences of TVET Electrical Engineering students with blended learning during the COVID-19 pandemic at the Mdantsane campus of a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College in the Eastern Cape.
The study adopts the view that education needs to be reframed as a moral enterprise and employs the human capabilities approach espoused by Nussbaum (2002) to frame the research into the conditions, voices, and experiences of students with the shift to blended learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. It employs two capabilities from Nussbaum's capabilities list (2000), as well as an additional attribute, the personal characteristic factor, which was discovered to be critical in investigating the conditions and blended experiences of Electrical Engineering students. Through a qualitative inquiry involving a sample of 30 National Certificate Vocational (NCV) Electrical Engineering (EE) students from a group of 90 students, a survey was conducted with all 30 and 10 EE students were interviewed about their respective contexts, experiences, and challenges with participating in the sudden shift towards blended learning (BL), in an attempt to surface student voices on institutional shifts towards BL.
The study found that during the level three lockdown period, EE students were not fully aware of the benefits of BL because the concept was new to them. All 30 students were disadvantaged by their personal characteristics. They were also influenced by the national situation related to the inability of the National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), to provide laptops to all TVET students as announced by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). With reference to the capability approach related to bodily health, students highlighted their experience with various episodes of mental health issues such as fatigue, anxiety, and depression during the hard lockdown period as reported by the 10 students during the interview. Students also related to the capabilities on emotions by articulating their experience of isolation and being trapped without movement or contact which caused anxiety about the unknown. The study concludes that contextual and internal factors influence student experiences which are critical considerations when designing relevant blended programs under pandemic conditions. The study recommends expanding the study beyond the Mdantsane campus to gain a broader understanding of the student experiences in the BL process.