Hybrid Course Elements

Dissect Your Course into Elements

The first step in redesigning your existing face-to-face course to the hybrid format is to dissect your course into its elements.

Course elements are the building blocks that make up your course. We will use the RASE Pedagogical Model (Churchill et al., 2013) pedagogical model to frame the four main elements that make up any course: Resources, Activities, Supports, and Evaluations.

Resources, Activities, Supports, Evaluations

The RASE model (Resources, Activity, Support, and Evaluation) emphasizes that four elements need to be well designed in the digital format to achieve intended learning outcomes:

  • R: Resources – course materials and content resources enabling students to acquire content or information
  • A: Activities – events that enable students to engage in learning to develop understanding, test ideas, apply knowledge, demonstrate performance (typically utilizing resources)
  • S: Supports – anything we offer students to support them towards achieving academic success (e.g., office hours, tutoring, library support, help desk support, etc.)
  • E: Evaluations – methods to assess or gather evidence of student learning, provide feedback or guidance to ensure that learning outcomes are achieved

When teaching in the hybrid modality, the instructor needs to design resources, activities, supports, and evaluations to be available in a digital format so that students participating both in-class and online so that students have access to these, providing them a comparable learning experience.

Select Alternatives from Face to Face to Hybrid Delivery

If you have been teaching in a classroom or face-to-face format, you now need to rethink your course for hybrid delivery and how you provide students an alternate and comparable digital course elements so that they can access these online (typically through your Canvas course).

Key questions to ask yourself at this point:

  • Do my online students have access to comparable course elements as my students participating in class?
  • How can I provide students an alternate digital resource to all course resources, activities, supports, and evaluations?
  • How can I share these elements in Canvas?

Review the guides below that outline common course elements with alternate activities that you can implement in either the Hybrid-Asynchronous or Hybrid-Simulcasting method:

Mapping Hybrid Course Elements Using the RASE Framework

To make your course redesign task manageable, it will be helpful to map your ideas for alternate digital resources, activities, supports, and evaluation methods. Use the RASE Planning Map template to identify what you currently use in your face-to-face course and decide on alternatives for your hybrid course.

RASE Planning Map
RASE Elements

Column A
What do you currently use in your face-to-face course?

Column B
What ideas do you have to provide an alternate for online/hybrid students?

Resources List the resources available to students in your face-to-face course List ideas for alternates
Activities List the classroom activities available to students in your face-to-face course List ideas for alternates
Supports List the support structures available to students in your face-to-face course List ideas for alternates
Evaluations List the evaluation methods available to students in your face-to-face course List ideas for alternates

Try it yourself:

  1. Download the RASE Planning Map template (.docx file)
  2. Fill COLUMN A with the resources, activities, supports, and evaluation methods you currently use in your face-to-face course
  3. Decide if you need alternates for these elements as you plan your hybrid course. List ideas on what those alternates might be in COLUMN B

Need help? Submit a ticket to schedule a 1-1 consultation with an instructional designer from the Center for Teaching and Learning.