Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, course delivery modes during the 2020-2021 academic year included a Bimodal option, a flexible option for faculty and students. The start of the 2021-2022 academic year has seen a return to UHCL's standard delivery modes as described on the UHCL webpage Fall 2021 Course Modes. Although many programs and instructors were excited to return to something approaching "normal" instruction, one program has elected to offer their degree in a new delivery mode known as HyFlex.
Led by Director of Nursing and Assistant Profession Dr. Karen Alexander, Nursing's RN-BSN Program embraced the challenge in 2020 to design their courses for HyFlex delivery. As described in the program's flyer for prospective students, "HyFlex courses allow you to choose your preferred method of learning: online, face-to-face or a combination of both. You can change your mode of attendance weekly or by topic, based on your needs." All ten required courses were designed and developed for launch in the FA21 semester. For each HyFlex course in the semester schedule, students can select the face-to-face delivery mode or 100% online delivery as their preferred instructional mode. Once classes are underway, those students can then switch from in-person, synchronous online, or asynchronous online attendance and participation each week to suit their needs and schedule. Some of the technologies and tools used by Nursing faculty to provide this degree of flexibility include the following:
- Each class session is both streamed live and recorded. Zoom live video conferencing sessions for each class meeting are automatically uploaded to the instructor's Echo360 video library. From there, instructors can readily link to or embed the videos directly into their Blackboard courses for student access to the recorded sessions.
- Within Zoom, instructors can add polling (questions) to their class as part of the live session video. In-person and synchronous online students can respond to questions, alerting instructors to topics in need of further clarification.
- Each course in the program uses various Blackboard tools, including assignment drop-boxes, journals, rubrics, discussions, and group tools, all of which contribute to a rich learning environment.
- Careful design and development of varied and rich contents, in addition to the recorded Zoom class meetings, made available to students in their Blackboard courses.
- Consistent structure for each class meeting to support both synchronous and asynchronous student needs.
- Learner-centric, highly engaging, and authentic activities and assessments throughout the course, designed to align with both course- and program-level outcomes, as well as with real-world professional needs.
- Course communications between instructors and students and peer-to-peer interactions promote a shared educational experience, regardless of shifting delivery modes.
With the courses only one week into their inaugural offerings, we look forward to hearing more from Dr. Alexander and the Nursing faculty about what works well and what adjustments may need to be made for future semesters. We hope that everyone will join us in mid-October when CETL and the IDT team join the Nursing faculty for a showcase event at Pearland and in Bayou Atrium I. Dates and times for those events will be shared with the campus as soon as details are finalized.
