Validating an Instrument of Adult Learning Needs in Online and Blended Learning

Authors

  • Anh Nguyet Diep Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Liege, Belgium https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5134-3220
  • Khuyen Dinh Faculty of Business and Law, University of Roehampton, London, UK
  • Anne-Françoise Donneau Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Liege, Belgium
  • Thanh Ngoc Phuong Phan Department of General English and English for Specific Purposes, School of Foreign Languages, Can Tho University, Vietnam
  • Minh Hien Vo Graduate School, Can Tho University, Vietnam
  • Céline Cocquyt Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
  • Maurice de Greef Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
  • Tom Vanwing Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
  • Chang Zhu Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34190/ejel.24.4.4684

Keywords:

Adult learners, Learning needs, Socio-cognitive theories, Technology acceptance model, Motivational orientations

Abstract

It is a challenge to promptly respond to the learning needs of students, particularly adult learners characterized by rich lived-experiences, (sometimes) negative prior learning experience, multiple and contrasting motivation types alongside considerable socio-demographic heterogeneity. Furthermore, developing a typology of adults’ learning needs remains a challenging endeavour given the different perspectives in learning needs conceptualization and the different theories concerning adult learning in both traditional and online and blended learning (OBL). In particular, no validated instrument currently exists to identify and measure adult learners' needs in OBL contexts, representing a gap that needed to be addressed. This paper developed and validated an instrument to identify adults’ learning needs based on adult learning, self-regulated and motivational theories, and technological acceptance models. We deconstructed adults’ learning needs into three categories based on the existence, relatedness, and growth (ERG) theory of human needs. Data (N=209) were collected from adult learners following blended learning programs in eight centres of adult education in Flanders, Belgium. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that the instrument comprising of nine dimensions of learning needs displayed adequate model fit and factor loadings. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) highlighted that learners who differed in educational attainment, age, and ICT skills reported differences in their needs across the sub-dimensions. Motivational orientations, however, did not significantly differentiate learning needs at the multivariate level. The validated instrument, hence, offered practitioners a diagnostic tool for needs-based OBL design. Theoretically, the study challenged the assumption that motivational orientation alone predicted differentiated need profiles in OBL, opening new avenues for debate on the interplay between motivation, prior experience, and adult learning needs.

Author Biographies

Anh Nguyet Diep, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Liege, Belgium

Anh Nguyet Diep is an educational specialist and biostatistician (PhD) at the department of Public Health, University of Liege. Her research focuses on the social impact of ICT-based adult education, student performance, self-regulations, academic motivation and instrument validation. She is currently involved in different cross-border research projects in health education and resilience employing high-fidelity simulations and debriefing as educational interventions (e.g. NHL-ChirEx - Excellence program in surgery and radiotherapy from the medical faculties of Nancy, Hombourg, Saarland and Liège, and CAREMORE - Strengthening Resilience in Healthcare Professionals - Interreg Euregio Meuse-Rhin)

Khuyen Dinh, Faculty of Business and Law, University of Roehampton, London, UK

Khuyen Dinh is a post-doctoral Researcher at the Faculty of Business and Law, University of Roehampton (UK). She holds a PhD and MA from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and a Master’s in Educational Statistics and Research Methods from KU Leuven. Her research focuses on academic leadership and quantitative social research.

Anne-Françoise Donneau, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Liege, Belgium

Anne- Françoise Donneau is professor of Statistics at the Department of Public Health, University of Liege. She is director of the Biostatics and Research Methods Center (BSTATS). She is active in continuing training, research, and exploitation of health data. She has authored numerous publications in the fields of medical education, public health, and epidemiology.

Thanh Ngoc Phuong Phan, Department of General English and English for Specific Purposes, School of Foreign Languages, Can Tho University, Vietnam

Phan Thanh Ngoc Phuong is a lecturer and General English Course Coordinator at the School of Foreign Languages, Can Tho University, Vietnam. She holds a Master's degree in Educational Sciences from Vrije Universiteit Brussel (2012-2014). Her thesis examined students' experiences and perceptions of teaching approaches addressing their learning needs. Her research interests focus on student-centered teaching approaches, teacher engagement, and language education for employability in higher education context.

Minh Hien Vo, Graduate School, Can Tho University, Vietnam

Minh Hien Vo is program administrator at the Graduate School (Can Tho University, Vietnam). He holds a PhD in Educational Sciences from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His research centers around students’ learning performance, online learning, and disciplinary differences in instructional design and approaches.

Céline Cocquyt, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Céline Cocquyt is currently working at the Education Innovation Unit at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She holds a PhD degree in Educational Sciences where she studied how participation in formal ICT-based adult education strengthens an individual’s social and professional inclusion.

Maurice de Greef, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Maurice de Greef is professor and chair holder of the UNESCO Chair on Adult Education and researcher at the Brussels research centre for Innovation in Learning and Diversity (BILD) about the outcomes of education. He realized more than 150 studies in more than 200 communities throughout the world concerning the impact and success factors of education. Besides, he conducts studies focussing on societal cost benefit analysis of education. He coordinates local, regional and European projects in innovating learning-environments, strategic policy-making in education and developing strategies for approaching learners and realizing new courses in local settings. These research projects have a special focus on adult education, literacy, vocational education and training (VET), migrant education and increase of social inclusion. He is often key-note speaker on national and international conferences focussing on adult education, lifelong learning, literacy and social inclusion.

Tom Vanwing, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Tom Vanwing is a professor at the department of Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His research concerns adult education: synergies of combining formal and informal learning; professionalization and professional roles; innovative approaches, sustainable development: institutional university cooperation; education for sustainable development, social and cultural transition strategies for sustainability and development: community dynamics and informal learning in a multidisciplinary approach.

Chang Zhu, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

Chang Zhu is a professor in Educational Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She is the Director of LEAD Academic Network, and Director of EU-China Higher Education Research Center (ECHE) at VUB. She has coordinated several large-scale international partnership projects including the LEAD and LEAD2 Projects supported by the EU Capacity Building in Higher Education program. She has supervised and been the principal investigator of several key fundamental research projects in the field of higher education, internationalization, university governance, academic leadership, digital leadership, digital competencies, digital pedagogies of teachers, e-learning, online and blended learning, MOOC, ICT-supported learning, thinking styles and creativity, and the examination of cultural, contextual and individual variables that are related to the implementation of educational innovations.

Downloads

Published

31 Jul 2026

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 4 (2026)

Section

Articles

Categories

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Anh Nguyet Diep, Khuyen Dinh, Anne-Françoise Donneau, Thanh Ngoc Phuong Phan, Minh Hien Vo, Céline Cocquyt, Maurice de Greef, Tom Vanwing, Chang Zhu

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Open Access Publishing

The Electronic Journal of e-Learning operates an Open Access Policy. This means that users can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, is that authors control  the integrity of their work, which should be properly acknowledged and cited.