Math: EAGER: Researching the HyFlex+ Instructional Model of Blended Learning

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

As postsecondary enrollments in the United States continue to increase, there is pressure for colleges and universities to provide 21st Century delivery options for courses to accommodate access for a diverse student population, including students who have caregiver responsibilities for children, siblings, or parents; student athletes; students who face commutes that can be dangerous under certain weather conditions or other mobility challenges; and students who become ill. One promising model, first developed by Dr. Brian Beatty at San Francisco State University, is called HyFlex. The primary feature of the HyFlex model is to combine online and face-to-face components ("hybrid") in a single course and allow students to choose when and how they attend class ("flexible"). This project will design, develop, and research the implementation of a HyFlex model in a large introductory statistics course at the University of Michigan. The HyFlex+ introductory statistics course will provide equivalency for students attending class face-to-face or synchronously online by incorporating a backchannel communication system -- a web-based or mobile chat room, like twitter and other social media. In the HyFlex+ model, the backchannel will be monitored by graduate students in order to facilitate real-time conversation among students and the faculty instructor during a class session. Students, faculty, and institutions are interested in efficient and effective use of resources. Although the HyFlex model has existed for nearly a decade, relatively little research exists about the effectiveness of this model for student learning within higher education. Thus, the core of this proposed research project will be a mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative data collection) study designed to answer pressing questions, including: What are the benefits and challenges of the use of the HyFlex+ model in introductory statistics courses for students and for the institution? What are the costs of the HyFlex+ instructional model on the instructor's and graduate teaching assistants' time? What aspects of the HyFlex+ model contribute to its success or failure in meeting the needs of students and the institution? Why do students choose the attendance mode they do? Is this choice consistent, or does it vary? Is the backchannel equally effective for students in both attendance modes? How and why or why not? What cognitive and non-cognitive student outcomes are affected by the model and how?