Reasons for Attending Face-to-Face Lab Sessions in a Hybrid Web Development Course

Abstract

This study determined students’ reasons for attending or not attending face-to-face lab sessions in a hybrid web development course at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. The instructor of the course wanted to know students attended because of personal choice or something was missing in the online content. A survey was conducted on 44 students from the fall 2013 and spring 2014 semesters to determine reasons for attending or not attending the labs. It was found that students’ attendance in lab sessions was their personal preference and learning style. The major reason found for students’ preference to attend the lab sessions were the opportunity to learn and practice web development skills in a synchronous environment with the instructor. The major reason for not attending the lab sessions was that students preferred to practice and learn their skills of their own. Students found the online content sufficient for understanding the course content and completing all the assignments, case-studies and exercises. Students also reported that face-to-face labs they believed the labs had a positive impact on their grade.