One Course, Three Ways: What Students Think

This study compared undergraduate students’ perceptions of participating in a nursing research course taught using three different hybrid models.  Hybrid A met face-to-face 4 times during the semester, with all other activities completed online; Hybrid B met face-to-face weekly for 1-1/2 hours, with assigned online activities completed before coming to class; and Hybrid C met face-to-face for 3 hours every other week, with online activities during the alternate week.  Students self-selected a section without knowing which of the hybrid models would be used.

Students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of teaching-learning strategies and satisfaction were obtained by way of a 7-item survey that was administered following the final exam. Response options ranged from 1 (strongly agree) to 4 (strongly disagree). Two open-ended questions asked what you liked and what you didn’t likeabout the course. Sixty-two students responded, and 55 provided complete demographic information; of these, 91% were female, mean age was 23.25 years (SD 4.66), and all were enrolled full-time.  

Students’ responses in all three sections were overall positive, with assistance from faculty rated highest (mean = 1.13, SD .34), followed by accessibility and ease of use of materials (mean = 1.34, SD .79). Analysis of variance demonstrated statistically significant differences among the three groups, with the most positive ratings generally given by students in Hybrid A, and the lowest ratings by students in Hybrid B. These findings may indicate that students prefer the convenience of not being required to come to campus for class.

Positive comments on the open-ended questions focused on the accessibility, flexibility and convenience of the online course materials, complemented by the opportunity to clarify areas of confusion during face-to-face sessions with the instructor. Negative comments focused on technological problems, as well as the preference that some students had for face-to-face instruction.