Blended Learning

Definition of Blended Courses

At APU, blended classes deliver at least 33% but less than 50% of their instruction in an online format and include required classroom attendance and online instruction, which can be either synchronous or asynchronous. Compared to in-person classes, blended classes have substantial activity conducted online, which substitutes for some classroom meetings.

Approval Process for Blended Courses

Before a course can be officially approved and listed by the registrar as a blended course in the catalog, the course needs to go through the appropriate approval process.

1. Contact the Office of Curricular Support at [email protected] or (626) 857-2406 to initiate the process.
2. ITT will work with the faculty subject-matter expert (SME) to design, build, and deliver a flexible course that can be used in any modality: online, blended, or distance. This approach ensures that all students receive a high-quality learning experience.

Requirements for Teaching Blended Courses

It is APU policy that faculty must undergo proper training prior to teaching a blended course. There are three primary reasons for this policy:

1. Our accreditation stipulates that all faculty teaching distance education courses (blended courses have distance education components) must be qualified and fully trained. We verify faculty qualification by requiring faculty to enroll in relevant training.
2. The blended-teaching training orients faculty to APU’s philosophy and approach to blended pedagogy. In particular, faculty learn about how our Christian values impact teaching and learning in the blended modality.
3. The blended-teaching training offers faculty technical training on effective use of the learning management system (LMS) and other technology tools. During the training, faculty get hands-on practice using these tools.

We understand that some faculty come to APU with some or extensive blended-teaching experience, and they may think they don’t need the training, but we believe that blended learning at APU is unique, and we have designed our training with the aim of setting up faculty and students for success.

Typically, the training must be completed prior to teaching blended courses, but in some rare cases we permit faculty to concurrently enroll in the training while also teaching their first blended course.

Blended Learning Resources

• APU Blended Learning Final Report
  A yearlong study of the viability of blended learning at APU.
• Pedagogical Repository
  A robust repository of resources by UCF on blended teaching strategies.
• Blending In: The Extent and Promise of Blended Education in the United States
  A three-year national study focused on blended instruction.
• Blended Learning Bibliography
  A list of key studies related to blended learning effectiveness and best practices.