Students attending large lectures online ask significantly more questions than do students who attend in person, research finds.

During COVID-19, many instructors have learned to teach via Zoom and Teams. In the fall of 2020, students returned to the University of Copenhagen in limited numbers. They were welcomed by “HyFlex Learning” in which half received remote instruction while the other half were physically present.

HyFlex is a contraction of “hybrid” and “flexible,” and refers to a form of instruction where students may choose to attend remotely or physically.

In HyFlex instruction, course instructors are filmed, allowing students to follow along remotely. The camera is controlled by an e-moderator, who simultaneously ensures that students’ chat questions are addressed by the instructor on an ongoing basis.

The e-moderator is crucial to giving online students the opportunity to participate and feel included, says Helle Mathiasen, professor in the University of Copenhagen’s science education department.

“Something that surprised us was how active online students were in terms of asking questions about their instruction. They asked plenty of questions in their chats, unlike physical attendees, who asked very few questions to lecturers,” explains Mathiasen, whose findings appear in the Danish journal Læring og Medier (Learning and Media).

Read the full article about Hyflex learning by Ida Eriksen at Futurity.