The impact of synchronous hybrid instruction on students’ engagement in a pharmacotherapy course

Abstract

Background: Synchronous hybrid instruction offers flexible learning opportunities by allowing a portion of students to attend class sessions on campus while simultaneously allowing the remaining students to attend remotely. Although such flexibility may offer a number of advantages for pharmacy students, one area of concern is whether online participation options within synchronous hybrid courses can promote similar levels of engagement as courses that are designed entirely for face-to-face (FTF) participation. Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of synchronous hybrid instruction on pharmacy students’ engagement in a pharmacotherapy course. An evaluation was completed to determine if students were more likely to actively engage in class when they were participating remotely via teleconferencing technology or when FTF. Additionally, students’ perspectives were evaluated to determine their views of the benefits and challenges of the hybrid model for engagement in learning. Methods: The course utilizes team-based learning to apply critical thinking skills and develop a comprehensive care plan. A mixed methods approach was used to examine students’ engagement in the hybrid learning environment by quantitatively analyzing students’ responses to likert-scale survey items and qualitatively analyzing their responses to open-ended survey questions. Results: Students reported they were more likely to actively listen (p=0.004), avoid distractions (p=0.008), and react emotionally to a topic or instruction (p=0.045) when FTF. There were no significant differences found in student reported note taking, asking questions, responding to questions, or engaging in group work between the two modes of participation. Content analysis identified other benefits that supported student engagement, including perceived flexibility and enhanced ability to interact during class via the teleconferencing technology. For some students, challenges that negatively impacted engagement included difficulties with internet connectivity and a sense of dislocation or isolation in the course. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that when participating in a synchronous hybrid course, students participating remotely were less likely (compared to in-person attendance) to pay close attention and react emotionally, but were just as likely to take notes and communicate with teachers and groups. Key benefits of the hybrid approach were increased flexibility and the usefulness of online communication tools, while key challenges focused on technical and psychological isolation from others. The principles of flexible learning environments and self-regulated learning provide opportunities for pharmacy educators who are interested in improving hybrid instruction in the future.

Hybrid Learning for Educators and Students: A Review Study

“…One of the first issues that the research has identified is the unreliability of the internet network. The learning process is interrupted because of the poor internet connection that happened during class session (Anable et al, 2022; Pham & Pham, 2022; Radhyi & Usman, 2022; Doghonadze, 2021; Palmer et al, 2022). It serves no purpose to have an HLE that requires participants to access the internet from anywhere in the world unless there is a good internet connection.…”

The effect of student engagement strategies in online instruction for data management skills

“…"Zoom fatigue" is the exhaustion that comes from engaging in videoconferences for multiple hours a day (Bailenson, 2021). Factors contributing to Zoom fatigue with online learning include an increase in distractions and multitasking, technology not working, lack of nonverbal communication, intermittent feedback from other participants, inability to see facial cues due to cameras being turned off, and constantly viewing oneself (Bailenson, 2021;Palmer et al, 2022;Peper et al, 2021). Therefore, online synchronous sessions require "an increased effort to maintain students' attention" (Fuller et al, 2021, p. 107) and more cognitive efforts to engage learners (Fauville et al, 2021).…”

“…Research supports collaborative learning, such as collaborative note-taking, as a way to effectively engage students in classroom learning (Costley et al, 2022;Igel & Urquhart, 2012). For example, during online instruction, the use of chat, breakout rooms, and changing up classroom activities have been shown to increase students' engagement (Palmer et al, 2022;Toney et al, 2021). Yao et al (2020) also showed that interactive teaching methods had a greater impact on student outcomes in the synchronous online teaching context during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to students who only received online video modules.…”

Hybrid Learning on Pencak Silat Sport in Higher Education: Students’ Perception and Issues

“…While the ones who want to see the teacher in person may come to school to join the face-to-face instruction. In other words, hybrid learning provides flexibility for students (Detyna et al, 2022;Palmer et al, 2022). In addition, conducting synchronous hybrid learning could decrease the teachers' absence.…”

“…Another reason the hybrid was preferred was the flexibility of learning around their busy schedules while maintaining contact with the lecturer. They can also set the time and freedom to choose whether to take classes face-to-face or online (Palmer et al, 2022). This is also an effort to get around the limitations that we experience in this post-COVID-19 period.…”