PURPOSE AND FORM OF REALIZATION OF THE BLENDED LEARNING SYSTEM DURING CHEMISTRY ACADEMIC COURSES

In the academic year 2003/2004, the Department of Chemistry Didactics began modification of courses: ‘General Chemistry with the Elements of Physical Chemistry' for the first year of biophysics and ‘Phase transitions in a Solid State', intended for fourth-year chemistry students. The main reasons for modification of these courses were the unsatisfactory final grades of students in both courses. Preliminary research shows that students have difficulties in understanding the above-mentioned lectures due to lack of elementary knowledge. There is also a great differentiation between the levels of the skills and knowledge of students. Considering the above-mentioned situation, we have proposed to use elements of distance learning for equalization of the level of knowledge, the so-called blended learning system (Bonk & Graham, 2004). The full paper presents the methodology of preparing and the application of blended learning classes at an academic level, the findings of questionnaire surveys on how students find the blended learning system and statistical analyses of exams.