In working with professors who are teaching hybrid courses at my office, I have had the pleasure of talking with several of them about their courses, what they enjoy, what they find challenging and in a few cases what they would have wanted to change. The class sizes are small, and all 5 of them have enjoyed the fact that they were able to get to know their students in a more familiar context then they had been able to previously. Two of them had taught online with UMUC in previous semesters and have said that they found the face to face interaction with their students really helped them to feel more connected. While this didn't specifically surprise me, I did find it interesting that the professor would have the same issue with building relationships as the student does in online only learning. As discussed in the class discussion boards, the hybrid classes allow the professor to act as the facilitator in their students learning. Our newest instructor was extremely happy that UMUC did not require him to lecture from a power point when teaching his class, and was excited that his business ethics course could be taught in a way that allowed for large amounts of student input. Our history professor was thrilled that while he was given a basic syllabus for his course, he was permitted to modify assignments so that they better fit his specific student population and allowed him to play on his strengths with regards to guiding his students through his class.
The first professor I worked with found UMUC to be too much work for him, which I found surprising at the time, and have not heard from anyone else. The ability to modify assignments and course material to ensure the students are engaged seemed to be a common positive trend in other professors comments, but I do not think it was a requirement. In reflection, I think it is possible that he either did not want to put in the effort to do anything other then lecture and grade assignments, or he had only ever lectured, and was not sure how facilitating the learning process would actually work.
I have found that professors who take an active role in facilitating their students learning, and serving as a mentor for those students to grow educationally both find more satisfaction in their work and also have better success with their students comprehension of the material. The students also seem to feel more of a connection with their professors and are able to better grasp the material and feel some ownership over the knowledge that they gain. Both of which are positive experiences for all parties and I think are things that should be encouraged within education in general.
Travis, thank you for this great post! In OMDE 603, we've focused a lot of our discussion on the student experience. It was very interesting to read about the perspectives of these hybrid class instructions, and that they experience similar communication and community challenges as students. I wonder if there is any research out there about group attachment and eagerness to use online communication tools among groups that have met previously face-to-face verses just online. I do agree that some face-to-face interaction can strengthen the sense of community for a group.
ReplyDeleteIt was also very interesting to learn that UMUC offers instructors the flexibility to modify their assignments. I know that UMUC has recently began posting example syllabi in their schedule of classes. Stella wrote in our class discussion that these documents (syllabi) serve as a contract with the student regarding class expectations. It is surprising, then, to hear that UMUC would allow any changes to the syllabus once the class begins. Did the instructors that you interviewed share any examples of assignments that they modified or when these modifications took place?
Thanks again for sharing these great personal accounts! Loved reading this post!