Stratégies favorisant l’engagement des étudiants dans des modalités de cours hybrides en enseignement supérieur

Cette thèse porte sur les stratégies mises en place par les enseignants pour favoriser l’engagement des étudiants dans les cours hybrides en enseignement supérieur et sur l’influence de ces stratégies sur l’engagement des étudiants dans ces cours, selon une perspective multidimensionnelle. Les différentes modalités de cours hybrides (cours hybrides traditionnels, en ligne ou mixtes), qui combinent des activités d’enseignement et d’apprentissage synchrones en présentiel ou en ligne avec des activités d’enseignement et d’apprentissage asynchrones en ligne, sont de plus en plus populaires en enseignement supérieur. L’engagement des étudiants dans ces cours, qui a notamment des retombées sur leur persévérance, leurs apprentissages en profondeur et leur réussite académique, est toutefois encore peu étudié dans la littérature scientifique. En particulier, cette dernière n’a jusqu’ici apporté que des informations parcellaires sur la façon dont les enseignants peuvent favoriser l’engagement des étudiants (et ses différentes dimensions) dans les cours hybrides, ci-après dénommées stratégies d’engagement des étudiants. Suite à la recension des écrits et à la définition des trois concepts clés à la base de cette recherche doctorale, soit les cours hybrides en enseignement supérieur, l’engagement des étudiants dans ces cours et les stratégies d’engagement des étudiants, trois objectifs spécifiques ont été déterminés : (O1) décrire les stratégies d’engagement des étudiants, selon les enseignants, dans les cours hybrides en enseignement supérieur, (O2) construire une classification des stratégies d’engagement des étudiants dans les cours hybrides en enseignement supérieur, (O3) analyser l’influence des catégories de stratégies sur l’engagement des étudiants dans les cours hybrides en enseignement supérieur, selon une perspective multidimensionnelle d’engagement. Une méthodologie mixte séquentielle exploratoire a été adoptée dans cette thèse par articles, qui a impliqué autant des enseignants que des étudiants dans différentes modalités de cours hybrides en enseignement supérieur, dans des disciplines et cycles d’enseignement variés de quatre universités. Dans la première phase qualitative de la recherche, vingt enseignants ont participé à des entrevues semi-dirigées visant à identifier, suivant une approche générale inductive, les stratégies d’engagement des étudiants dans les cours hybrides. Un premier article de la thèse résulte de cette première phase. Dans celui-ci, les stratégies d’engagement des étudiants dans les cours hybrides sont décrites et classifiées (en réponse à O1 et O2) en huit catégories regroupées dans trois méta-catégories, qui ont trait à (i) la structure et au rythme du cours, (ii) la sélection des activités d’enseignement et d’apprentissage et (iii) le rôle de l’enseignant et les relations interpersonnelles dans le cours. De façon générale, les stratégies d’engagement des étudiants dans les cours hybrides soulignent l’importance d’exploiter pleinement les modes synchrones et asynchrones de ces cours tout en intégrant adéquatement les activités d’enseignement et d’apprentissage correspondantes. Dans la seconde phase quantitative de la recherche, une échelle de mesure multidimensionnelle de l’engagement des étudiants dans les cours hybrides a d’abord été développée et validée, notamment par le biais de questionnaires administrés à 465 étudiants. Son développement est présenté dans le deuxième article de la thèse, accompagné de preuves de validité de sa structure interne issues d’analyses factorielles exploratoires et de cohérence interne. En particulier, cette échelle fait ressortir des dimensions émotionnelle-cognitive, sociale et comportementale d’engagement des étudiants dans les cours hybrides. Par la suite, une échelle visant à mesurer l’utilisation de stratégies d’engagement dans des cours hybrides a aussi été développée selon les stratégies identifiées et classifiées dans la première phase qualitative de la recherche. L’échelle de stratégies ainsi que celle d’engagement ont été administrées à 482 étudiants dans des cours hybrides en ligne . Cette troisième collecte de données nous a ainsi permis d’analyser l’influence des catégories de stratégies sur l’engagement émotionnel-cognitif, social et comportemental des étudiants dans des cours hybrides en enseignement supérieur (en réponse à O3), par le biais d’une modélisation par équations structurelles selon l’approche des moindres carrés partiels (PLS-SEM). En particulier, cette analyse montre que les catégories de stratégies d’engagement relatives au développement de relations interpersonnelles de confiance, à la pertinence des activités, des contenus et des ressources ainsi qu’au maintien d’un rythme soutenu ont des effets positifs importants sur l’engagement des étudiants dans les cours hybrides en ligne. Les coefficients de détermination élevés ou modérés (R2 = 0.55, 0.34, 0.25) pour les trois dimensions émotionnelle-cognitive, sociale et comportementale, respectivement, démontrent aussi l’importance des effets combinés des catégories de stratégies sur l’engagement des étudiants dans les cours hybrides en ligne. Les résultats correspondants sont présentés dans le troisième article de la thèse, qui conclut la seconde phase quantitative de la recherche. Cette thèse se distingue par sa méthodologie mixte séquentielle impliquant aussi bien des enseignants que des étudiants dans des disciplines, cycles d’enseignement et institutions d’enseignement supérieur variés. Elle permet d’obtenir une vue d’ensemble des stratégies d’engagement des étudiants dans les cours hybrides, tout en assurant la validité et la transférabilité des résultats dans différents contextes. Les catégories de stratégies présentées ainsi que la perspective multidimensionnelle d’engagement des étudiants adoptée dans la thèse doctorale pavent la voie à des recherches futures sur les stratégies d’engagement des étudiants en enseignement supérieur et proposent des pistes d’action pour la pratique et la formation des enseignants dans des modalités de cours hybrides

Environmental facilitators and barriers to student persistence in online courses : reliability and validity of new scales

This study aimed at building a reliable and valid scale for environmental factors related to student persistence in online courses, particularly relevant for adults or lifelong learners. Drawing on Kember and colleagues (1994)’ social integration and external attribution scales and subscales as a starting point, data collected in Canadian universities were randomly split into two samples. The first sample (n1 = 385) was used to explore the data set through principal component and reliability analyses. These confirmed a two-factor environmental scale composed of encouragements (factor 1) and time-events items (factor 2), as well as a two-factor persistence scale that included potential dropout (factor 3) and cost-benefit items (factor 4). All factors showed a very good internal consistency. The second sample (n2 = 381) was used to confirm the structural validity of environmental and persistence scales through confirmatory factor analyses and to compare this new structure to Kember et al. (1994)’ subscales. While the latter resulted in an insufficient model fit, the new environmental and persistence scales yielded a very good model fit with strong goodness-of-fit indices and statistics. These results confirmed the structural validity of the new scales, which can trustfully be used in further empirical studies related to online student persistence. The new scales can also be used by practitioners to detect at-risk students early in a semester, allowing to offer them specific individual support to foster student persistence in online courses

Converting a graduate-level course into a HyFlex modality : what are effective engagement strategies?

Blended courses are rising in business education, and new modalities have emerged to increase flexibility of students. HyFlex courses combine online asynchronous activities with “flexible- synchronous” activities where students choose to attend online synchronously, face-to-face, or online asynchronously through recordings, bringing them full flexibility of participation. Addi- tionally, the flexible-synchronous activities preserve interaction opportunities between students and the instructor and support student learning. This study reports on the transformation of an operations course into a HyFlex modality to enhance student engagement through regular flexible-synchronous sessions as well as equivalent T&L activities across course sections. The study also brings a new perspective by highlighting effective strategies for engaging students in a HyFlex course. First, exploratory qualitative data suggested that the course organization with weekly flexible-synchronous activities, providing regular interaction opportunities and video- recorded, encouraged student engagement. Engagement strategies were also identified using both quantitative and qualitative data. The main strategies were open and trustful interactions for student behavioral engagement, links with practice and learning support for emotional engage- ment, and links with practice, learning support and instructor’s facilitation role for cognitive engagement. The study suggests that HyFlex is a promising course modality for fostering student engagement at the graduate level, especially in large-group business courses

Investigating the reliability and validity of the Community of Inquiry framework : an analysis of categories within each presence

In online or blended environments, the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework sets that a meaningful educational experience derives from the interrelation of teaching, social and cognitive presences. Each presence is subdivided, resulting in a structure in ten categories at the basis for the CoI survey instrument. Although the survey structure in three presences was repeatedly validated in the literature, the categories within presences were not and were consequently investigated in this study. High internal consistencies between items of each category demonstrated that the structure is reliable. Its convergent and discriminant validity were confirmed using multi-group confirmatory factor analyses, that further allowed to reinforce the construct validation by evaluating its factorial invariance across independent samples collected in two universities and varying in gender and age (n1 = 343; n2 = 420). To assess its discriminant validity and because high estimated correlations between categories were observed, alternative structures in eight, seven and six factors were also compared to the original ten-category structure. They were all valid despite yielding inferior fits. The partial structural invariance of CoI structures in categories were also confirmed across groups. Next, a CoI structure in three presences resulted in an insufficient fit to data across independent groups. Much more conclusively, a second-order structure including both presences and categories demonstrated a very good fit to the data, highlighting the importance of categories to reflect students' perceptions. This paper, although presented at a conceptual level, enlightens the potential of studying the influence of categories on each other, learning outcomes, or to identify areas of improvement in online and blended courses by relying on meaningful and trustful categories that further characterize the well-known presences

Network pricing problems : complexity, polyhedral study and solution approaches

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From diagnosis to routine care in type 1 diabetes in children: Parents’ experiences

Having a child who lives with a Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) can represent a high burden for parents. The objective of our study is to identify and analyze the main challenges expressed by parents so that health care services better meet the needs of parents of T1D children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of 19 T1D children regarding detection and diagnosis, initial management at the hospital, post-discharge adaptation including daycare or school reintegration, and long-term T1D monitoring. Data analysis was performed following an inductive approach. The results showed a lack of knowledge regarding T1D in the society, especially for parents and educators. Furthermore, most parents felt overwhelmed at the hospital, and not ready for the intense self-management education (SME). They suggested it could be split over an extended period and discussed from a more practical perspective. Parents’ burden is highest in the post-discharge adaptation stage especially for school reintegration, management of blood glucose levels and calculation of carbohydrates. Finally, returning to a social life was difficult, but contacts with diabetic families was a relief. In conclusion, the SME ought to be flexible and adapted to parents\u27 needs. Spreading it over a longer period would ease families’ experience. Efforts should also be made to alleviate the parents’ burden on the post-discharge adaptation perceived as the most difficult stage, especially for school reintegration where training and resources on T1D should be given to key staff. Public education campaigns would raise awareness and ensure better knowledge of T1D by general population. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Quality & Clinical Excellence lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework. (http://bit.ly/ExperienceFramework) Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens

From diagnosis to routine care in type 1 diabetes in children : parents' experiences

Having a child who lives with a Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) can represent a high burden for parents. The objective of our study is to identify and analyze the main challenges expressed by parents so that health care services better meet the needs of parents of T1D children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of 19 T1D children regarding detection and diagnosis, initial management at the hospital, post-discharge adaptation including daycare or school reintegration, and long-term T1D monitoring. Data analysis was performed following an inductive approach. The results showed a lack of knowledge regarding T1D in the society, especially for parents and educators. Furthermore, most parents felt overwhelmed at the hospital, and not ready for the intense self-management education (SME). They suggested it could be split over an extended period and discussed from a more practical perspective. Parents' burden is highest in the post-discharge adaptation stage especially for school reintegration, management of blood glucose levels and calculation of carbohydrates. Finally, returning to a social life was difficult, but contacts with diabetic families was a relief. In conclusion, the SME ought to be flexible and adapted to parents' needs. Spreading it over a longer period would ease families' experience. Efforts should also be made to alleviate the parents' burden on the post-discharge adaptation perceived as the most difficult stage, especially for school reintegration where training and resources on T1D should be given to key staff. Public education campaigns would raise awareness and ensure better knowledge of T1D by general population

An integer L-shaped algorithm for the Dial-a-Ride Problem with stochastic customer delays

AbstractThis paper considers a single-vehicle Dial-a-Ride Problem in which customers may experience stochastic delays at their pickup locations. If a customer is absent when the vehicle serves the pickup location, the request is fulfilled by an alternative service (e.g., a taxi) whose cost is added to the total cost of the tour. In this case, the vehicle skips the corresponding delivery location, which yields a reduction in the total tour cost. The aim of the problem is to determine an a priori Hamiltonian tour minimizing the expected cost of the solution. This problem is solved by means of an integer L-shaped algorithm. Computational experiments show that the algorithm yields optimal solutions on several instances within reasonable CPU times. It is also shown that the actual cost of an optimal solution obtained with this algorithm can be significantly smaller than that of an optimal solution obtained with a deterministic formulation

An Integer L-Shaped Algorithm for the Dial-a-Ride Problem with Stochastic Customer Delays

Abstract This paper considers a single-vehicle Dial-a-Ride problem in which customers may experience stochastic delays at their pickup locations. If a customer is absent when the vehicle serves the pickup location, the request is fulfilled by an alternative service (e.g., a taxi) whose cost is added to the total cost of the tour. In this case, the vehicle skips the corresponding delivery location, which yields a reduction in the total tour cost. The aim of the problem is to determine an a priori Hamiltonian tour minimizing the expected cost of the solution. This problem is solved by means of an integer L-shaped algorithm. Computational experiments show that the algorithm yields optimal solutions for small and medium size instances within reasonable CPU times. It is also shown that the actual cost of an optimal solution obtained with this algorithm can be significantly smaller than that of an optimal solution obtained with a deterministic formulation

Teaching Experiences of E-Authentic Assessment: Lessons Learned in Higher Education

The realities of the 21st century have led professors and lecturers to renew their learning assessment practices so that they are more adapted to and contextualized in the current professional world. Despite advances in teaching and learning, assessment methods may still deviate from practice in authentic contexts. Although some instructors are already familiar with more authentic assessments, most are accustomed to using exams as standard practices to test students’ achievement of course objectives and essays to prepare students for research or written argumentation. Despite their benefits, such typical assessments often lack authenticity and do not develop the full potential of students’ 21st-century learning or literacy skills such as communication, creativity, or working with technologies. Over the past decade, we have been witnessing the beginnings of a broader reflection on teaching, learning, and evaluating with technologies, including more authentic assessments. This reflective essay will present how technologies make it possible to diversify assessment methods, resulting in enhanced authenticity and development of 21st-century learning and literacy skills. Authentic assessment methods with technologies will be illustrated, e.g., recorded video presentations, explanatory interviews with descriptive assessment grids, PechaKucha presentations, blog posts, and social media and e-portfolios, with examples from several disciplines. Authors will also explain how proposing a number of methods to students for the same assessment may help answer their various needs and preferences without increasing instructors’ grading load. Furthermore, authors will discuss how diversifying assessment methods with technologies often results in a transformation of assessment modalities. Beyond assessments as an evaluation of knowledge and/or skills at a fixed schedule, authentic assessments with technologies may become continuous or iterative processes with multiple feedbacks from instructors, thereby combining synchronous interactions and/or discussions with asynchronous reflections to improve students’ involvement and active learning