Vol. 31 No. 1 (2016)
Research Articles

Opting in or Opting out: The Role of Hybrid Learning Course Design on Student Persistence Decisions in an Indigenous Pre-Nursing Transitions Program

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Biographical NOTE
  • Kathy Snow
Kathy Snow
Cape Breton University
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Published 2016-07-22

Keywords

  • Access program,
  • Indigenous pedagogy,
  • persistence,
  • adult learners,
  • hybrid learning

How to Cite

Snow, K. (2016). Opting in or Opting out: The Role of Hybrid Learning Course Design on Student Persistence Decisions in an Indigenous Pre-Nursing Transitions Program. International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education Revue Internationale Du E-Learning Et La Formation à Distance, 31(1). Retrieved from https://ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/948
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Abstract

Transitions programs to support non-traditional students have a long history in Canada.  Despite investment in these programs over more than thirty years, there still exists a considerable gap between Indigenous students’ graduation rates and those of their non-Indigenous counterparts, with significant numbers of students dropping out of university programs within the first year. At the same time hybrid learning has been posed as an innovation that stands to disrupt current educational paradigms. The goal of this small scale exploratory case study was to determine what attributes of the design and structure of a hybrid learning environment encouraged positive persistence decisions for Indigenous students. The results of this case study describe the complexity of decisions made by Indigenous students when choosing to participate in a learning event. Further, the results highlighted the importance of flipped learning design and support that takes into account Indigenous pedagogy.

Les programmes de transitions pour soutenir les étudiants non traditionnels ont une longue histoire au Canada. Malgré l'investissement dans ces programmes depuis plus de trente ans, il existe encore un écart considérable entre les taux d’obtention du diplôme des étudiants autochtones et ceux de leurs homologues non autochtones, avec un nombre important d'étudiants qui abandonnent des programmes universitaires au cours de la première année. Parallèlement, l'apprentissage hybride a été représenté comme une innovation qui se tient à perturber les paradigmes éducatifs actuels. Le but de cette étude de cas exploratoire à petite échelle était de déterminer quels attributs de la conception et de la structure d'un environnement d'apprentissage hybride ont encouragé les décisions de persistance positive pour les étudiants autochtones. Les résultats de cette étude de cas décrivent la complexité des décisions prises par les étudiants autochtones lorsqu’ils choisissent de participer à un événement d'apprentissage. En outre, les résultats ont mis en évidence l'importance de la conception de l'apprentissage renversé et du soutien qui tient compte de la pédagogie autochtone.

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Biographical NOTE

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