Since its inception in 2021, over 1,000 students at Troy University have taken advantage of the new Flex courses being offered at the Phenix City, Montgomery and Dothan campuses, and now the Troy Campus.
Flex classes are a hybrid of online and in-class learning. Classes offered in the Flex format hold regular in-class sessions, and each class session is streamed live online at the same time. In addition, recordings of each class session are available for on-demand viewing later.
“There’s no real set pattern with how Flex works, and that’s the whole idea. It’s flexible. It’s for the students to consume any way they want to consume,” said Jennings Byrd, Associate Professor of Economics/Finance. “They know what their schedules are. We don’t. So, giving them the choice to consume the lecture, the session, the review, any way they see fit is of maximum benefit to the student.”
Students enrolled in Flex classes can freely switch between formats based on their needs. Students can attend in person if they prefer the face-to-face experience, watch online from a location convenient to them, or catch up on classes they missed by watching them later. All coursework will be completed online.
“Even if they don’t come to the live sessions, students really do appreciate having the recordings they can go back and watch, and they can also ask questions based off of those recordings,” Byrd said. “I would have loved when I was a college student to be able to go back and watch what I missed. I didn’t have that luxury, but we’re giving that luxury now.”
Abree Trotter, a senior global business major concentrating in legal studies from Dothan, Ala., transitioned to Flex classes in January after being a traditional student on the Troy Campus. With a full-time job, she said the Flex option allowed her to get the feel of attending class in-person with the convenience of tuning in from home after work.
“I do better with face-to-face instruction and not videos, but even though this is still over a camera it’s better for me because I am able to interact with the teacher and understand what they’re expecting,” she said. “It works so well for me. Even if you do work full time, you should still be able to sign on if that’s what you choose to do.”
Since 2021, 86 courses have been offered in the Flex format. This Fall, TROY added to that number by expanding onto the Troy Campus for 16-week courses in the Master of Business Administration program, the Master of Economics program and the newly-designed Master of Business Administration in Music Industry program.
“I think Flex is the technology of the future. It’s better than just online, but I like that I’m still in class and talking to students,” said Dr. William Neese, MBA Director. “The functionality of Flex makes sense to me. We’re leveraging technology to increase our productivity.”
Flex classes will return to the Troy Campus in Spring 2023. Nine Flex classes will be offered for Term 2 on the Dothan, Montgomery and Phenix City campuses, and registration begins on Oct. 17:
- ENG-2245-DTHA, British Literature After 1785, Dothan Campus
- ENG-4478-DTHA, Theory & Practice of Composition, Dothan Campus
- SWK-7701-DTHA, Advanced SW Practice with Individuals and Family, Dothan Campus
- SWK-7703-DTHA, Direct Practice Evaluation, Dothan Campus
- CS-2255-MTHA, Computer Science II, Montgomery Campus
- MTH-2201-MTHA, Calculus and Its Applications, Montgomery
- SWK-7701-MTHA, Advanced SW Practice with Individuals and Family, Montgomery Campus
- SWK-7703-MTHA, Direct Practice Evaluation, Montgomery Campus
- ECO-2252-PTHA, Principles of Microeconomics, Phenix City Campus
Original link can be found here.
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