Expanding Learning Opportunities for Graduate Students with HyFlex Course Design

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore students' perspectives regarding HyFlex course design. The main feature of HyFlex is blending synchronous online student attendance and face-to-face student attendance (hybrid) in a single course and allowing students to choose when and how they attend (flexible). The course in this study implemented HyFlex principles to expand learning opportunities of adult graduate students in a higher education setting. The data collection sources included interviews of six graduate students, class observations, recordings of class meetings, students' course work, and relevant online course artifacts. Results indicated that participants perceived HyFlex to be a good way to accommodate student needs and their life circumstances, increase student access to course content and instruction, differentiate instruction to meet adult students' different learning styles and strategies, and give students a sense of control over their learning.