ASSESSING THE EFFICACY OF HYBRID TEACHING OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN SOUTH-EASTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

With technological advancements in the contemporary society, hybrid teaching (HT) has emerged in the education sector. HT combines online teaching (OT) with traditional teaching (TT). This study is aimed at assessing the efficacy of the HT of undergraduate students in South-Eastern Nigeria. Data are drawn from questionnaire and library and internet resources. Survey design and mixed method along with the allied statistical and descriptive techniques are employed. The analysis shows that the efficacy of HT of undergraduate students in South-Eastern Nigeria is currently low and TT is more efficacious than HT. Besides, the major prospects of HT are flexibility, convenience, time factor, technology integration, and optimised, automated and personalised teaching and learning, while technical, economic, social and attitudinal factors are the major challenges. The challenges can be mitigated through providing and developing robust up-to-date infrastructure, accessibility of resources, training and supporting personnel for technical-know-how and efficiency, sustained awareness creation using media to rouse interest in HT, designing and reviewing flexible and interactive curriculum, student engagement using active learning strategies, meaningful stakeholder collaboration for inter-university partnership, data-driven decision-making, and continuous improvement. The study concludes that the current low efficacy of HT accounts for the low interest in and underutilisation of HT in South-Eastern Nigeria and even other regions. It urges stakeholders to significantly address the challenges of HT in order to rouse interest in it and increase its utilisation for university education.