Will Hybrid Course Formats Attract Additional Enrollment?

Hybrid course formats combine online and face-to-face learning.  Two hybrid format undergraduate courses were offered by the Department of Horticultural Science, of in Fall 2008. In both courses, lectures and lecture-related exercises were delivered online for asynchronous student access with a weekly refresh cycle, while laboratory sections met weekly in a traditional face-to-face manner.   Plant Propagation is a 1000-level course required of Horticulture majors and also chosen by students across the university to fulfill a required liberal education credit in the biological sciences.  Vines and Wines is a 1000-level elective course restricted to students who have attained the age of majority because sensory evaluation exercises in the laboratory sessions involve wine consumption. 

The purpose of this study was to determine, based on end-of-course surveys, whether the hybrid course format itself, or other factors, were determinants for students choosing to enroll in these courses.  This information could be useful in developing strategies for increasing enrollment in horticulture courses. 

Seventy-seven percent of Plant Propagation students agreed (A) or strongly agreed (SA) that the hybrid nature of the course positively influenced their decision to enroll in the course.  Eighty-two percent (A+SA) of these students noted that the scheduling flexibility afforded by the hybrid course was important to their decision.  Limiting the face-to-face laboratory sessions to one per week (68% A+SA), and holding these sessions in the evening (64% A+SA) were also important factors promoting enrollment in the hybrid course.

In contrast, most Vines and Wines students (56%) felt that the hybrid format of the course neither encouraged nor discouraged their decision to enroll, however 28% (A+SA) noted that the hybrid nature was a positive factor.   Scheduling flexibility was important to many Vines and Wines students (47% A+SA), but a similar number of students were neutral (44%).  Like the Plant Propagation students, Vines and Wines students agreed that limiting the face-to-face sessions to one per week (75% A+SA) held in the evening (78% A+S) were important factors in their decision to enroll. 

The availability of face to face, hands-on laboratories was one of the strongest factors encouraging student enrollment in Plant Propagation (77% A+SA) and Vines and Wines (87% A+SA), although likely for different reasons.  The laboratory section in Plant Propagation is essential for students to obtain liberal education credit in the biological sciences, while the Vines and Wines laboratory highlights sensory evaluation of wine.