Running Head: MOTIVATING STUDENTS WITH HYBRID

Motivating and Engaging History Students with Hybrid Learning

Andrew Southwell
ETD 624
Saginaw Valley State University
October 30th, 2015

Abstract

MOTIVATING STUDENTS WITH HYBRID

This literature review explored the potential for hybrid classrooms to motivate and engage high
school history students. The research had been conducted around the question: How can hybrid
learning be utilized in a traditional high school history classroom to enhance motivation and
student engagement? The research examined pertained to the motivation of history students and
the effects of technology and online learning when combined with a traditional classroom. This
research found that there was a strong correlation between hybrid learning and increased students
motivation and engagement. In addition to the great number of successful applications of hybrid
learning the review also examined successful integration of technology into a history classroom
and the vital components of effective online learning.

Keywords: hybrid learning, blended learning, technology integration, history education, high
school

MOTIVATING STUDENTS WITH HYBRID

Table of Contents
Abstract....2
Literature Review.4
Motivating in a Tech-rich Classroom..4
Hybrid Classroom Preparation7
Hybrid Classroom Benefits.9
Conclusion.11
References.13

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Literature Review
For classroom teachers, the challenge of motivating and engaging students was as old as
the profession of teaching itself. This was particularly important in a history classroom where
traditional education led to a stereotype of long lectures as the predominate instructional method.
Although these challenges were sure to continue for teaching as a profession, the digital
technology that allowed individuals to communicate quickly with the world around us also
offered teachers the opportunity to engage students in a new and different way. Through the
exposure to this pervasive digital communication most students came already prepared to be
digital learners and use online classrooms (Deng & Tavares, 2015). Online classrooms allowed
students to learn new material remote from the traditional classroom. This type of learning meant
that online students could learn largely at their own pace. Online classrooms also allowed
students in multiple locations to communicate without the need to actually meet face-to-face.
The hybrid model of learning also emerged from this type of technology by combining both
traditional and online classrooms. Hybrid classrooms allowed teachers to capitalize on this by
providing both online and face-to-face instruction. The literature on this topic had demonstrated
that there was a great deal of benefit in terms of student motivation and engagement for high
school history teachers to utilize.
Motivation in a Tech-rich Classroom
One of the major challenges of a technology integrated classroom was that it often
required students to dig into their motivation reserves and left teachers looking for new ways to
keep students motivated to complete the learning tasks. Some teachers found that independent
student learning in an online classroom required more motivation than it provided students
(Adams, Randall, & Traustadottir, 2015). Without the addition of a classroom teacher to remind

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students of classroom requirements, student learning in an online classroom fell largely on the
student. The online model of learning involved no face-to-face interaction with the teacher. This
also required student to follow the prescribed nature of the course that had been established by
the instructor without the instructor present to tell student how to navigate each assignment.
Further, it required the student to work at an appropriate pace that would allow the student to
effectively complete the course requirements without falling behind and potentially missing
credit through the course. Although teachers had found initial pushback and lack of motivation
from students in regard to the use of an online classroom, some have found that, although
students did not start out motivated to use the online classroom, positive online experiences
increased student confidence and desire to use online classes in the future (Clayton, Blumberg, &
Auld, 2010). As students gained experience in online learning they felt more empowered to take
courses in the online format. This confidence in online learning meant that students were more
likely to prefer online learning in the future. Other teachers found that the addition of new
technology was a motivating factor. A study of 17 teachers in a technology training program
found that students were more motivated to learn simply with the introduction of technology
(Zhao, 2007). When technology was the sole change in the classroom, this translated to greater
student motivation. Successful experience with this new medium combined with the potential
differences in learning environment seemed to provide students with the desire to use this type of
learning environment more often.
The interactive elements of technology-rich classrooms also intrinsically motivated
students (Delialioglu, 2004). In a study of 68 graduate students, participants who took the hybrid
class option, as opposed to the traditional in-class or online only sections, reported a stronger
sense of community than in the other two version of the class (Rovai & Hope, 2004). It seemed

MOTIVATING STUDENTS WITH HYBRID

that combining the benefits of an online classroom with the personal attention of an instructor
and interaction with other students face-to-face provided students with more human connection
This combination of learning experiences appeared to have led to a greater sense of community
in the hybrid format as opposed to the others. Elements of this type of community created
through online learning, including positive student-teacher relationship and interaction with
peers, have proven to be highly motivating to students (Tran, 2013). Students inherently enjoyed
collaborating and discussing with peers, which provided them with a motivation to work toward
comprehension of material in order to participate in this collaboration with peers. Students also
enjoyed using technology elements like discussion boards as a way to work with peers to discuss
documents they were studying (Lyons 2004). Technology simulated the type of live discussion
interaction that students would receive in a traditional classroom, but allowed students additional
time to learn and formulate responses. Interactive technology elements motivated students
through social and intellectual interactions with peers and stronger communication ties to the
classroom teacher than would have been possible with the allotted time in a traditional
classroom. Students could think about and formulate responses without the time constraints of
the traditional classroom, which could have led to more student participation in the discussion
than would have been seen in a traditional classroom. Particularly, collaboration between peers
in online learning created positive motivation for students (Gasiewsko, Eagan, Garcia, Hurtado,
& Chang, 2011). Also, the type of learning experiences that were experienced with an online
classroom, video, audio, and simulated environments, provided students with different types of
learning tasks with more ease than in a traditional classroom.

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Hybrid Classroom Preparation

Most of the planning and preparation for an effective hybrid classroom occurred before
students even began using the hybrid model. All of the elements of an online or hybrid classroom
were in place and learning tasks were already structured in advance of the student interacting
with the learning site to ensure a fluid and comprehensive learning environment for students.
This required teachers to put more work time into the front end of a course. The literature
pointed to many key components of a successful hybrid classroom and a great deal of it had to do
with pre-planning and teacher knowledge.
Teachers must have had varied pedagogical knowledge in order to successfully
implement a hybrid model (Doering, 2008). This was true for teachers in a traditional classroom
as well, and there was exception with the addition of learning technology. Combining online
learning with in class teaching in a hybrid classroom did not fix ineffective teaching. The same
pedagogical skills valued by traditional classroom teachers were also important to a successful
online or hybrid classroom. In fact, teacher knowledge of effective pedagogy was more
important than the delivery method (Aly, 2013). Good teaching methods were, however,
enhanced by online learning because it made variation of learning strategies easier and this led to
significant learning for students (Oliver & Trigwell, 2005). The online classroom allowed
teachers to facilitate the best pedagogical practice with students in a fluid manner that allowed
students the opportunity to experience more variations of learning activities and in a variety of
learning styles. A traditional classroom teacher would not have been able to accomplish this
amount of variations in learning in the same amount of time.
Teacher predisposition and experience with technology was also an important factor as
these factors led to more successful technology integration (Doppen, 2004). Just like the

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experience of students who grew more comfortable with learning through technology, this type
of successful experience and positive predisposition to technology from the teachers determined
a teachers success in implementing technology in the classroom. This meant that teachers who
had more experience and a more positive view of technology in general, where more successful
at implementing technology, like hybrid or online classrooms, in their classroom.
Specifically, hybrid classrooms were used to efficiently utilize history education best
practice. Best practice in history had long been concerned with creating experiences where
students were required to think like a historical and participating in historical inquiry. Primary
documents and historical documents were very important for students to understand history and
for helping students to perform better on standardized testing (Warren & Wilson, 2007). They
also allowed student to become active thinkers in the process of historical thinking. The use of
primary documents in the classroom, particularly by students in a critical thinking process, was
important to the students understanding of history content and historical thinking skills. When
combined with a digital format, students identified that they have a better understanding and
historical context for what they learned (Edward, 2014). Having these important documents in
digital format provided students and teachers with flexibility and more broad access than ever
before (John 2002). Teachers no longer had to be concerned with the number of papers and the
distribution required to keep primary document constantly accessible to students. Not only could
these documents be presented in digital format for students by the instructor, but many of them
were also readily available online to be used at any time without the additional work required of
the teacher to upload the individual documents. These could also be accessed by the student at
any time, which allowed the students flexibility in when and how they reviewed material. This
represented a shift from limited exposure to primary documents in the traditional classroom to

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potentially unlimited access to digital primary document in an online classroom. This additional
exposure to primary documents could be used to further facilitate better understanding of
historical content, as well as, reinforce student skills in historical inquiry.
Using additional digital material to, like art collections, music, and voice clips,
supplement instruction, further enhanced instruction (Lyons, 2004). This allowed students to
learn history with more variety in learning styles and multiple media formats. With the addition
of digital media, attitudes toward history content increased positively through the course (Ulbig,
2009). This was attributed to student interest in digital format or it could be attributed to the
variety of styles in which student received information which could have provided students with
a variety of way to learn history content. Students seemed to connect better to content when they
were able to see, hear, and experience the content for themselves. Success with digital media had
the ability to easily be integrated into the model of hybrid learning.
Hybrid Classroom Benefits
Benefits of a using a hybrid classroom were numerous and clearly demonstrated by the
literature. By enhancing best teaching practices with hybrid learning, teachers saw a number of
positive benefits in student engagement and motivation. Online classrooms alone had proven to
be successful instructional tools with students expressing an increase in motivation through
online learning tools as opposed to traditional classroom learning (Gasiewsko, Eagan, Garcia,
Hurtado, & Chang, 2011). Online students often performed significantly better than students in
traditional classrooms (Dolan, 2008). Student scores on the same content were higher simply
through the difference in the way student accessed the content.
Benefits were further increased by adding face-to face support to online learning.
McFarlin (2008) set out to determine if adding an online component to the traditional classroom

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10

would increase student performance in a course. Students were given the same content through
the course of a semester. In the traditional classroom, students attended three total hours of inclass lecture per week. The hybrid model split this time into two components. The introductory
lecture would be delivered as a self-pace interactive PowerPoint and the second lecture session
would be in person in a traditional classroom. This required students to prepare for the traditional
class time in advance as students were required to complete and pass a quiz following each
online session. Performance in the class was based on the two exams and final grade for the
same content. In hybrid classes, students outperformed traditional students grade-wise by 1118% with the gap increasing throughout the semester (McFarlin, 2008). The human element of
the classroom demonstrated a sizeable increase as compared to other available classroom
formats. This study showed that hybrid learning provided the best of each learning environment
when providing the same content in different formats.
Students identified that their belief of the benefits of online learning also increased with
continued use throughout a semester (Knowles & Kerkman 2007). This undoubtedly meant that
students were more engaged in learning with a combined face-to-face and online classroom. A
majority of students said that adding technology made history content more interesting (AlexiouRay, Wilson, Wright, & Peirano, 2003). When face-to-face content was combined with online
learning, students reported feeling more motivated and a strong majority of students enjoyed the
change in format (Arms, 2012). In this case, students often appreciated the unifying aspect of the
teacher in the traditional classroom, but found that adding the online component to learning
allowed them to take liberties with their own learning. Students also expressed that they found
the online component kept the learning focused and made efficient use of time by not requiring
the organization of physical space and facilitation of in class tasks. Student also enjoyed using

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11

21st century skills as applied in the asynchronous learning of discussion boards. The online
addition also required that all students participate and students thought that more original ideas
where shared in this way.
In many ways, online learning required that students participated and gave them more
time to do so. This was particularly true with the use of online discussions where teachers
noticed an increased level of participation and self-sufficiency (Vess, 2004). One student
identified why they were more likely to participate by explaining that an online discussion gave
the student more opportunity to speak than they would traditionally have had in a classroom.
Students felt more prepared because the online format gave them more time to prepare for the
discussion. Even more, students explained that they enjoyed online discussion and indicated that
they believed that they got more information and understanding of the content through online
discussion, particularly of primary documents (Westermann, 2014). Teachers could even notice
an increase in engaged and motivated behavior in the classroom.
The increase of technology solutions in the classroom led to a decrease of observable
withdrawn and uncooperative behavior from students (Goodin, 2012). In a study of the
introduction of technology to a secondary level history classroom, Goodin found that
unmotivated and disengaged behaviors were greatly decreased when a technology intervention
was being utilized. This further reinforced that technology in itself helped students employ
motivated and engaged learning and that the introduction of simple technology tools can have an
instant effect on students and the learning process.

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12

Conclusion
Combining online learning with face-to-face classroom instruction had the potential to
increase student motivation and engagement greater than tradition or online classroom
instruction alone. While still keeping personal contact with students, teachers were also able to
use the efficient, organizing, and engaging components of online learning. Furthermore, students
clearly seemed to prefer options and content provided by having both online and face-to-face
learning. Students consistently identified the benefits of having both online learning
opportunities in addition to the traditional classroom. Benefits included: self-paced learning,
more opportunities for discussion, efficient use of time, and enhanced delivery methods. These
factors lead to an increase in motivation and engagement in students. Although best teaching
practice was the most important factor for student learning, teachers were able to incorporate
technology to enhance student learning and further encouraged students to stay motivated and
engaged in course material.

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13

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