Motivation in Synchronous Hybrid Graduate Business Programs: A Self-Determination Approach to Contrasting Online and On-Campus Students
Synchronous hybrid delivery, defined as a course option where mutually exclusive groups of online and on-campus students are taught simultaneously using real-time audio and video technology, is becoming more common in higher education. This paper reports on a study whose objective was to investigate how online versus on-campus attendance in synchronous hybrid graduate business programs affects the relationships among students’ need satisfaction, motivation, and perceived success. Ryan and Deci’s self-determination theory was used to guide the analyses and interpret the results. Survey data involving 112 hybrid graduate business students revealed that need satisfaction significantly predicted several categories of motivation, which in turn predicted perceived success. For online students, perceived favorability of online and on-campus delivery was significantly correlated with key dimensions of need satisfaction and perceived success. The results also indicated that there are few significant differences on types of motivation and psychological needs between online and on-campus hybrid students; an exception was that online students reported significantly lower levels of relatedness than their on-campus counterparts. Differences based on attendance mode, may not be as substantial as was once thought.
MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching
