The 2012 ASHS Annual Conference

A substantial portion of students enrolled in the Landscape and Horticulture Technology Program at Valencia College are employed either full-time or part time.  This results in difficulties in enrolling in face-to-face courses and limits the total number of courses taken per semester.  A possible solution to this problem includes the use of fully online and/or hybrid courses.  One of the main reasons for students enrolling in these types of courses is the scheduling convenience factor.  Lectures and assignments are scheduled around the student’s schedule, allowing him/her to continue with employment while enrolling for as many courses as time and/or funds permit.  Students in the A.S. Degree program for Landscape and Horticulture Technology at Valencia College, as well as potential students spoken to at two trade shows/conferences in Florida, have expressed interest in either fully online or hybrid courses.  There are currently several institutions throughout the state and nation offering these types of courses.  These institutions offer both the same A.S. Degree as Valencia College and one offers a Bachelor’s in Science in Horticulture.  In most cases, the effectiveness of these types of courses (online or hybrid) on student learning has been shown to be comparable to student learning in face-to-face courses. The purpose of this research was to develop and implement three hybrid course units for HOS 1010C (Introduction to Landscape and Horticulture Technology), then to assess if student learning utilizing the combination of online lectures with face-to-face labs would be comparable with the level of student learning achieved in fully face-to-face courses.  This could further lead to the development of complete hybrid courses, where lectures are online and labs are held face-to-face.  The data compared was obtained from a combination of summative and formative course-embedded assessments.  The summative assessments includes specific questions on tests related to the three hybrid course units, while the formative assessment includes informal surveys (face-to-face) before or during classes as well as a formal survey (online) after course completion.  This information allowed the researcher to reflect on the effectiveness of hybrid course units compared to face-to-face course units. By comparing this data, it was demonstrated that the hybrid units were as effective in student learning.