Hybrid Teaching in Graduate Education: Optimizing Virtual Engagement to Enhance Contextual Learning in Doctoral Students

Hybrid learning, also referred to as blended or mixed-mode learning, is a technique that combines traditional face-to-face classroom instruction with newer technology mediated teaching learning modalities (Alammary, Sheard, & Carbone, 2014). It has been utilized in K-12 as well as institutions of higher education to provide a transformative educational experience that fosters deeper understanding while promoting the acquisition of communication and information management competencies (Jamison, Kolmos, & Holgaard, 2014; Sung, Hwang, & Chang, 2015). While hybrid learning is not a new concept, expanded use of teaching technology can greatly enhance graduate nursing education (Potter, 2015). Use of hybrid learning strategies in doctoral education has not only served as a transformative instructional approach, but also as a vehicle for enhancing contextual learning (Hsu, Hamilton, & Wang, 2014). By engaging in hybrid learning experiences students are able to meaningfully integrate course concepts into their development as nurse leaders. In the changing landscape of academia, student consumers expect course experiences that are flexible and individualized to learner characteristics. Hybrid teaching-learning strategies have emerged as a transformative modality to provide both students and instructors with the opportunity to manipulate the time, space, and place during which learning occurs while valuing the inherent nature of intrinsic student characteristics (Liu et al., 2016). As a result, enhanced contextual learning has been realized by uniquely blending didactic instruction with virtual engagement.

The presentation will review how hybrid learning strategies have been utilized in doctoral courses with a particular focus on outcomes relative to enhanced contextual learning. Additionally, adaptable strategies for graduate and undergraduate courses will be reviewed. The presentation shall benefit both novice and experienced educators responsible for providing didactic instruction to undergraduate and graduate students. Program administrators shall also benefit from strategies discussed as they seek to refine creative program offerings. After attendance, participants will be provided with information about various hybrid frameworks as well as tangible implementation strategies to promote constructive learning.