ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1655941
This article is part of the Research TopicReimagining Higher Education: Responding Proactively to 21st Century Global ShiftsView all 12 articles
Diffusing Student Performance in Using Blended Learning Models in Higher Learning
Provisionally accepted
- University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
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Background: Global education systems underwent a dramatic transformation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing a sudden shift to online and hybrid learning methods. Understanding the long-term impacts of blended learning on student performance and engagement is still essential as educational institutions work through the post-pandemic recovery in countries such as South Africa. Objectives: The study aims to assess the degree of integration of blended learning into higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa post pandemic. Methods: The study used a systematic literature review (SLR) method, consulting a wide variety of academic publications from Sabinet, Springer, Emerald, Science Direct and Google Scholar, to conduct a critical analysis of blended learning approaches in higher education in South Africa. Results: Results indicate that addressing structural deficiencies in training, infrastructure, and institutional support is necessary for successful implementation to ensure equitable access, participation, and improve student performance. Conclusion: The research paper shows how blended learning significantly affects student performance, yielding mixed findings; some report that flexibility and participation lead to better results, while others highlight issues with self-regulation and unequal access to resources. For blended learning to reach its full transformative potential, South African institutions must prioritise comprehensive faculty training, equitable digital access, and targeted support systems that bridge pedagogical and technological gaps, thus creating inclusive and stimulating learning environments for all students. Contribution: The study highlights institutional support networks and culturally sensitive adjustments as crucial success factors, offering practical advice to educators and policymakers on how to create more fair implementation plans.
Keywords: blended learning, COVID-19 impact, Information Technology, Students, performance, post-pandemic education
Received: 29 Jun 2025; Accepted: 25 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mukhithi, Phahlane and Malungana. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Avrill Mukhithi, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
Mampilo Phahlane, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
Lario Malungana, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.