A Mixed Methods Study of Hybrid Teaching-Learning Approach Among Maritime Instructors and Students

This mixed- methods research aimed to develop a Hybrid Teaching – Learning (HTL) approach from the discovered flexible learning experiences of maritime teachers and students. The landscape of higher educational institutions (HEIs) service delivery was changed with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic as distance learning, otherwise known as online learning, trended as a mode of teaching-learning delivery, prompting instructors and students separated by distance with no physical contact and face-to-face interaction among them. Learners receive their learning materials online while tests, quizzes, outputs, projects, portfolios, and other means of learning assessment and evaluation are deployed via electronic messaging applications, which are considered forms of non-traditional teaching-learning delivery. Learners are prompted to proceed with self-paced learning and assessment, allowing them to choose how, when, where, and where they learn. A flexible learning environment stimulated learners’ unstructured teamwork and tailored learning speed, location, and mode. However, flexible learning experience exposed recognized challenges and issues on network stability, materials, learning assessment, effects of flexible learning modality on academic performance, class interaction, and coping mechanisms of maritime teachers and students during the COVID-19 pandemic health crisis. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative research approaches was utilized to determine and analyze these challenges and issues with the aid of a researcher who made questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions for one (1) year. Results of the deployed researcher-made questionnaire validated proceedings from interviews and focus group discussions served as baseline data for the development of an operational plan for an improved hybrid teaching-learning approach.