Natural Sciences Education • Volume 46 • 2017 1 of 10 uNdErGraduatE EducatioN Blending Multimedia and Face-to-Face Teaching to Enhance Learning about the Forest Floor Darrell Hoffman,* Maja Krzic, Samson Nashon, and Margaret Schmidt abstract The forest floor is essential to functional, healthy forests. It is important for forestry professionals to understand, describe, and classify forest floors. We developed a Forest Floor educational resource, blending web-based multimedia and face-to-face teaching. The objectives of this study were to (1) develop blended-learning activities to teach forest floor description and classification and (2) assess student perceptions of the blended-learning method using exploratory factor analysis and group interviews. We used a Likert scale survey instrument to assess student perceptions of their learning, and investigated underlying factors through exploratory factor analysis of survey results and the manifestation of factors in focus group interviews. Five implicit factors were interpreted: (1) satisfaction with the Forest Floor resource as a learning enhancement; (2) response to presentation of concepts using a blended learning method; (3) student self-assessment of learning; (4) student learning preferences in accessing materials; and (5) website usability. Ninety-four percent of students agreed or strongly agreed that the Forest Floor resource was helpful for learning forest floor concepts, 79% that describing samples in class was essential for understanding the properties of organic horizons, and 81% that they were able to relate information in the Forest Floor resource to samples used in a face-to face activity, demonstrating that students tended to prefer learning information from videos and in collaboration with other students, and felt positive about their knowledge of the new material. D. Hoffman, Northern Forestry Centre, Carbon Accounting Team, 5320 122 Street, Edmonton, AB T6H 3S5, Canada; M. Krzic, Univ. of British Columbia, 2357 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada; S. Nashon, Dep. of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Univ. of British Columbia, 2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4; M. Schmidt, Dep. of Geography, Simon Fraser Univ., 8888 University Dr., Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada. *Corresponding author (darrell.r.hoffman@gmail.com). Abbreviations: CFA, confirmatory factor analysis; CMS, content management system; EFA, exploratory factor analysis; ESL, English as second language; KMO, Kaiser-Myer-Olkin (Test of Sampling Adequacy); PAF, principal axis factoring; PCA, principal component analysis; UBC, University of British Columbia. Published in Nat. Sci. Educ. 46:170008 (2017) doi:10.4195/nse2017.05.0008 Received 6 May 2017 Accepted 28 June 2017 Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Agronomy 5585 Guilford Road, Madison, WI 53711 USA All rights reserved core ideas • Forest floor is essential to forest ecosystems, but classification is difficult. • Multimedia and face-to-face learning can teach visual tasks like soil classification. • Students identified repeated visualizations and collaboration as important. • Combining quantitative and qualitative methods of assessment gives deeper insights. T he forest floor is one of the most distinctive parts of a forest ecosystem. It is composed of various veg- etative parts (leaves, twigs, branches, bark, etc.) that are present at the soil surface and in various stages of decomposition. The forest floor is characterized by a great diversity of soil organisms and it plays an important role in carbon storage, nutrient cycling, and water reten- tion. Although forest floor is reflective of overall forest site quality (Klinka et al., 1981), biodiversity, nutrient supply capability, and soil productivity (Ponge and Chevalier, 2006), learning about forest floor is not often part of university curriculum where the number of soil science courses is decreasing (Collins, 2008) or where soil science is becoming a required component of more generalized, integrative pro- grams (Hansen et al., 2007). Because most post-secondary forestry programs still require at least an Introduction to Soil Science course (Collins, 2008), it is important that this course covers basic forest floor concepts and its role as a bridge between the aboveground, living vegetation and the soil. Repeated visualizations and hands-on experience are essential for learning about forest floor, and these can be addressed by a blended learning approach. The present generation of post-secondary students has grown up with information and communication technology, and they handle digital information on a daily basis. They are connected to each other via mobile technologies, work interactively, and often perform several tasks simultaneously (Tapscott, 2008). According to Prensky (2001) and van Eck (2006), increased disengagement of the so-called “net generation” or “digital natives” from traditional instruction together with the ongoing popularity of digital technology have prompted interest in blended learning at both secondary and post-secondary levels. Blended learning involves integration of computer-mediated learning with face-to-face teaching (Owston et al., 2013). It has generally been thought that blended learning is more effective than face-to-face or online learning alone (Means et al., 2010), improving student satisfaction (Castle and McGuire, 2010) and grades (Cavanagh, 2011). Success of blended learning, however, depends on its integration Published online August 10, 2017