Hybrid flexible (HyFlex) teaching and learning: climbing the mountain of implementation challenges for synchronous online and face-to-face seminars during a pandemic

TY - JOUR

T1 - Hybrid flexible (HyFlex) teaching and learning

T2 - climbing the mountain of implementation challenges for synchronous online and face-to-face seminars during a pandemic

AU - Detyna, Michael

AU - Sanchez-Pizani, Rodrigo

AU - Giampietro, Vincent

AU - Dommett, Eleanor J.

AU - Dyer, Kyle

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).

PY - 2022/4/5

Y1 - 2022/4/5

N2 - In 2020, King’s College London introduced HyFlex teaching as a means to supplement online and face-to-face teaching and to respond to Covid-19 restrictions. This enabled teaching to a mixed cohort of students (both online and on campus). This article provides an outline of how such an approach was conceptualized and implemented in a higher-education institution during an intense three-month period over that summer and prior to the limited re-opening of the university campus. This was a new approach that offers a number of pointers for reflection and provides key insights in on this novel learning environment and the physical and pedagogical contexts in which learning can occur. Technical implementation factors are detailed, along with both reflections on challenges and solutions. Pedagogical issues such as cognitive load, social presence, and resolving the issues of a cohort spread across two locations are discussed. While we should be mindful of the limitations of this relatively-specific research, and shouldn’t therefore over-extrapolate our findings, one key finding is that delivering Hyflex is associated with a higher cognitive load. Further, the audio quality of our implementation enhanced the feeling of presence in the learning environment. We recommend providing appropriate technical and pedagogical training, as well as audio-visual and digital education support.

AB - In 2020, King’s College London introduced HyFlex teaching as a means to supplement online and face-to-face teaching and to respond to Covid-19 restrictions. This enabled teaching to a mixed cohort of students (both online and on campus). This article provides an outline of how such an approach was conceptualized and implemented in a higher-education institution during an intense three-month period over that summer and prior to the limited re-opening of the university campus. This was a new approach that offers a number of pointers for reflection and provides key insights in on this novel learning environment and the physical and pedagogical contexts in which learning can occur. Technical implementation factors are detailed, along with both reflections on challenges and solutions. Pedagogical issues such as cognitive load, social presence, and resolving the issues of a cohort spread across two locations are discussed. While we should be mindful of the limitations of this relatively-specific research, and shouldn’t therefore over-extrapolate our findings, one key finding is that delivering Hyflex is associated with a higher cognitive load. Further, the audio quality of our implementation enhanced the feeling of presence in the learning environment. We recommend providing appropriate technical and pedagogical training, as well as audio-visual and digital education support.

KW - Dual mode

KW - Higher education

KW - Hybrid flexible

KW - HyFlex

KW - Innovation

KW - Learning space

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85127548871&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10984-022-09408-y

DO - 10.1007/s10984-022-09408-y

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85127548871

SN - 1387-1579

JO - Learning Environments Research

JF - Learning Environments Research

ER -