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Student Engagement in the HyFlex and Online Classrooms: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Abstract

Student engagement is determined by the degree to which students perceive that their psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are met as prescribed. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its sudden and dramatic shift to mandatory HyFlex (alternating online and face-to-face student attendance) or online learning only, meant less or no face-to-face interactions with peers and faculty, which had an impact on student motivation and engagement in the classroom, as reflected in the National Survey of Student Engagement. This new educational landscape will likely remain in effect to a certain extent, and, thus, there is a need for a deeper understanding of its impact on students’ basic psychological needs and ultimately their engagement in the classroom. Building on self-determination theory and self-system processes, we studied 329 student responses to a survey conducted at a private Northeastern university in the United States and analyzed. We found that the impact of need for autonomy on student engagement is mediated by need for competence, and need for relatedness is directly impacting student engagement. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in detail.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Duquesne University, 600 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA, 15282, USA

    Karoly Bozan & Claire Stoner

  2. Mariott School of Business, Brigham Young University, Campus Dr, Provo, UT, 84602, USA

    James Gaskin

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  1. Karoly Bozan
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  2. James Gaskin
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  3. Claire Stoner
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Correspondence to Karoly Bozan.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 5.

Table 5 Univariate statistics of measures
Full size table

Appendix 2

(A) Measures.

Construct

Variable

Measure

Class

Class

What is your current class standing?

Gender

Gender

Male/female

HyFlex length

HyFlexLength

How long have you been using Hyflex learning module?

Online length

OnlineLength

How long have you been part of (as a student) some form of online course delivery?

Grit (Duckworth a Quinn, 2009; Von Culin et al., 2014)

Gr_1

New ideas and projects sometimes distract me from previous ones

Gr_2

I have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short period of time but later lost interest

Gr_3

I often set a goal but later choose to pursue a different one

Gr_4

I have difficulty maintaining my focus on projects that takes more than a few months to complete

Gr_5*

Setbacks don't discourage me

Student engagement (Chemers et al., 2001; Gore, 2006; Khan, 2013; Pajares & Schunk, 2001)

SE_1

Study effectively on your own in independent/private study

SE_2*

Respond to questions asked by a lecturer in front of everyone

SE_3

Manage your workload to meet coursework deadlines

SE_4

Produce your best work in coursework assignments

SE_5

Ask your instructor questions about the material they are presenting

Student teacher relationship (Klem & Connell, 2004; Micari & Pazos, 2012)

TS_1*

My professor likes the other students in my class better than me

TS_2*

My professor doesn’t explain why we have to learn certain things in my class

TS_3

My professor thinks what I say is important

TS_4

My professor is fair with me

TS_5

My professor's expectations of me are reasonable

STR_1

My professor is the kind of professional I would like to emulate, regardless of the career I end up pursuing

STR_2

I feel comfortable asking my professor questions in class

STR_3

In general, my professor respects the academic abilities of the students in the class

STR_4*

I see my professor as a role model

STR_5

I feel comfortable going to my professor's office hours and receive the expected help

STR_6

My professor respects me as a person

Learning confidence (Wang, 2013)

LC_1*

I am often too busy with my work responsibilities and it negatively impacts my school performance

LC_2*

I am well versed using the Internet to find suitable learning resources when I feel stuck during my studies

LC_3*

I feel I have difficulty using computers and the Internet to successfully participate in online classes

LC_4

I often feel lonely and discouraged when studying for classes

LC_5

It harms my studies that I have little chance to learn together with fellow students

LC_6*

I feel my grades are aligned what I expected from my online classes

Grading fairness (Ross & Broh, 2000; York et al., 2015)

GF_1*

What is your expected GPA for the semester you are taking (or have taken) online classes?

GF_2

I believe my GPA reflects my effort I put in my studies

GF_3

I believe my GPA reflects my knowledge in my classes

GF_4*

I feel Hyflex/online class contributes to my learning better than in-person class

GF_5*

I believe I could have better learning in-person than Hyflex/online

  1. *Omitted due to undermining construct validity

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Bozan, K., Gaskin, J. & Stoner, C. Student Engagement in the HyFlex and Online Classrooms: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. Tech Know Learn 29, 509–536 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-023-09661-x

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