This paper describes a case study of one large asynchronous college-level organizational psychology class taught during COVID-19, in which a major intent was to develop virtual teamwork skills in students. A literature review yielded four challenges of virtual teams in higher education-communication, trust, connection and social bonding, and joint commitment and accountability. The course offered students an opportunity to authentically develop strategies to manage these challenges. Course design, team assignments, and instructional strategies utilized are described. Results from a survey completed by 89 (out of 115) students in the course revealed student-generated strategies and recommendations for virtual team collaboration.
Introduction
Dr. Brian J. Beatty wrote this book and it is a prominent book in the field of Hybrid-Flexible Course Design. The book was firstpublished in 2019 as an e-book and this open textbook is offered under a CC-BY open content license and then it was edited for the first time by the author in May 2022, and due to the consequences of the Corona era in higher education, sections were added to it. The book has two formats, PDF and online, both of which can be downloaded for free on the Open Textbook Library site. The number of pages in the book is 254 pages. The book describes the fundamental principles of designing a HyFlex course and illustrates a process for design and implementation factors that faculty have experienced in various higher education institutions. Generally, this book introduces and provides the fundamental principles of the strategies, techniques,and methods of Hybrid Flexible (HyFlex) course design. The audience of this book is educational designers, educational managers and policymakers, educators/ faculty and students, and all people involved in the process of design of Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) courses. In general, after reading the book, readers gain useful knowledge and information about of Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) course and will be able to design and implement an of Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) course in response to special needs and challenges.
The book consists of three units. Unit I explains the subject of Hybrid-Flexible course design to support student-directed learning paths and gives a clear and comprehensive overview of HyFlex. Unit II state the implementation and adoption of Hybrid-Flexible and is about applying HyFlex, finally Unit III: covers the subject of Hybrid-Flexible implementations around the world and gives many useful examples related to applying it in various settings.
Review Of The Book
Generally, the book consists of three units and 22 chapters. Unit I: Hybrid-Flexible course design to support student-directed learning paths: chapters 1-4, Unit II: Implementation and adoption of Hybrid-Flexible instruction: Chapters 1-5, Unit III: Hybrid-Flexible implementations around the world: Chapters 1-13. The chapters of each unit are separate and do not run along with each other. The book reviewer used two approaches and methodologies to review the book. The first step we provided based on the descriptive approach the essential information about specifications, content, and structure of the book then presented the goals of each chapter. Finally, the key features are described in the conclusion section with an analytical and critical perspective the book reviewer tries to analyze the book for the first time. The chapters of unit 1 explain the reasons why hybrid-flexible courses and programs are offered. At the beginning of the book, Dr. Beatty tries to refer to the experience of San Francisco State University in hybrid- flexible courses
The author of the book describes the values and principles of hybrid-flexible course design. Dr. Beatty believes that fundamental values in hybrid-flexible design are as follows learner choice, equivalency, reusability, and accessibility and the HyFlex course design is built upon four fundamental values. He states that these values are the basis and based on which, goals, organizational strategies, and activities are drawn. For example, in the learner choice principle, students should have the right to choose among teaching methods in choosing how to participate in completing their academic activities.
The chapters in unit 2 emphasize how a Hybrid-Flexible course is created and established, and the author tries to reflect on the experiences and views of professors, students, and professors in educational institutions These chapters reflect the experiences of The faculty in the field of in HyFlex and the author tries to portray their challenges and successes.
Dr. Beatty believes that four factors are very important from the experiences of professors and are effective in the effective teaching process. These four include (1) managing a multimodal learning environment, (2) workload, (3) student-instructor interaction, and (4) assessing learning progression.
Dr. Beatty state that we must be considered in HyFlex courses design to issues such as connecting students through common activities and shared experience, discussions drive connections among students, reflection discussions: a shared experience to connect students, reflection posts in practice, topical discussions: generative learning activities focused on course content, effective practices: overlapping discussions. The chapters in Unit III refer to the reports of universities and professors who have extensive practical experience in the field of Hybrid-Flexible courses in their environments. Each chapter describes how to design, implement, and evaluate Hybrid-Flexible courses. These reports and case studies provide a rich spectrum of Hybrid-Flexible courses that demonstrates a favorable approach and attitude to Hybrid-Flexible courses. In the following, we will try to briefly state the highlights of the chapters of Unit 3.
Conclusion
The reader can get a good view of the HyFlex approach and gain perspective and vision. This is a great resource for the reader who is attempting HyFlex implementation. The importance of the subject "HyFlex learning" in this book doubled during the COVID period.
If we want to point out a distinct feature of this book, we must say that the book is very appropriate for a text in a Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) course design. It covers a wide range of essential issues such as the values and principles of the Hybrid-Flexible course. The book consists of a regular format and structure. The initial units explain the basics of Hybrid-Flexible course design, and the final units focus on operational work and sample studies in this area, and each unit is divided into separate chapters. In addition, each chapter has its references and active access links. The book has valid and up-to-date scientific references, which gives students a foundation in theory and research in Hybrid-Flexible courses. It should also be noted that the subject of the book, entitled Hybrid-Flexible course design, is a new subject that has no history of extensive scientificresearch in this field and dates back to previous years, for this reason, this book is an outstanding work of its kind that has tried to explain itsdimensions and components by focusing on the subject of Hybrid-Flexible.
I believe this book provides readers with strategies, methods, and casestories related to Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) course design so that audiences be able to make decisions in their environments with the HyFlex course (re)design. In explaining the concepts tries to use obvious practical examples with newer information in the field of Hybrid-Flexible, and this feature of the book “theory along with practical examples” distinguishes it from similar books. Structurally, diagrams, tables, and chartstry to convey concepts to readers categorically and simply.
In my opinion, the order of presenting content from simple to difficult is one of the arts of the author in presenting the contents of the book.
Another interesting point of the book is the presentation of recorded educational videos with active access links to YouTube from students and faculty with experiences in the field of Flexible (HyFlex) course design, In my opinion, it can be interesting for the readers of the book and take them out of the monotony and boredom in reading the book
The author of the book is also a prominent person in this field. Dr. Brian Beatty works as an associate professor of instructional technologies in the Department of Equity, Leadership Studies, and Instructional Technologies at San Francisco State University. His areas of interest include social interaction in online learning, flipped classrooms, and developing instructional design theory for Hybrid-Flexible learning environments. Dr. Beatty is Known as a pioneer and leader in the development and evaluation of the HyFlex course design model for blended learning environments, at San Francisco State University. Dr. Beatty has more than 25 years of experienceas a classroom teacher, trainer, and instructional designer at schools, businesses, and universities.
The principles and guidelines of this book are considered as a kind of instruction with the help of which policymakers in the field of Hybrid-Flexible learning environments make important decisions based on these principles and attempts have been made to properly separate the duties and responsibilities of, faculty and students, and institutions policymakers in thefield of implementation of HyFlex course design.
The author of the book has tried to give examples of different types ofHyFlex course design models in different sections of this book. These models help the readers of the book to get a conceptual picture of the desiredtopics. One of the salient features of the book, which is perhaps less seen in other examples, is explaining the topic by providing simple and multiple categories in the proposed areas. Another highlight of the book is thepresentation of international research and case studies and information inthe field of the HyFlex course. The author has tried to clarify the concept of the HyFlex course for the readers of the book by presenting a body ofextensive research in the relevant field. I believe the author's goal was to say that the subject of the HyFlex course is an important and valuable subject that is being studied in many universities around the world.
The units and chapters of the book are very simple and fluent, the content is presented in general and in detail and a content sequence has been used. The language and expression of the book are simple and smooth. The book is not vague and confusing. The number of pages in each chapter is also short and does not bore the reader. The table of contents at the beginning of the book is a very useful guide for the reader, also the appendices are labeled and easily accessible and allow the readers to access other experts in the HyFlex field the authors of the book have used very attractive diagrams, figures, and graphs to describe and express the importance of the subject. One of the interesting points of this book is that in many of the projects and studies that the author reports as a case study, the author himself has acted as a consultant in these projects, which shows the author’s mastery over the research done.
Another visible point of the book is chapter 13.3, which asks readers to share their research in this area with the author to be included in later edited versions of the book and has an ongoing call for case report chapter proposals, also, one of the attractive features of the book is that in addition to the theoretical topics, it has also considered assignments for the readers to become more familiar with the design of training courses in a practical way at the end of the chapters. It also provides examples and case reports from universities and faculty who have had successful experiences in the field of designing of Hybrid-Flexible to familiarize readers.
If we want to point out some of the weaknesses of the book, we must say that this book does not use many images and visual effects; perhaps this point has slightly reduced the appearance of the book, because compared to minted books in recent years, paying attention to photos and color images has a great impact on readers’ learning, especially readers with visual learning styles. This is a well-crafted and organized text that is current and can aid in the adaption or adoption of a hybrid flex model of online education in higher education. In the end, it should be said that this book is a prominent, useful and, international book for researchers of hybrid and distributed learning.
