Integrating Classroom and Online Instruction in an Introductory American Government Course

Abstract

This case outlines the author’s experience teaching a large Introduction to American Government course using a hybridclassroom/online approach. The benefit of adding a set ofonline modules to the course was that students were able to engage the material in ways that are more readily available in traditional, smaller sections of a course. The rationale behind each module, as well as the problems andsuccesses that accompanied each of them, are presented. Finally, the technical and human challenges that accompany the approach and the overall benefits of adopting hybrid approaches to teaching and learning are discussed.