Décrire et comprendre l’apprentissage dans les dispositifs hybrides de formation

Abstract

Students entering higher education today are faced with a variety of hybrid and online learning environments. This research, conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, aims to address gaps in knowledge about the interactions between students’ characteristics, learning environments and the effects of these interactions. There is a lack of empirical research on questions such as: in what type of setting do students achieve meaningful learning? In this research, in order to identify patterns of variables associating certain student characteristics with their interactions with a hybrid learning environment and their learning experiences, two online questionnaires were sent at the beginning and end of their course to 52 students enrolled in four hybrid courses at the universities of Fribourg and Geneva (Switzerland). The theoretical framework of this exploratory research and the related data collection instruments open up concrete perspectives for understanding the complex interactions between student diversity and training schemes. Four sets of variables are considered: 1) student characteristics, 2) characteristics of the learning environments, 3) mediating variables relating to student-environment interactions and 4) effects on learning. The results highlight specific configurations characterising the diversity of interactions between students and learning environments. The conclusions suggest avenues for future research as well as practical implications for the future transformation of higher education.

Keywords

• hybrid learning environment
• higher education
• exploratory research
• evaluation