ABSTRACT
HyFlex learning environments have been meeting the unique needs of students and institutions for nearly 20 years. However, it was the pandemic that gave HyFlex its widespread acceptance and application. Literature suggests that HyFlex may now be considered part of the new norm in education and therefore, further study is needed on how it affects both teaching and learning. Our flipped design thinking course leverages active learning requiring the instructor and students to interact extensively. We piloted a specific version of HyFlex we named "Interactive Synchronous HyFlex" where students can participate on a daily basis in person or synchronously online. In this specific instance of HyFlex we explore: (1) Does student academic performance differ in the HyFlex environment compared to the Face to Face only environment? And (2) Does student academic performance differ based on how they chose to participate in the HyFlex course? Data were collected for this quasi-experimental study design on overall semester grades and three significant design projects during the semester. We compared the course offered as a Face to Face only experience to the course offered as a HyFlex course enabling remote participation. Second, we parse students in the HyFlex course into two categories: those who did not participate remotely vs. those who participated remotely once or more times. Students in the HyFlex course had a significantly different grade distribution earning more A's and more F's than their Face to Face only counterparts. Given the positive results of the Interactive Synchronous HyFlex approach, we plan to continue implementing it in our introductory design course though we will increase our attention on the remote students as they may need additional scaffolding to be successful.
ABSTRACT
Active learning strategies engage students and promote student-centered learning environments. Implementing active learning in a HyFlex environment during the Fall of 2020 global pandemic was challenging. We describe the Interactive Synchronous HyFlex approach to teaching design thinking at the introductory college level and explore impacts on students' basic psychological needs, including autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Aligned with Self-Determination Theory, active learning has been shown to motivate students and increase performance and retention in science, engineering, and mathematics disciplines, among others (Freeman et al., 2014; Lo & Hew, 2019). In active environments, the predominant mode of instruction is not lecture based and it engages students through student-to-student interactions and student-to-instructor interactions. The flipped classroom is a pedagogical model in which the typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed. This model of instruction is ideal for our design thinking course used as a context for this study because students are challenged to learn by doing. In active learning courses, students engage in video-recorded lectures or talks, text-based materials and online quizzes, or other preparation activities before and in preparation for class (Bishop & Verleger, 2013; Lo et al., 2017; O'Flaherty & Phillips, 2015). Scheduled class meeting time is used for engagement and interaction between students informed by a social constructivist learning theory. Students challenge each other to apply what they have learned with guidance and support from the instructor.
