Improving Undergraduate University Students’ Soft Skills through a Blended Learning Model: Empirical Evidence from Morocco

Mohammed El Messaoudi, UMI, Meknes
Smail Kerouad, UMI, Meknes
Mustapha Fagroud, UMI, Meknes

https://doi.org/10.9743/JEO.2025.22.1.21

Abstract

The growing gap in soft skills among Moroccan undergraduate university students is a pressing concern. This study examined the impact of a blended learning model intervention on soft skills development in this population. A systematically chosen sample of 42 participants, selected from a pool of 400 undergraduate university students, was subsequently allotted into two distinct groups: an experimental cohort exposed to a blended learning intervention and a control cohort. A pretest and posttest research design was employed, utilizing the Anchored BFI as the data collection instrument to assess the levels of soft skills of the study participants. Parametric tests (independent samples and paired samples t-tests) were conducted using SPSS software. The results indicated that the blended learning model intervention had a statistically insignificant impact on improving the soft skills level of the experimental group (Cohen’s d = 0.2). Therefore, implementing a blended learning model for soft skills development may not effectively enhance the soft skills level of Moroccan undergraduate university students. These findings offer compelling evidence that underscores the ineffectiveness of the blended learning model for cultivating soft skills within the Moroccan context.

Keywords: Industry 4.0, Education 4.0, centennials, disruptive technologies, hard skills, soft skills, blended learning