Students in hybrid classes participate in interactive Blackboard discussions.

Hybrid classes are taught as a mixture of in classroom and online learning.  This semester there are 42 hybrid classes being taught at CSU-Pueblo.

They are offered in accounting, bilingual/bi-cultural education, business administration, economics, education, marketing, mass communications, nursing, philosophy, sociology and women’s studies.

“I like the idea of them,” said senior Jessica Walters. “But in my experience, they consist of a lot of discussion posts, which I think get really monotonous and repetitive.”

To make up for the lack of face-to-face instruction, hybrid classes function through discussions and posting on Blackboard.

Sophomore Lindsey Scott said hybrid classes were hard as a freshman.  At the time, she was getting accustomed to the college life, and she found hybrid classes a tad overwhelming.

Because students must be more disciplined and spend extra hours on work outside the classroom, hybrid classes can be more difficult.

Associate professor Sam Lovato of the mass communications department is currently teaching the largest number of hybrid classes with four.

“Hybrid courses are more demanding on students and professors,” said Lovato. “I like the scheduling flexibility, the pace of the course, using technology to deliver content, the mix of face-to-face and virtual interactions, and the level of student commitment.”

The number of hybrid classes continues to grow each semester. Although they offer more flexibility, they are much more demanding than a regular, face-to-face class. Students must be self-motivated and determined in order to succeed when taking hybrid classes.