Developing an Instrument for Assessing University Students’ Engagement in Hybrid Learning

Abstract

Practices of online and hybrid teaching and learning remain ambiguous across universities. This situation has encouraged research focusing on the effectiveness of their implementation and the strategies used in conducting hybrid teaching and learning. Hybrid teaching and learning enable simultaneous instruction through both in-person and remote methods. Such flexibility introduces new opportunities for students and represents a novel educational approach for university courses. In response, universities have begun developing and implementing criteria for hybrid instruction. However, hybrid teaching and learning are in early stages; additional validated criteria are required. There are limited instruments available to assess these criteria and the factors necessary for effective hybrid teaching and learning. This paper aims to develop a robust instrument to evaluate current hybrid learning engagement in hybrid classrooms. The proposed instrument has been tested and validated across a set of 29 items. Reliability and validity were established. For the reliability test, the values of Cronbach’s Alpha range from 0.84 to 0.94. For the validity test, factor analysis presents factor loadings ranging from 0.55 to 0.88. The instrument is ready for assessing students’ engagement in terms of skills, emotion, participation, and performance. It provides opportunities for students and lecturers with guidance and direction towards high engagement.