Equity in HyFlex Classes
Students have a great deal of power over their own schedules in HyFlex courses, and therefore they may seem to be a more equitable choice than regular hybrid or in-person courses. But there are a few things to look out for as instructors plan their HyFlex courses in order to assure they are equitable for all students:
- Favoring one group of students over the other: Be aware that students choose whether to come to in-person, online synchronous, or online asynchronous class for their own personal reasons. Don't assume that in-person students are "go getters" and online asynchronous students are trying to "just get by." Instead, remember that HyFlex will bring in several different populations of students, each with its own needs in terms of scheduling, interactivity, and social connection.
- Making once-required material optional: It can be a real challenge to set up activities and some course material so they can be used by multiple populations of students, and one way to "solve" this difficulty might be to make certain activities "optional" and available only in one of your delivery modalities. This choice should be subject to a high level of scrutiny because it sets up a lack of parity in the course. All students, regardless how they choose to come to class, must be offered activities and content that allows them to meet the same outcomes as everyone else. This means that if you simply must make an activity "in-person only," for example, then you must have an equally effective activity for students who interact with your class in other ways.
- Assuming no one will come to the in-person class: One argument that we hear in OIR regularly is that if all course content is online, no one will come to the in-person version of the class. The experiences we gained from the COVID epidemic should teach us the opposite is true: in-person contact can offer important social connection for students as well as other less measurable benefits. Rather than worrying that students won't attend in-person lectures, think about developing activities that leverage the in-person contact so students find the in-person classes relevant and interesting.