KFUPM Workshop

Education after Covid: The Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) Classroom

Abstract: When universities all over the world shut down due to Covid restrictions, faculty and students scrambled to move classes to virtual settings. In many cases, faculty overnight completely re-evaluated how they were teaching, how they were assessing student learning, and what was really important in the educational experience. From this extremely stressful time, new ideas and new opportunities have arisen. In the new world of Post-Covid teaching, we are all in a state of maximum experimentation and learning. In this workshop will explore the new Hybrid Flexible (Hyflex) classroom where students may be in person, online, or both. We will discuss:

Designing the Hyflex Class: a quality course framework (QCF) for choosing content, delivery, and assessment.
Content Delivery: Ideas about Videos, tablets, paper, and more
Active learning in a Hyflex mode: Engaging students in flexible ways
Assessment: Flexible assessment methods for the Hyflex class

Because teaching practice is evolving so rapidly at this time, this workshop is meant to be a dynamic discussion, not an instruction. Bring your ideas, your thoughts, and your questions.

Dr. Cynthia M. Furse is a Fellow of the IEEE and the National Academy of Inventors, and is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. She is a leader in the flipped classroom and has been flipping classes from freshman through graduate level since 2007. She has taught electromagnetics, wireless communication, computational electromagnetics, microwave engineering, antenna design, introductory electrical engineering, and engineering entrepreneurship. Dr. Furse and the faculty in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Utah have decided to offer most of their classes in a Hyflex model beginning in Fall 2021. This workshop will be based in part on early experiments within this department, and plans for the coming semester. This is a work in progress! Dr. Furse has received numerous teaching and research awards including the 2020 IEEE Chen To Tai Distinguished Educator Award.