2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

HyFlex course delivery preserves in-person active learning opportunities while simultaneously offering online learning alternatives for students who cannot attend in person or have other reasons for finding the flexibility of asynchronous opportunities helpful to their life situations and learning goals.

Engineering and Engineering Technology programs face difficulties offering online learning due to the desirability of hands-on learning and lab equipment access. In manufacturing and automation education, experience with industry-relevant equipment is required. Post-COVID student appreciation for a return to experiential learning validates the need for in-person experiences. These same students benefit from work-study industry internships, which offer an additional layer of experiential opportunities. However, work scheduling requirements often conflict with class attendance.

The Engineering Technology program at Kansas State University Salina Campus balances these competing objectives through partial HyFlex course delivery and lab scheduling options. Challenges to the instructor include (1) developing and managing both in-person and online learning opportunities within the same class section with quality and sustainability and (2) scheduling and integrating appropriate experiential learning and equipment access. We review standards in HyFlex instruction and recent examples in the engineering education literature. Instructors of manufacturing and automation courses offer case examples of hybrid/HyFlex approaches to accommodate students with scheduling conflicts caused by industrial internships or other co-curricular activities. Solutions emphasize the adaptation of existing course materials, techniques, and technologies to work for both in-person and asynchronous online engagement. Assessments and feedback from students indicate successes and improvement opportunities. Additionally, non-internship students gained advantages from HyFlex options.