ONLINE EARTH SCIENCE AT EMPORIA STATE UNIVERSITY: AN EXAMPLE OF SUCCESSFUL HYBRID ONLINE/ON-CAMPUS TEACHING

Online courses are becoming an important addition to many earth science programs. ESU has offered upper-level, undergraduate, earth science courses online since 1996 in an asynchronous online and synchronous in-person mode, also known as the hybrid model (Martyn, 2003). Online and on-campus students enroll concurrently in our courses and access web-based lectures and assignments via the internet and learning management systems such as Blackboard. Distance learners engage in weekly, one-on-one dialog with the instructor and classmates, while on-campus undergraduate students meet weekly in a face-to-face classroom lecture. Class blogs, biographic exchanges, and group projects unite the two populations, offering traditional undergraduates at our small regional university an opportunity to learn the perspectives of non-traditional, online learners from all parts of the world, and online learners a chance to engage with others. Communication made online allows time for reflection, construction of thoughtful, well-prepared responses, and a higher level of scholarly discourse than often occurs in face-to-face meetings. Intense weekend field trips, required in some courses (e.g. Field Geomorphology, Environmental Field Methods) and optional in others (Hydrogeology, Ice Age Environments, Wetlands), provide students with field-based experiences and hands-on exposure to equipment. The field trips are commonly cited as course high points in student evaluations. Most courses require completion of a web-based term project, either singly or in small groups, which is posted on the university’s server after students have taken the time to reflect on, and respond to, detailed instructor’s comments. The hybrid teaching model has grown in popularity among both our traditional and online students. Enrollments in our upper-level hybrid courses have grown faster than in on-campus only courses, allowing us to offer essential courses more frequently and better serve the needs of our Earth Science majors.