Thoughts and Reflections about Designing and Teaching Hybrid Courses

Abstract

While some students and instructors prefer either traditional courses or 100 percent online courses, those two learning environments on their own may each have potential drawbacks and limitations. During this presentation, the presenter will discuss his own personal experiences teaching PSY 377 (Sport Psychology) at USI in all contexts: traditional, online, and hybrid. The presenter will discuss why he believes the hybrid setting may provide the ideal learning environment for students and instructors alike. During the presentation, the presenter will illustrate how he blends elements of both traditional and online environments into his hybrid course. The presenter will display his Blackboard course site and show attendees how Voice Thread is used for online lectures required of students before attending the in-person class session. The presenter will also provide examples of other hybrid course assignments, including Blackboard discussions and team projects. According to Jaschik (2009), blended education is among the fastest growing course options on college campuses and students who enroll in hybrid courses appear to have higher academic success rates when compared to students enrolled in traditional or online settings. "On-campus class sessions can be used to provide students meeting time to collaborate with fellow students on group assignments, can expose students to information literacy resources within the library or learning center…and the on-campus visits can help to instill a sense of school spirit and unity that frequently is absent for online students who may never set foot on the campus" (Sorrells, p. 4, 2009). As a work in progress, the presenter will be instructing two hybrid sections of PSY 377 next term and will survey students at the end of the term to get their feedback about the hybrid context and if they preferred it over traditional or online settings. References Jaschik, S. (29, June 2009). The evidence of online education. Inside Higher Education. Sorrells, D. (2009). All aboard the online express…Or get left at the station. The WWW Journal of Online Education. Available at http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/waoe/sorrellsd.pdf