In Fall 2012 I had an incredible group of engaged, collaborative, and dedicated students in Abnormal Psychology (PSY 266) Hybrid. So I was shocked and dismayed when I saw that many of my most knowledgable and active students had failed the class when BB calculated their total grades. Digging deeper, I found that 100% of the failing grades resulted from a single source; the failure to do sufficient online work.
In Spring 2013, I introduced the concept of the "flipped classroom" to students in my hybrid class on Day 1. I also had each student plan and record when they would do their online work. At three different points in the semester I assessed their use of, and satisfaction with, their scheduled online work time and had them adjust as necessary.
The intervention was successful: In 2012, there was an average online to F2F grade discrepancy of 36%. After the intervention, the discrepancy was reduced to 6%. Additionally, students reported that the regular reviews were motivating and helped them make adjustments to succeed. I will definitely implement this in all hybrid classes!
Comments
Christina, I am looking forward to your results. I also like the "flipped" concept, and feel that your checking with them twice during the semester is a great way to keep them (or help them keep themselves) on track for success.
Very interesting. It is easy to be passive and let the teacher do the work. We have to continually prod them for more effort.
Wow! What a great improvement. I believe this is a major challenge for Hybrid classes as a delivery mode. Your strategies produced uncommon improvement! More hybrid courses should consider employing these strategies.
This is great. I think that this will be very useful for all instructors of hybrid classes. I have taught hybrids before and often students walk in not even knowing that it was a hybrid class. Hello! I would say those student aren't prepared to be in a hybrid class! Some of them don't even have the computer skills necessary to do the class. I love that you have the students make a plan and record their work online. Well done.
I love this idea because it increases student accountability. By having them self-reflect and create their own goals in terms of a personal work timeline, each student is then more aware of how much effort he/she needs to put forth in the online part of the class. I am teaching my first online class this semester, so thank you for the suggestion!
In reply to I love this idea because it increases student by Rachel Holmes
I like what this instructor did to discover how he could help students become successful taking a hybrid course. He made the students be accountable for their time at set times throughout the class and when you are held to more accountability you tend to perform better. It looks like the students grades improved as a result which encouraged the instructor to continue with his action of helping the students to succeed.