Hybrids. Animals such as wholphins, ligers and tigons are hybrids as are varieties of tomatoes, melons and bell peppers. A new hybrid has emerged at UNM that is being explored by those in biology, English, Religious Studies and other College of Arts and Sciences departments: the hybrid class. “Hybrid” is the name for courses that combine face-to-face classroom instruction with computer-based learning.
Photo: A hybrid liger.
An example would be a class that currently has 250 students where half attend the class one day per week while the other half attends online. The second scheduled meeting the groups switch.
“Using online electronic instruction we’re using technology to engage collaboration between students, professors and material,” said Scott Sanders, professor, Department of English. Interim Dean Vera Norwood named Sanders the point person in her initiative to assess the use of online technology to address enrollment pressures.
A Pew Grant study showed that hybrid courses maximize classroom space, decrease the number of students shut out of needed courses, improve retention and success and reduce costs, Sanders said.
“Online technology is being used to transform pedagogy,” Sanders said. Fears about the impersonal nature of online courses reducing engagement with students are unwarranted, he said, adding that the time online engages students with one another and the material.
“Through Web CT we can create online student groups. In a class of 100, the professor can create 10 groups of 10 students. Each group can be responsible to prepare and present material to the rest of the class. The students interact with each other electronically, which seldom occurs in large lectures,” he said.
Courses considered for “hybridization” this fall are biology courses 237 and 238, in anatomy and physiology. Jim Swan, biology lecturer II, has been teaching the courses for 10 years at UNM and for an additional 15 years in Florida.
“I anticipate it will be helpful in reducing the tedium as we review anatomy part by part. They will be able to read more on their own and create charts and graphs,” Swan said. He also said he is looking into creating online groups by area of interest since the course is required by all pre med, nursing and med tech majors.
Swan also said he is considering using a classroom response system to quiz students. “I will be able to assess who knows the material and who doesn’t,” he said.
With 250 students currently enrolled in these courses and only half physically attending each class, enrollment can be boosted by 50.
“By increasing the enrollment to 300, we increase by 25 percent the number of students who can take the class,” Sanders said.
Sanders said that technology used in psychology, anthropology and elsewhere in the arts and sciences is effective in student retention and success.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at May 16, 2006 05:06 PM