The overall purpose of the study was to examine adult students' perception of the congruence of hybrid courses with adult learning needs and to examine adult students' level of satisfaction with hybrid courses. The study collected data through pre and post surveys, administered at the beginning and near the end of the hybrid courses, of adult students' perceptions. The pre survey questionnaire sought quantitative responses only. The post survey sought quantitative and qualitative responses. The quantitative data was analyzed by utilizing the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). / School of Education; / Instructional Technology (EdDIT) / EdD; / Dissertation;

This study explored changes in goal orientations throughout the semester that might be influenced by self efficacy and a sense of classroom community in hybrid courses in which course management systems (CMS) were used. A hybrid course is distinguished from a traditional face-to-face classroom in that there is an extension of the class, and students interact online in addition to face-to-face. Data were gathered from 14 hybrid courses two times during a semester, once at the beginning of the semester and once again at the end, and were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationships among the variables. Overall, the results indicated that each goal orientation changed throughout the semester, dynamically interacted with one another, and had unique relationship with self efficacy and sense of classroom community. More specifically, first, a sense of classroom community acted as a significant antecedent of goal orientations and mediated the relationship between pre-mastery goal orientation and post-mastery goal orientation. Second, self efficacy, another antecedent of goal orientations, mediated the relationship between pre-performance avoidance goal orientation and post-performance avoidance goal orientation. Third, post-performance approach goal orientation was influenced by sense of classroom community but not by self efficacy whereas post-performance avoidance goal orientation was influenced by self efficacy but not by sense of classroom community. Fourth, the nature of performance approach goal orientation at the beginning of the semester seemed to change throughout the semester as students gain or lose their competence and develop sense of classroom community. The results also showed that the collaborative function of the course management system most significantly contributed to the sense of classroom community in hybrid courses among four categories of functions (information delivery, external links, course materials, and collaborative function). Lastly, the study suggests ways for instructional designers and college teachers to identify and design courses that promote motivation and a sense of classroom community using various CMS functions, thereby enhancing teachers’ teaching and student learning. / text

This study examined the effectiveness of a hybrid instruction in terms of students&rsquo / achievement, knowledge retention, and attitudes towards course content and course satisfaction. An in-depth analysis was done to understand students&rsquo / perceptions about the effective domains of interactive learning, which included pedagogical philosophy, learning theory, goal orientation, task orientation, source of motivation, teacher role, metacognitive support, collaborative learning, and structural flexibility of a hybrid course. In this study quantitative and qualitative research methodologies were used in conjunction. Experimental study was carried out to understand if there is a significant difference between the hybrid course and the traditional course in terms of students&rsquo / achievement, retention, satisfaction, and attitude. Qualitative analysis was done to understand students&rsquo / perceptions about the effective dimensions of interactive learning. The subjects of this study were 50 students in a &ldquo / Computer Networks and Communication&rdquo / course, offered by the Computer Education and Instructional Technologies Department of METU. The control and experimental groups consisted of 24 and 26 students respectively. The students in the experimental group were interviewed one on one at the end of the treatment. The quantitative findings of the study indicated no significant difference between the hybrid course and the traditional course in terms of students&rsquo / achievement, retention, satisfaction, and attitude. The qualitative findings of this study showed that the amount of information supplied in the course web-site, need for metacognitive support, authentic learning activities and collaboration, type and source of motivation, individualized learning and access to internet played important roles in students&rsquo / learning in the hybrid course.

This descriptive study sought to understand the instructional potential of a new course design for teaching adults in higher education. Increasingly referred to as a hybrid course format, it entails dividing a course into both online and face-to-face sessions that are separately calendared. A primary focus of the study was to identify teaching principles that are recommended by established adult education models and to describe how they have been incorporated by hybrid course designers. Also studied was how combining the online and face-to-face instructional modes provides structural opportunities for improving communication and teacher/learner dynamics. The adult education models analyzed were the andragogy model, the self-directed learning model, the transformative learning model, and the experiential learning model. The structural opportunities investigated included content delivery choices such as the use of lecture- and learner-centered activities and the best practices recommendations previously published for hybrid instruction. An online survey was administered to 267 hybrid course instructors at Utah Valley University, where 20,667 students have participated in a hybrid course. This university was actively engaged in developing the hybrid course design into a quality instructional option. The online survey provided descriptive data about how hybrid course instructors at the university perceive their understanding and use of adult education theories and how they utilize the online and face-to-face modes.

The creation of a hybrid/blended basic course aligns with university goals and may increase viable curricular options for student success. If universities offer hybrid courses, they ought to do so based on data-driven evidence confirming that face-to-face (F2F) and hybrid courses are comparable. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the learning outcome achievement of students enrolled in a blended (hybrid) version of the basic course. More specifically, a comparative analysis of student affective, cognitive, and behavioral learning outcome achievement in face-to-face sections and hybrid sections was conducted. This study also examined affect for course delivery format for students enrolled in traditional F2F compared to hybrid sections. Ultimately, two important conclusions were drawn from this analysis. First, hybrid courses are a viable instructional modality for delivering the basic communication course. Second, students are satisfied with aspects of both F2F and blended course modalities. More specifically, each course delivery format has strengths and weaknesses and instructors, students, and university administrators share responsibility for course and student success.

Instructors at a U.S. Military School transitioned traditional courses used for professional development (PD) of military and civilian personnel to fully online and hybrid formats that combine online and face-to-face instruction. No evaluation of student satisfaction or instructor experiences during the transition has been conducted. The purpose of this sequential mixed methods summative program evaluation was to evaluate hybrid and online delivery of 2 PD courses by analyzing student satisfaction data and instructor experiences. This study was grounded in Knowles, Holton, and Swanson's adult learning theory and Anderson's and Salmon's online learning theories. Data from 96 course evaluations from students who completed traditional, online, and hybrid versions of the PD courses, and interviews with 4 instructors who taught the courses were analyzed. Kruskal-Wallis analyses of variance tests were used to examine student satisfaction ratings for significant differences. Student satisfaction narrative and instructor interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis and axial coding to find themes. There were no significant differences in student satisfaction ratings among course delivery methods. The courses were not relevant to jobs, contained little interaction, and identified technology challenges as common themes in the student comments and the instructor interviews. Based on the findings of this study, an evaluation report was drafted with recommendations to incorporate job-related activities, interactive teaching strategies, and technology orientation sessions for future course transitions. This endeavor may contribute to positive social change by informing military officials and faculty to guide future course transitions from traditional to online and hybrid delivery.