Research evidence has shown that well-designed hybrid courses have several benefits. When designing a hybrid course, it is important to understand the benefits and consider them during your course design.¹

Robust Online Course Space

Anyone can read a textbook; the students fortunate enough to have you as the instructor get to gain knowledge from your experience and expertise. Take full advantage of offered resources to develop online learning opportunities that increase retention, build community, and foster creativity.

Activities that are better suited for an online setting include:

• Virtual labs
• Group projects
• Discussion/blogs (extending F2F)
• Video analysis
• Virtual field trips
• Building presentations
• Assessments/tests (low stakes)
• Online surveys
• Pre-class content delivery
• Reference materials

Increased Student Learning and Student Retention

In general, research-based evidence has shown hybrid courses enhance student learning and student retention. At Penn State Berks, quantitative analysis of hybrid courses has shown improved student learning and student retention, including but not limited to:

• Overall increase in student class grade point average in the course
• Greater number of students who now receive a passing grade (C or better)
• Overall increase in student class grade point average for each test
• Greater number of students who now receive a passing grade (C or better)
• Decrease of number of student withdrawals from the course

For more information about this area, please review the reports at PSU – Berks TLI Grant.

Enhanced/New Pedagogical Practices

When moving to a hybrid environment, many instructors who typically used faculty-centered learning activities rethink their teaching and incorporate more student-centered learning activities. One way to do this is to create online materials that provide students the ability to learn lower-level skills before coming to the face-to-face class. Then, the face-to-face sessions can be used to expand upon ideas by having more group activities, interactive discussions, and engaging in-class polling software, such as Penn State’s use of the engagement and feedback tool, Top Hat (Top Hat at Penn State).

In addition, some faculty may not have had the opportunity to work in-depth with traditional course design. By going through a hybrid redesign process, faculty have the opportunity to align course goals, develop learning resources, develop learning activities, and create student assessments that are applicable to traditional course design. Instructional design staff are a valuable resource during this process.

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Resources:

¹Dr. Katie Amaral and John Shank, “Enhancing Student Learning and Retention with Blended Learning Class Guides,” Educause Review, 33, no.4 (2010).