Research on the Existing Challenges and Countermeasures in E-business Education among Universities ’ Upgraded Talents from Colleges : A Case Study of Beijing Union University

At present, there are indeed many problems in the training of upgraded talents among e-business students such as unclear training objectives and characteristics, as well as the lack of classified guidance and its corresponding mechanism. Therefore, there is a need for optimization and upgrading of faculties in which active research should be conducted on these issues. Through various measures to counter the challenges faced in the training of upgraded talents in e-business education based on the student-oriented ideology and advantages of universities, the environment needs to be constantly optimized while improving their levels, designing effective countermeasures, and having firm ideological beliefs. This article strives to educate senior e-business innovative talents in line with the needs of enterprises, continuously promote the integration of industry and education, as well as commit to contributing toward a comprehensive and healthy development of the e-business industry as well as social progress.

Basic characteristics of the training mode in universities' e-business upgraded talents from colleges
"Talents training mode" is the whole course system, teaching content, teaching management system, teaching evaluation, and the process of implementing the education of professional talents. It also denotes the training objectives and specifications of talents as well as the methods or means to achieve these training objectives. The higher vocational education in Beijing Union University implements a separate class teaching mode which imitates the talent training mode of normal undergraduate education. It takes into account the characteristics of e-business, the link between higher vocational education stage and college stage, as well as their respective training patterns. On the basis of highlighting application skills as well as vocational and technical skills, the emphasis is on the improvement of theory, practice, and comprehensive professional skills of undergraduate e-business talents. From this point of view, the basic characteristics of e-business upgraded talents training in Beijing Union University are discussed below.

Employment orientation and job position
Beijing Union University's e-business upgraded talent training is for internet or e-business enterprises, government agencies at all levels, administrative institutions, and various enterprises in Beijing. In line with the training pathway, graduates would venture into network information maintenance and editing, Volume 5; Issue 6 website operation and management, internet marketing and promotion, business data analysis, website design and development, customer relationship management, etc.

Training objectives
Beijing Union University's e-business upgraded talent training educates highly skilled talents in humanities, professional ethics, and social responsibility. These talents would be able to use the internet and information tools for internet editing, website operation, product operation, new media operation, e-business, internet marketing, promotion in various internet fields, etc.

Challenges in the training of universities' upgraded talents from colleges in e-business
By the end of 2020, 592 colleges and universities across the country have established courses for e-business and have produced a large number of professional talents for the industry. However, there are still two challenges. One of it is the lack of universities that offer e-business specialty while the other one is that there is no clear-cut master's degree in e-business among the 47 professional master's degree institutions in China. From the outcomes of e-business education to the wide strides of the development among ebusiness professionals in the industry, there are still huge gaps. The rapid development and changes in the industry resulting in various working characteristics such as high efficiency, large intensity, and stressful environments increases the requirements for e-business professionals. The talent gaps between universities and the industry are gradually widening. Therefore, it is extremely urgent to train practical, scientific, and artistic high-level e-business talents to adapt to the requirements of this era, industry characteristics, and the development of enterprises.

Short education period, relatively complex source of students, and significant differences in professional knowledge structure
The education period of Beijing Union University's e-business course is two years for upgraded students from colleges. Compared to the four-year e-business undergraduate program and the three-year e-business vocational period, the education period for this group of students is rather short. In the two-year education period, the whole process needs to be carried out including basic quality education, professional skills training, practical skills training, second classroom learning, and graduation assay which is according to the basic requirements of talents education to obtain a bachelor's degree in e-business. The source of students is relatively complex in Beijing Union University's e-business upgraded talent training. Upgraded students have related or similar majors from various vocational colleges in Beijing. Due to apparent differences in their previous education where different vocational colleges have varying professional curriculum system, training targets, and training paths, they intensify the difficulties faced in the university stage in regard to education, teaching organization, and learning for students. There are a few upgraded students with outstanding professional levels but their overall level of knowledge structure varies in addition to a relatively weak basic knowledge compared with normal undergraduate students. Upgraded students emphasize on the practical aspects and skills competition during the vocational education stage while their reserve of theoretical knowledge is limited. Hence, there are difficulties in theoretical training, logic training, academic thinking training, and their acceptance for new knowledge.

Unreasonable curriculum setting for e-business major
Due to unclear education objectives, short education period, and the process requirements, many universities do not have a reasonable curriculum setting for upgraded e-business major, hence, they are unable to meet the requirements of the industry development. The main courses are basic general courses including management, economics, marketing, logistics management, international trade, etc. while specialized courses include database technology in e-business, website design, internet security, electronic payment, etc. This combination of basic and specialized courses may be suitable for other economic management majors but on the contrary, since e-business is a discipline which requires a strong sense of the current era and a high frequency of knowledge updates, this curriculum does not fit. At present, many traditional enterprises are undergoing information transformation and have started to be involved in the ebusiness sector. In addition to that, new e-business models such as group purchase, post-consumption purchase, installment consumption, and online payment have emerged and the requirements for e-business talents are also constantly rising. The existing talent training program lacks in terms of outdated information and a single objective which results in a disconnection between the students' acquired e-business knowledge from classes and the market demands which makes it difficult for them to meet the requirements of enterprises.

Imbalance in the e-business faculty
E-business is an emerging multi-discipline sector which integrates computer science, economics, management, and other disciplines. At present, most universities in China only offer master's degree and doctoral degree for information management or business administration. However, practically none of their universities offer specialized master's or doctoral education in e-business. As an interdisciplinary subject of information science and management science, it is an embarrassment that the e-business education cannot be developed even with much attention from the academia. In majority of the universities, e-business professional teachers are only focused on e-business research or they have similar majors during their master's or doctorate education but they are not trained specifically for e-business. In view of the professional teachers' growth curve, the e-business faculty is particularly lacking.
In addition, many e-business teachers in universities are lacking enterprise and commercial trainings. Moreover, the professional experiment and training laboratories in many universities are not as good as those in vocational colleges. All these will lead to students' poor learning outcomes which is not conducive to the training of talents in e-business.

Analysis of countermeasures
Facing the challenges in the education of upgraded talents of e-business, a thorough summary and analysis is performed based on experiences in the establishment of the e-business major at Beijing Union University to solve issues through representative and targeted ways in the education of universities' upgraded talents from colleges in e-business.

Define training objectives, enhance the concept of "university-enterprise cooperation and project-driven" with the integration of industry and education, as well as continuously optimize the curriculum system
The establishment of the e-business major in Beijing Union University was initiated in 1999 and it introduced the training direction of "university-enterprise cooperation and project-driven" in China. After 20 years, the e-business major from the same university has made great efforts to follow the geographical advantages of Beijing and through the "university-enterprise cooperation and project-driven" concept, it has won more than 100 awards in provincial and ministerial professional competitions in addition to 17 national awards such as the E-business Three-Innovation Competition. The e-business practice platform combines teaching activities, enterprises' production, academic research, and market development, hence achieving deep integration of the industry and education. The curriculum system is constantly upgraded along with the integration of industry and education. The system is built according to its needs and their goals are constantly refined and optimized. Breaking down the indicators, the knowledge system is effectively built and the curriculum is formed which brings scientific and practical knowledge that are closely related to the market needs to the students.
According to the research on Beijing's internet or e-business enterprises' distribution, job responsibilities, and working process, the required skills and qualities of e-business professionals are summarized and fine-tuned. Then, based on the education and achievements in career and specialty of ebusiness students in five years' time after their graduation, the objectives of talent education are determined. According to these training objectives, the graduation requirements are determined and then, they are broken down and refined into implementable, evaluable, logical, and professional indicators. Graduation requirements not only guarantee the achievement of training objectives, but they also form the basis for developing knowledge structure, forming curriculum system, and carrying out teaching activities.
Based on the concept of outcome-based education, by adopting the top-down and bottom-up methods, the improvement of professional knowledge, professional skills training, and the quality of the education are used as the main target while the methods used are based on the industry requirements. The working process is used to design the course system and course contents, align the training objectives for each course, integrate course modules, as well as the final integration of education objectives in this major.

Enriching the second classroom, classifying students' needs, and creating an entrepreneurial and employment-oriented mechanism
With the building of three platforms which are basic quality education, professional skills training, and practical skills training, the second classroom is constantly enriched to make up for the short training period of upgraded students. The development of the second classroom should reflect the comprehensive cultivation of professional interest, general skills, core competence, and practical working skills. It should closely focus on the "interest cultivation and professional skills cultivation" to jointly achieve the training goal of upgraded talents of the e-business major.
The effective demand analysis involves the compilation of students' files according to their entrepreneurial intention, employment demands, and interests to further their studies to guide them in the various choices of talent output. For instance, Beijing Union University has set up business incubators, students employment guidance centers, students' social practices, scientific research center, etc. and each component is equipped with their team of guiding teachers and service guides. In addition to that, links for students have been enhanced such as publicity, sharing, training, training competition, and simulation competition in the effort to encourage all students to actively participate in competitions such as the Internet Plus Competition, E-business "Three Creations" Competition, College Students Challenge Cup, and others. These methods are conducive to the training of upgraded talents in e-business.

Optimizing the e-business faculty
Strong teaching plans under the guidance of "going out and bringing in" promote the cultivation of "double type" teachers from the existing e-business professional teachers. An inclusive faculty with high academiclevels and rich practical experiences would be built with clear research directions winged with enterprise practices to seek deeper domains, increasing the communication between professional faculties and highly


Perceptions of the use of virtual reality games for chemical engineering education and professional training

ABSTRACT Virtual Reality (VR) games and simulations are increasingly being used to provide highly interactive, engaging and contextual learning experiences for learners in otherwise risk-prone environments, such as those obtained in chemical engineering and industrial domains. Understanding the intention of users towards this technology for education and training purposes is thus of paramount importance for academics and practitioners. This study examines the perceptions of chemical engineering students and professionals towards the use of VR games for health and safety education and training, and discusses the practical implications of findings. The study found that students and professionals believe that IVR games are useful for learning. A comparison of the two groups revealed that professionals were more accepting of the technology compared to students. Students presented concerns with the use of the technology for classroom learning. The paper concludes by outlining the implications of the findings to higher education practice.

Introduction
In chemical engineering education, fundamental chemical engineering concepts and calculations form a large part of what students learn in their undergraduate studies, while the learning of industrially based practical skills is limited by the lack of exposure to this environment (Johnson & Singh, 2019). Like most students in higher education (HE), chemical engineering students have been traditionally taught using predominantly the didactic lecture-based method (Baillie & Fitzgerald, 2000). However, debates on the effectiveness of lecturing as a pedagogic tool continue to engage the academic community (Fitzpatrick, Cronin, & Byrne, 2011;Lambert, 2012;Roberts, 2019). One of the major shortcomings of lectures is the fact that they do not sufficiently support the acquisition of skills required by chemical engineers to design, develop, and to maintain chemical process (Almanza-Arjona, Vergara-Porras, García-Rivera, & Venegas-Andraca, 2019).
To bridge the gap between the chemical engineering curriculum and the practical skills desired by employers in the chemical industry (Grant & Dickson, 2006), new methods of teaching and learning are needed. Pedagogical tools that enhance situated and experiential learning, active learning, and the development of 21 st century transferable skills are most needed in chemical engineering education. Digital game-based learning (DGBL) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies have gained popularity as pedagogical tools that can promote the acquisition of knowledge and skills expected of HE graduates and professionals (Ouyang et al., 2018;Shute, Ventura, & Ke, 2015;Whitton, 2009a). Similarly, Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) technologies enable students to experience full immersion and a sense of presence in a simulated environment. When digital games are played in IVR environments, players experience high immersion and presence, and these have been found to result in 'more difficult to forget' memories (Chittaro & Buttussi, 2015, p. 536).
One of the areas where IVR games can be of potential benefit for teaching and training chemical engineering students and employees is Health and safety (H&S). Process safety as well as H&S education are integral parts of most chemical engineering curricula in the UK universities required as part of a professional accreditation (IChemE, 2019). This is also true for chemical engineering curricula in other countries, accredited by other professional bodies, e.g. Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).
Process safety education and management begins at the universities and continues while working within a process plant. Since most of the chemical industries believe that newly hired employees have insufficient safety training and background from their university lectures, they usually adapt a set of interconnected learning methods to reduce the occurrence and severity of events resulting from releases of hazardous materials and other sources of energy (Chen, 2016). Most accidents in the industry either result from lack of awareness and/or overconfidence that may lead to severe disasters, according to the recent studies (Chen, 2016;Nazir, Totaro, Brambilla, Colombo, & Manca, 2012). In order to improve the development of professional skills in process safety, it is crucial to create innovative approaches to mimic real industrial safety scenarios without compromising students' engagement, exposure, and learning process.
Although IVR games are considered beneficial for learning, their design and development can be expensive. For this reason, it is common to find studies using available off-the-shelf games for classroom use. Given this, HE educators also have an opportunity to adopt games and simulations used for professional training for classroom use. However, it is necessary to understand how students and professionals perceive IVR games for learning, and what factors influence their intentions to use them. New technologies have been known to fail to deliver expected results when the views and expectations of the users differ from those of the administrators (Herzog & Katzlinger, 2011;McMorran, Ragupathi, & Luo, 2017). Therefore, the goal of this paper is to present the perceptions of chemical engineering students towards IVR games for education, how these differ from those of chemical engineering professionals, as well as discuss the implications of findings to practice. This contribution provides quantitative and qualitative evidence of factors that could affect HE students' use of VR games and simulations. Based on the information obtained from the data, broader implications to practice are drawn for the benefits to the education and professional community with respect to the skills needs for industry 4.0.

Digital game-based learning
Digital game-based learning (DGBL) is defined by Bahadoorsingh, Dyer, and Sharma (2016) as an instructional method that integrates educational content into video games with the purpose of engaging learners. It involves the use of digital games, whether off-the -shelf entertainment games or educational/serious games, for learning purposes. Entertainment games are readily available and have the advantage of engaging students in high-end game designs. Nevertheless, games developed solely to be entertaining often fail to match curriculum learning outcomes. Furthermore, entertainment games can be expensive, with complex interfaces and steep learning curves (Whitton, 2009). Educational or serious games, especially those designed with particular learning outcomes in mind, create an effective match between the learning and gameplay outcomes. Nevertheless, creating games specifically for educational purposes can be very expensive, and in some cases, games designed exclusively for educational purpose may fail to engage learners. As a compromise, many studies have successfully modified entertainment games for educational purposes (for examples see Coller & Scott, 2009;Stuyts & Driesen, 2016).

Rationale and benefits for DGBL
The most discussed rationale for DGBL is their perceived motivational benefit (Boyle, Connolly, & Hainey, 2011;Prensky, 2003;Whitton, 2009Whitton, , 2009a. Digital games are believed to be intrinsically motivating because these keep players engaged while having them invest time and energy into game play for no extrinsic reward other than the game play itself (Garris, Ahlers, & Driskell, 2002). Another popular rationale for game-based learning is its ability to engage learners (Boyle et al., 2011;Garris et al., 2002;Whitton, 2009a). Computer games are considered a very engaging learning environment because of their potential to create convincing narratives within challenging and immersive worlds, while providing valuable interactions and feedback (Whitton, 2009aa). Furthermore, DGBL is considered relevant in HE because of its ability to foster contextual and authentic learning, active learning, experiential learning, collaborative learning, problem-based learning, constructivist learning approach, and its ability to provide adaptive and appropriate feedback (Whitton, 2009(Whitton, , 2009a. Digital games provide an active, engaging and immersive learning environment, which is important for effective learning based on a constructivist learning perspective (Wu, Hsiao, Wu, Lin, & Huang, 2012). DGBL provides an avenue for meaningful interaction among players and games. It also enhances the development and application of 'high-level transferable skills' in HE (Whitton, 2009aa, p. 45). A systematic review by Connolly, Boyle, MacArthur, Hainey, and Boyle (2012) showed that the use of both commercial and educational games is linked to enhanced cognitive, perceptual, behavioural, affective and motivational outcomes. Although the most reported use of digital games for higher education is in the medical domain, a few researchers have described their use and benefits in engineering domain (Coller & Scott, 2009;Dib & Adamo-Villani, 2014;Perini, Luglietti, Margoudi, Oliveira, & Taisch, 2018). Perini and his colleagues found differences in the types of knowledge acquired in the DGBL context and traditional learning methods. Their study found that students who took part in the life cycle assessment computer game showed significantly higher improvement on procedural knowledge than those who used a more traditional approach. Conversely, the results showed that students who took part in the non-game-based learning approach performed significantly better than the game-based group on factual knowledge. Other studies, such as that by Joiner et al. (2013), found no significant learning gains in students who used DGBL.

Virtual reality
Virtual Reality (VR) technology is based on computer graphics which can simulate real life scenarios and create dynamic, immersive, and interactive virtual reality environments and items through visual, auditory, and tactile senses of computer media manipulation (Burdea, 2003). Depending on the quality of the immersion experience, VR can be categorised as non-immersive, semi-immersive, or fully immersive (Cronin, 1997). Studies have shown that immersion (i.e. the state of consciousness where the awareness of the user's physical self is lost by being surrounded in an artificial world) in digital environments can enhance learning without exposing learners to physical safety risks and cost of the real-world environment (Dede, 2009;Handa, Aul, & Bajaj, 2012).
Fully Immersive VR (IVR) supports realistic and immersive simulations and enhances transferability of skills learned in the IVR environment into real life context (Cheng & Wang, 2011). VR technology provides the user with a safe 3D training/educational space where they can construct their knowledge through trial and error techniques that reflect real-life situations and events (Fällman, Backman, & Holmlund, 1999). With VR technology, it is possible to create real-life representations of events such as fire outbreaks that could be used to train firefighters, rescue operators or the general public on dealing with such catastrophic event within a safe, yet stressful setting (Ahmad, Sarlan, & Rauf, 2018, June;Czarnek, Strojny, Strojny, & Richter, 2019;Shi, Du, Ahn, & Ragan, 2019). VR technology offers the possibility of changing one's frame of reference, allowing the user to interact with the virtual scene from different perspectives in order to maximise in-depth understanding of the conceptual framework (Fällman et al., 1999). VR applications which are typically used for educating and training of professionals can be presented either as games with a serious purpose (i.e. serious games), or as simulations (Imlig-Iten & Petko, 2018;Menin, Torchelsen, & Nedel, 2018).

Immersive virtual reality games (IVR games)
Interactivity is believed to be the most fundamental aspect of effective learning (Martirosov & Kopecek, 2017). When game characteristics embedded into an IVR environment are used for teaching or training, learners tend to retain knowledge for much longer than when traditional methods are used. This is attributed to the full engagement and high emotional and physiological arousal that learners experience when in IVR environment (Chittaro & Buttussi, 2015).
Although there are currently limited studies on the use IVR games in HE, a few have reported using IVR in different domains. Chittaro and Buttussi (2015) carried out an interesting comparative study of an IVR-based serious game and traditional card game for aviation safety education. Results revealed better engagement and better knowledge retention in those who played the IVR game, compared to those who played the card game. Solving a challenge in an IVR environment allows for a greater sense of presence and is associated with reduced distraction and better engagement with the task (Feng, González, Amor, Lovreglio, & Cabrera-Guerrero, 2018). In another study by Pallavicini et al. (2018), it was found that a similar gameplay performance was achieved in both IVR and non-IVR video game groups. However, more appealing gameplay experiences were reported by IVR game users compared to tablet computer users. Kharvari and Hohl (2019) tested a prototype IVR game, Therme Vals, for architectural education and found that students were able to recall spatial configuration of the simulated building without physically visiting the site. They claimed that VR could be a simpler, cheaper, safe and effective way of accumulating 'highly specific architectural knowledge' compared to site visits.
IVR games are potentially very effective tools for developing higher-order knowledge and complex problem-solving skills. These are particularly useful for developing procedural knowledge (Szczurowski & Smith, 2018), critical thinking, and decision-making skills required to handle process safety situations. H&S training is a compulsory part of the induction process of every process plant engineer. The importance of H&S training cannot be overemphasised, as mistakes could lead to various catastrophic outcomes. H&S studies are common practices in both chemical engineering education and training. In HE, the focus is on the development of conceptual knowledge of process safety while in the chemical industry attention is paid to the acquisition of procedural knowledge.
The most widely used method of delivering process safety studies in HE is lectures with multimedia presentations. However, lectures have been criticised as ineffective (Lambert, 2012) and non-engaging (Fitzpatrick et al., 2011). As a solution, many chemical companies have incorporated IVR technologies into safety education and training programs to complement conventional training methods (Colombo, Nazir, & Manca, 2014;Manca, Brambilla, & Colombo, 2013;Nazir et al., 2012). Colombo et al. (2014) presented an accident scenario in IVR involving a collision between a work vehicle and a pipe near a distillation column. Their study showed that operators who were trained using IVR performed remarkably better (50% higher success rate in fault diagnosis) than those trained with conventional slide-supported presentation on all tested Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
IVR games can be effective complements or alternatives to traditional pedagogies. The technology can support students' development of conceptual and procedural skillsets required in the current and future workplace. Equipping students with the skills for the future of work using similar advanced technologies used in the workplace would not only prepare them for the tasks ahead, but also prepares them to be lifelong learners. Although designing and developing digital games is currently cost and time intensive, openly available games have been successfully adopted for classroom use. There is also a potential opportunity for HE teachers to adopt games and simulations developed and used by corporate organisation who have more robust budgets. In this case, understanding factors that could influence students' adoption of IVR games and whether they differ from those of professionals is of interest. Understanding students' perceptions towards IVR games for learning is an important first step towards designing and implementing this technology in the classrooms. The goal of this paper is to present the perceptions of chemical engineering students and professionals towards IVR games for education, and discuss the implications of the findings to practice. Specifically, this study aims to answer the following research questions: RQ1: What are chemical engineering students' overall perceptions towards IVR games for education? RQ2: How do the perceptions of chemical engineering students towards IVR games for learning differ from the perceptions of chemical engineering professionals?

Conceptual model
To understand the perceptions of chemical engineering students and professionals towards IVR games for engineering education, this study adapted the Unified Theory of Use and Acceptance of Technology (UTAUT2) framework (Venkatesh, Thong, & Xu, 2012). The UTAUT2 model, developed to predict technology acceptance, has been validated by many studies and is claimed to be able to explain about 74% of variance in behavioural intention of use of new technology (Venkatesh, Thong, & Xu, 2016).
The UTAUT2 theorizes that Performance Expectancy (PE), Effort Expectancy (EE), Social Influence (SI), Facilitating Conditions (FC), Hedonic Motivation (HM), Price Value (PV) and Habit (H) are direct determinants of the intention of an to use a new technology, while FC, HM, PV and H are direct determinants of usage (Venkatesh et al., 2012). As this study was purely focused on perception before the implementation of the technology, an adapted model was used as shown in (Figure 1).
As shown in (Figure 1), the adapted model comprises of four main constructs namely Performance Expectancy (PE), Effort Expectancy (EE), Social Influence (SI), and Hedonic Motivation (HM), which affect the Behavioural Intention (BI). Performance Expectancy (PE) describes the degree to which an individual believes that using a given technology will enable them to perform a certain activity (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, & Davis, 2003). This variable is considered the strongest determinant for the prediction of behavioural intention (ibid). Effort Expectancy (EE) describes the perception of a user in terms of the degree of ease associated with a technology. Like PE, EE is found to be a significant determinant of behavioural intention (Fagan, Kilmon, & Pandey, 2012;Venkatesh et al., 2003). Social Influence (SI) describes the extent to which an individual perceives that people who are important to them believe that they should use a new technology (Venkatesh et al., 2003). Hedonic Motivation (HM) is referred to as the fun or pleasure one derives from using a technology (Venkatesh et al., 2012). HM is conceptualized as perceived enjoyment and has been found to have greatest influence on intentions to play games (Ha, Yoon, & Choi, 2007). Behavioural Intentions (BI) describes an individual's intentions to use a new technology (Venkatesh et al., 2012).

Research context and participants
The participants of this study were chemical engineering undergraduate students and chemical industry professionals. Convenient sampling was used to recruit participants for this study (Etikan, 2016). Student participants were 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th years undergraduates recruited from collaborating institutions with the help of a gatekeeper. The cohorts of students in this study are students who have taken at least one H&S class, and therefore are in the position to provide rational opinions towards IVR games for H&S education. A total of 27 students (took part in the survey with 72% under the age of 20. There were 18 (66.7%) male and 9 (33.3%) female participants and all were studying towards a bachelor or master's degree in chemical engineering. All participants declared having previous computer gameplay experience but only 51.9% of them have prior VR experience.
Professional chemical engineers were recruited online from various chemical industries. Professionals were invited to voluntarily take part in the online survey if they were employed as professional chemical engineers at the time of the study. The data were collected over a two-week period. A total of 89 professional chemical engineers completed the questionnaire. Most of the participants were aged 20-29 years (79.78%) and were slightly dominated by males (57.30%). Moreover, most of them had prior experience playing video games (98.88%) but only 31.46% of them have tried head-mounted display VR.

Questionnaire development
Two online questionnaires were used for data collection: one adapted for the student population and the other for the professionals. The questionnaires consisted of closed and open-ended questions. A total of 33 questions were included in each questionnaire (see tables in Appendix). The questions collected socio-demographic data, measured behavioural intentions to use IVR games, and collected qualitative data on perceptions. The questions were rephrased to fit the purpose and population under study. Both questionnaires used a 6-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree).
The items included in the questionnaires were adopted from Venkatesh et al. (2012) and each items were properly reworded to suit the use of IVR games for education. Face validity checks were carried out by academics in the field and subsequently, pilot studies were conducted with postgraduate chemical engineering students and some volunteers from the chemical industry to check for misconceptions in the formulation of the questions. Changes were made based on feedback and corrections received.

Data collection procedure
Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using an online questionnaire. Before sending out the questionnaires, ethics approvals were obtained. All expected ethical procedures were followed in the development and administration of the questionnaires.
The online surveys comprised of a cover letter explaining the aim of the study and the rights of the participants . Emails were sent to all chemical engineering undergraduate students in their 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th years of study at the universities. The emails contained a link to the online questionnaire and a brief description of the research purpose. Students were offered the opportunity to enter a prize draw at the end of the survey to stand a chance to win one of ten £10 gift vouchers.

Data analysis
Quantitative data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with the Partial Least Square (PLS) algorithm employed in SmartPLS 3 (from Smart PLS GmbH) (Ringle, Wende, & Becker, 2015). This model involves a two-step approach. However, given the scope of the research, only the first step -measurement model, was completed in this study to evaluate the correlation between each construct and its observed indicators. In order to identify whether there are differences among students and professionals, the Mann-Whitney U test was carried out in SPSS (from IBM SPSS Statistics) . For the qualitative data analysis, NVivo (from QSR International) was used to identify themes in the responses.

Quantitative results
To determine the overall perceptions of students towards IVR games for H&S education, validity and reliability tests of the constructs of the research model were carried out first (Hair, Hult, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2017). From (Table 1), the Cronbach's Alpha and the Composite Reliability (CR) (measures of internal consistency) coefficients of all measured constructs, with the exception of the 'Social Influence' were above the 0.7 recommended minimum threshold. This implies good internal consistencies between items in each construct. To measure the convergent and discriminant validities of the constructs, i.e. to measure whether constructs that should be related are related, and to test if the constructs that should not be related are not related, the average variance extracted (AVE) and Fornrell-Larcker criterion tests were carried out, respectively (Hair et al., 2017). As shown in (Tables 1 and 2), all constructs have AVE values higher than the minimum recommended level of 0.5, and stronger association between similar constructs, implying good convergence and discriminant validities.
The scores of participants on all measured constructs were calculated to give an indication of their views toward IVR games for H&S education. As shown in (Table 1), the mean scores of students on all constructs were relatively high, ranging from 3.6 to 4.8 with Hedonic Motivation and Effort Expectancy having the highest mean scores. Additionally, students scored relatively high on the Behavioural Intention construct, indicating enthusiasm towards adopting IVR games for H&S education.

Qualitative results
Qualitative data were collected using two open-ended questions in the questionnaire. The first question (Q1) was, 'Why do you think using IVR games for H&S education could be a good idea?'. The second (Q2) asked the opposite, 'Why do you think using IVR games for H&S education could be a bad idea?'.
From the collected data, eight themes emerged from the NVivo analysis on these data. Four themes were from Q1 and these include better learning experience, cost Ratings are on a 6-point Likert Scale: 1 = Strongly disagree 2 = disagree 3 = slightly disagree 4 = slightly agree 5 = agree 6 = strongly agree effectiveness, safety and keeping up with technological advancement. The other four themes emerged from Q2 and were suitability concerns, implementation concerns, false reality, and novelty effect.

Themes from Q1
When students were asked why they thought using IVR games for H&S education was a good idea, 88% (n = 15) of the responders agreed that IVR games would provide a better learning experience. Several terms were used by responders to describe this: realistic simulations, immersion, interactivity, visualisation, situated learning, memorable experience. Students believed that using IVR games could enhance learning and retention as described by these students: 'Games have already been shown to be an effective method of learning when done correctly. The more immersive level of interaction in VR, as compared to traditional games, could make a session more memorable and aid the learning experience. Also, the experience of being in a virtual space could allow activities that aren't otherwise possible'.
'The immersion and interaction would help to understand real life situations better, instead of just reading and studying rules'.
Safety was another factor that was raised by two students as a benefit of IVR games for H&S education: 'It would be easy to simulate situations without putting people in unnecessary danger, which could help in crucial situations'.
Another student emphasised the cost benefits, responding to Q1: 'Gives a hands-on experience without having to leave the classroom and have expensive class trips'.
Generally, these qualitative data suggest that students (with or without VR experience) see potential in the use of IVR games for educational purposes. It was noted that students with previous VR experience had more to say in terms of overall benefits of the use of IVR games for H&S education compared to students with no VR experience.

Themes from Q2
On the question about why students think using IVR games for H&S education was a bad idea, implementation concerns and suitability issues were the two most frequently occurring themes (n = 11 and n = 7 respectively). In terms of the implementation concerns, participants mentioned cost, the challenge of the educational games design, gameplay distractions, ineffectiveness of games, as well as the lack of acceptance of games by students and teachers. Some interesting responses from students to Q2 that reflect implementation concerns include: 'Perhaps cost and time that it would require to train people'.
'Focus might be too much towards playing and doing well in the game over acquiring knowledge'. 'It can be very hard to balance the educational side with an engaging gameplay loop'.
'Likely some students would not take it seriously . . . .And old school instructors may not agree with this technology to take part in education'.
Students also elaborated on suitability issues as a possible reason why the use of IVR games for H&S education might be a bad idea. Motion sickness, gaming competency, accessibility issues and desensitisation effects were mentioned, as demonstrated below: 'They can make people feel motion sick so some people may not be able to use it and may be excluded from the class'.
'Mixed ability of students with video games'.
'Physical problems may cause inadequacy to even use the VR games'.
'Might take away from the seriousness of H&S events if it's a game'.
These results present important concerns regarding the use of this technology for classroom educational purpose. Students' responses were found to come from past experiences with the technology given that all participants who mentioned motion sickness as a barrier had used VR in the past. Additionally, students who were weary of gaming abilities/competencies affecting performance with the technology were found to have no previous VR experience.

Research question 2
To compare chemical engineering students and employees on their overall perception towards IVR games for H&S education, the mean scores of employees on all constructs were computed. From (Tables 3 & 4), the reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity of the constructs were established. Ratings are on a 6-point Likert Scale: 1 = Strongly disagree 2 = disagree 3 = slightly disagree 4 = slightly agree 5 = agree 6 = strongly agree The scores of professionals on all measured constructs were calculated to give an indication of their views toward IVR games for H&S training. As shown in (Table 3), the mean scores of professionals on all constructs were relatively high ranging from 3.8 to 5.1 with performance expectancy and effort expectancy having the highest mean scores of 5.0 and 4.8, respectively. Additionally, professionals scored relatively high on the behavioural intention construct, indicating enthusiasm towards adopting IVR games for H&S training.
To determine if there are any statistically significant differences in mean scores of students and employees, the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was conducted (MacFarland & Yates, 2016). As shown in (Table 5) there are statistically significant differences (p values ≤ 0.05) between the two groups in their mean scores on PE, SI, and BI.

Discussion
The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of chemical engineering students and professionals towards the use of IVR games for H&S education and to discuss the implications of the findings on classroom use. Using the UTAUT2 model, this study explored the perceptions of students and professionals towards the use of IVR games for H&S education using five constructs: Performance Expectancy (PE), Effort Expectancy  (EE), Social Influence (SI), Hedonic Motivation (HM), and Behavioural Intentions (BI). Additionally, qualitative data describing the perceived benefits and concerns regarding the use of IVR games for education by students were analysed. The findings suggest that students and professionals had positive perceptions towards the use of IVR games. From the ratings of the constructs, the highest mean scores of students were in HM and EE, whereas professionals scored PE and EE constructs higher than the other constructs. These observations suggest that students value enjoyment and ease of use more, as factors that would determine adoption of games for learning. On the other hand, professionals seemed to value usefulness and ease of use more when deciding to use the technology for learning. These differences indicate that while professionals would be most likely to adopt IVR games because it would enable them learn and become better at their jobs, students would most likely use this less conventional pedagogical tool to learn as it is engaging and enjoyable to use. Although participants' ages and experiences with games and VR may have played a role in these results, consideration should be given to attributes that make these technologies attractive to HE students when adopting those designed for professional use for the classroom use.
Comparing the mean scores of students and professionals on all measured constructs showed that professionals scored statistically significantly higher than students on SI, PE and BI. Motivation seemed to have played a role in the differences on SI. While the motivation to use provided technology for workplace training could be tied to impressing colleagues and bosses or even job retention and promotion, this is hardly the case in the HE setting. The difference in mean scores on PE suggest that professionals have a stronger belief in the useful of IVR games for H&S training compared to students. This could be attributed to the difference in knowledge dimensions addressed in the workplace compared to HE. While chemical engineering professionals are expected to demonstrate conceptual and procedural knowledge in their everyday work, engineering students are generally assessed for factual and conceptual understanding (Timmermann & Kautz, 2015) that would not necessarily require the use of new technologies to master. IVR games and other similar technologies offer opportunities to teach and assess workplace required skills hence bridging the gap between curriculum and the practical skills required by employers. Like professionals, students will find the technology useful if it aligns with the curriculum learning outcomes. Lastly, the higher mean scores on BI of professionals imply that compared to students, professionals are more likely to adopt IVR games for H&S education. This is expected given that professionals find the technology more useful for H&S education than students do. Furthermore, the qualitative data showed that students generally perceive IVR games for education as beneficial, stating that the technology could lead to better learning experience, cost reduction, and safe learning environment. They also raised a wide range of concerns with using IVR games for classroom learning. Students mentioned the possibility of this technology being unsuitable for every student due to learning styles, disabilities or gaming competencies. Students also expressed scepticism on the effectiveness of IVR games for learning, suggesting that games and simulations are unable to account for all possible variables in a real-world setting. They also added that the gameplay itself might distract students from the learning contents of the game, rendering it ineffective. Additionally, cost and implementation challenges were raised. Some students worried that designing educational games that are both engaging and pedagogically relevant pose a difficult and expensive challenge. This highlights some of the concerns of game-based learning raised by de Freitas (2006) and Maciel, Miyagawa, Melo, and Souza (2018). Lastly, some students worry that persuading teachers as well as students to adopt IVR games for classroom education might pose a difficult challenge and a barrier to use.

Implications for design and practice
All of these findings have implications for the use of not just IVR games but most new technologies for higher education practices. Advances in technology are making it possible to bridge the gap between classroom education and workplace practices, hence facilitating a more rapid transition of graduates into a changing workplace. It is now easier than ever for students to learn both concepts and practical application of knowledge and skills throughout the undergraduate years without the limitations of real-world environments. The current generation of students understands the value that these technologies offer and would use them for classroom learning if made available to them. However, several issues should be considered when adopting, designing or using these technologies to teach students in higher education: • IVR games should be fit for purpose. Games should be designed to align with curriculum and assessment. Adult learners are unlikely to adopt a new technology if it does not help them achieve learning goals. To ensure that students use these technologies as expected, they should be designed with intended learning outcomes at the heart of the design. When adopting existing technologies, it is necessary that they match curriculum learning outcomes. Furthermore, it should be made clear to students what they are expected to learn from the games when deploying them. • Finding the right balance between quality of immersion, representation and fidelity when designing an educational IVR game is important. Games must be engaging for students to play them. This can be achieved through engaging and realistic narratives as well as good game aesthetics. While good levels of representation and fidelity are important in epistemic games, they do not always lead to better outcomes. Unnecessary fine details in games can be distracting and result in higher cognitive loads. • IVR games and similar pedagogical tools should be used to complement existing pedagogies rather than stand-alone. Learning preferences and accessibility issues mean that these technologies might not be suitable for every student's need. Motion sickness is still an issue with VR and this can prevent some students from taking part in the learning activities. Therefore, when deploying IVR games (or any advanced technology) for learning, alternatives should be available for students who might be excluded from the activities. • Students can be encouraged to be co-designers of games. Designing games can be expensive and time-consuming, and for many institutions, tight budgets could hinder such activities. One way to solve this problem is to involve students in the design and development process. Students can collaborate with colleagues from other faculties to exchange ideas and skills required for game design. This approach does not just have cost benefits; it provides students with the opportunity to develop 21 st century skills, such as collaboration, creativity, and technology and information literacy skills. • Integrating debriefing sessions into the learning activities would be beneficial. New technologies often fail to deliver expected outcomes for many unforeseen reasons.
Having debriefing sessions after learning with a new technology would offer students the opportunity to reflect on and share their experiences with teachers. Teachers would then be able to use the feedback to improve future learning activities.
Finally, teachers should be encouraged to explore new technologies given the many benefits on teaching and learning. Training resources should be provided for teachers to develop the skills needed to support learning with these technologies. Trying out different games on mobile, desktops and VR during leisure times could also boost teachers' confidence in using these technologies. Limitations and suggestions for future work Overall, this study finds evidence that chemical engineering students and professionals believe that immersive virtual reality games are useful for health and safety education and they indicate that they would use the technology for learning purposes. There are, however, limitations to the research. The sample size of the student participants limits robust statistical analysis and results to an extent. The students in the study were only chemical engineering students from two universities, hence the results, although indicative, cannot be generalised to the engineering student population at large. Lastly, the difference in the sample sizes of students and professionals could have biased the result of the comparison.
Given the above, future studies will consider using a larger sample size of students. Students from different engineering disciplines will be targeted to provide a broader view of what engineering students think of the technology. Studies could also compare engineering students' use of games for learning and their perceptions towards educational games to determine whether high perceptions result in extensive use and high performance in the game.


Comparing the Outcomes of the Different Teaching Modes: All-in-Person, Hybrid, and Online, for Different Student Demographic Groups in a Business School

The concept of hybrid mode education is spreading. Little research compares hybrid teaching modes to online and all in person (AIP) teaching modes. Nearly all this research assumes that there is no difference in the students entering AIP, hybrid, or online sections of a course. This study used data from four years of all the courses in the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University. The data set, which included individual student and course section outcomes, included full student demographics and the student’s university GPA at the start of the course. The results showed that for all demographics, students in hybrid course sections earned higher final course grades than those in online sections, which in turn, earned better final grades than those in AIP sections.

While much previous research has explored the outcomes of fully online teaching compared to all in person (AIP) teaching, far less research has comparing hybrid teaching to online and AIP teaching (Amparo et al., 2018;Lovern, 2010;Slavkin, 2005;Stern, 2004). Moreover, previous research has suggested that there is no difference in the characteristics of the students entering AIP, hybrid, or online sections of a course. Studies such as that of McFarlin (2008) have only considered a single course or instructor. Some research, such as Blau and Drennan (2017) has considered student satisfaction with different modes, as well as academic outcome or grades.
Hybrid teaching may become a more common instructional delivery modality. It is important to examine hybrid class results to see how the hybrid teaching mode compares to AIP and fully online delivery. For example, if the hybrid teaching modes provide superior results for certain types of students, then institutions should encourage more instructors to use a hybrid mode. Also, doing more hybrid sections has large implications for the number of classrooms that an institution needs.
In addition, there may be important differences in demographics between students who opt for one mode over the others, and that certain student demographic groups may be more successful with certain teaching formats. For example, Xu and Jaggers (2013), and Cavenaugh and Jacuemin (2013) suggested that student demographics can be different for different modes.
The present study used the entering characteristics of students, a large sample of many instructors, and the final mean course grade achieved for a large business college over several years, to see if the benefits (including negative benefits) of hybrid and online over AIP depends on the characteristics of the entering student. While there are many types of hybrid and online teaching modes, the present study examined traditional hybrid (or flipped) teaching, not rotational hybrids. The online sections in the present study were all asynchronous, not synchronous. The present study analyzed secondary data to determine whether the entering characteristics of students, a large sample of many instructors, and the final grade achieved for a large business college over several years. The purpose of the research was to see whether there was a connection between the demographics of the students, the model of instruction, and the success of the student in the course.

Research Questions
Thus, the research questions that the research examined were: 1. Is there a difference (both demographic and previous academic achievement) in students learning in different modes? 2. How do different demographic characteristics affect student outcomes in different modes? This was measured as the difference in mean course final grades between different groups. Outcomes in this study included the final course grade for the section.

Literature Review
The literature will report on how previous research has examined differences in the demographics of students taking different modes. We first examine the larger research output that does not include hybrid courses, then the smaller research that includes hybrid courses.

Online to AIP Comparisons
Many studies, with sample sizes ranging from very small to very large, have compared the outcomes of online versus AIP courses. The following is a selection of some of the most recent and more relevant studies. Stern (2004) examined online and AIP instruction for one course and concluded that the online instructional delivery mode worked as well as AIP if online instructors had enough time to plan and implement their courses. Sapp and Simon (2005) compared grades for online and AIP writing courses. Their findings showed that more students thrived (defined as A or A-) in AIP courses than online courses (32% to 52%). Summers et al. (2005) examined grades for online versus AIP for a statistics course. They found no significant difference between modes of teaching. Kelly (2009) reported that she could find no significant difference between student grades for online and AIP modes. Kelly did not control for entering GPA. Dell et al. (2010) found no differences between online and AIP sections of a graduate human development and an undergraduate psychology course. Ni (2013) found that there were no significant differences in outcome between online and AIP classes. Amparo et al (2018) used a very large sample (96,000 students) across two institutions to compare online and AIP results. They found that AIP students outperformed online students in course final GPA. Blau and Drennan (2017) used student's perceptions to compare different teaching formats and suggested that universities find ways to increase perceived favorability of online and hybrid courses for those that prefer AIP.

No Examination of Student Type
None of these previous studies examined pre-course university GPA self-selection (e.g., Do more academically able students prefer a particular mode?) Further, most of these studies failed to examine differences in pre-course GPAs or any demographics of students. Generally, these studies mentioned above all found no significant difference in final course grades or that online courses achieved worse final course grades than AIP ones.

Examination Included Student Type
Cavanaugh and Jacuemin (2013) used a large sample size (5,000 courses) in one institution. They found no significant difference overall between online and AIP classes. They did find that students with good pre-course GPA did better those who did not. Online courses increased the effect of pre-course GPA. They also found that students who usually had high grades tended to do online courses, as the mean pre-course GPA was 3.41 for online students, while only 3.02 for AIP students.
Xu and Jaggers (2014) researched a very large data set of online and AIP courses (500,000 student-course sets). They did allow for differences in pre-course GPAs. They found that males, younger students, Black students, and those with lower pre-course GPAs did worse in online courses, while females and Asians had no significant differences, and older students did better in online courses. They also looked at subject matter and reported that computer science, communication, and health had no significant differences. All others had AIP doing better than online courses. The social sciences, business, law, and nursing showed the biggest differences. Teaching mode affected starting students more adversely than continuing students were. Nguyen (2015) summarized research comparing AIP and online teaching modes. He found that generally research considers online learning is better but that there were problems with much of this research. Amro et al. (2015) showed that for their algebra courses, AIP students got higher grades than students studying online did. Although they looked at age and gender factors, they did not look at pre-course GPAs to see if the students were similar in academic ability.
Bief and Brams (2016) compared student performance in online and AIP courses. They encountered mixed results; some studies showed the AIP course were better and some the online courses. Sun and Chen (2016) did a review of 47 papers comparing online and AIP teaching modes. They concluded that online teaching works as well as or better than AIP if done properly. That is well-designed content, motivated interaction, and well prepared and supported instructors.
Most studies did not examine the effect of demographic factors. However, Cavanaugh and Jacuemin (2013) found that students that earned higher grades in traditional settings tended to choose online courses. Xu and Jaggers (2014) showed that the difference between online and AIP depends on race, gender, previous GPA, and age. In fact, they also showed that older students did slightly better in online courses. These two studies hinted that demographics and pre-course GPA might affect course outcomes. Blau et al. (2019) used the students' intent to transfer as an output measure.

Studies that did not Examine Student Types
Several studies looked at comparing hybrid to either or both of and online modes. Reasons, et al., (2005) examined the three teaching formats and concluded that online was better in achieving a higher final course grade than hybrid. McFarlin (2008) examined grade results for hybrid and online sections. McFarlin found that student learning, as represented by grades, increased in hybrid and online sections compared to AIP sections. Lovern (2010) found no significant difference in outcomes between online, hybrid, and AIP sections of the same course. Much previous research did not examine pre-course GPA self-selection. Son et al. (2016) looked at a lab class that was offered in the three formats. These researchers concluded that grades were highest in a hybrid mode, and lowest in a pure online format. Mansour and Mupinda (2007) studied students' experiences rather than outcomes in online and hybrid classes. They found that students preferred hybrid classes, but some students preferred online courses. This maybe reflected the students' learning style. Senn (2008) reported on student perceptions the three modes for one course. He concluded that students felt that hybrid sections were more difficult for this technology heavy course. Larson and Sung (2009) looked at hybrid sections, as well as online and AIP. Unfortunately, they used student perceptions of learning effectiveness not actual learning achieved as a variable. They did not look at whether student self-select types of course by their pre-course GPA. They showed that students preferred hybrid to online and online to AIP. Sackett (2009) compared the three modes' outcomes based on the training that the instructors had had. He found that online learners were older and had better computer competency. Kemp and Grieve (2014) studied student preferences and outcomes between AIP and online activities. They found no difference in learning outcomes but found students preferred online for written assignments and AIP for discussions. Goerke (2018) examined the three modes of training for one Air Force course. She found no differences in student satisfaction between the three modes. Cathorall et al. (2018) assessed student performance in hybrid and online classes. They found no difference in student grades, but higher student evaluations in online courses.

Studies that Examined Student Types
Brau et al (2010) reported on completion and success results in a course transitioning from AIP to hybrid and online modes. They found that completion rates increased significantly as did success rates. They did not think this was due to better students entering online and hybrid sections. Hybrid sections had higher completion rates than online sections. Price et al (2016) looked at effect of factors on student performance and satisfaction across modes. They looked at age, sex, interaction, clarity, control, and motivation. They found little correlation between age or sex/gender and student outcomes. They found that course design (participant interaction, learner control, and course clarity) did affect student outcomes. Mode of instruction had no significant effect. Kim and Keuegar (2017) compared hybrid and AIP courses. They concluded that using two modes, AIP and online, in the same course can be challenging to instructors. Baum and McPherson (2019) examined learning in online and hybrid sections, taking account of the academic weakness of entering students. They suggested that students with weak academic backgrounds and other risk factors, including socioeconomic status, struggle in online classes.
Taken together, previous research investigating student demographic differences showed such differences were sometimes liked to outcomes. In addition, they found that hybrid sections often achieved better outcomes to either online or AIP sections.

Methodology Data Set
Kennesaw State University (KSU) provided every student-course record in KSU's Banner system from Fall 2015 to Summer 2019 for all Coles College of Business undergraduate courses. The analysis did not use later data available because of COVID-19. When the pandemic closed campus buildings, all AIP and hybrid sections went completely online within 4 days. Many of our instructors had never taught online before. The administration told instructors to give the students benefit in grading for the stresses of lockdown. KSU has offered synchronous online, plus rotating hybrids, as well as standard hybrid since the initial shutdown. Many instructors had to teach online for the first time with little or no training. Thus, the course grade awarded during the shutdown because of the pandemic were skewed upwards and not useful for determining comparison of teaching modes. Therefore, data after the Fall 2019 semester was not included.
The researcher removed from the data set all student-record data that had no grade awarded, or had a grade of I (incomplete), S (satisfactory), or U (unsatisfactory), as these grades did not give an indication of student learning.
Each student-course record set originally consisted of the following: 1. An arbitrary random number instead of student name. The researcher deleted this column from the working database as not useful. 2. Course grade in letters. This was converted to numbers; A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, F = 0. 3. Previous overall university GPA of student at the start of course. This was missing for some students. Previous GPA varied from zero to 4. Starting transfer and freshmen students would have no previous GPA. 12. This analysis did not use Instructor ID. There were 232 instructors in this analysis. There were 118,280 student-course data records for the analysis.
Dataset Characteristics. Table 1 shows the basic properties of each variable in the data set. N = 118,280 *Hybrid student-section records are a small (2.23%) part of the overall data set.

Statistical Analysis
The statistical analysis used the final grade awarded for the course as the predicted variable and all the other variables as predictor variables. The F-test for the final grade for modes was 739.85, and the t-test between AIP and Hybrid was 31.57, between AIP and online was 33.12, and between hybrid and online was 15.53. Therefore, the differences in final grades between all modes was highly significant.
The research then found the correlations in Table 2 and ran regression analyses on the main data set in Tables 3 and 4. The highest correlation is between course grade granted to student in the course and the student's previous GPA. It also shows that there is high correlation between course level and online and hybrid modes, as in upper division there are more hybrid and online proportionally. There is a high correlation between summer terms and hybrid sections, as there are more online sections in the summer proportionally. Most of these extra online and hybrid sections are for junior and senior courses. There is low correlation between age and online but not hybrid modes. This is probably because older students do more online courses. Female students tend to achieve higher grades in all cases. There are low correlations between course level and final grade. There is also a negative correlation between course grades and previous GPA with claiming a Black racial identity. This correlation analysis showed nothing unexpected.
Next, the study reports the regression analysis in Table 3. This regression supported the correlation analysis. The largest predictor of a student's course final grade was the student's university GPA at the start of the course (Previous GPA). However, hybrid mode was the second biggest correlator, with AIP a negative correlator. Online was neutral. This suggests that students in the hybrid mode had reported higher course grades than in online courses. In turn, students in online courses received higher grades than students in AIP courses. Students reporting to have an international status followed those who claimed an Asian identity were received higher course grade than those identifying themselves as white. Those who reported as being Black, received lower grades. As previous GPA was the best predictor of final course grade in this study, Table 4 shows the results of predicting final course grade by previous GPA only. Some student-course records had missing previous GPA, so they were eliminated from this sample. When using only previous GPA as a predictor of course GPA, the regression had an adjusted R 2 of 90.9%,

Analysis of Mode Effect
The initial analysis suggested that the teaching mode was related to the final course grade, making additional analysis was necessary. As Year and Age had no noticed effect on results, the study deleted that information from the following Table 5 results. The summer term and level columns are missing from most of the following tables, as the study did not consider them major factors. Separating results by teaching mode shows that the hybrid mode leads to higher course grades over online mode (8.34%), and online over AIP (8.38%). Although previous GPA for hybrid is higher than online (1.56%), which is higher than AIP (1.81%), it appears that hybrid mode leads to higher course grades for similar previous GPA. However, these results are for all students.

Analysis for Sex
To examine the effect of different demographics, the analysis showed in Table 6 the results by various student characteristics, including the sex of the student. The overall reported sex balance was 57.7% male to 42.3% at KSU. Although a lower percentage of students reported to be females than males at KSU, more females reported enrolling in more online courses than male students; 26.2% of female student-courses were reported as being online versus 17.5% for male. More male students (2.39%) reported enrolling in hybrid than female (2.02%). Table 7 summarizes Table 6. This shows that Black and Hispanic have the lowest proportion of males in hybrid sections. Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Multi-ethnic/Multi-racial have the lowest proportion in online sections.

Analysis by Course Level
The study then investigated if the results varied by course level and Tables 8, 9 and 10 show the results.  For senior year students, there are almost as many online student-courses as AIP. For first-year students (known as freshman at KSU), there are very few online courses. Both hybrid and online increase with level as a percentage of year's total student-courses.

Figure 2. Final Course Grade for all Students by Course Level and Modes
Grades increase slightly with level for all modes except hybrid. In senior and junior year students, hybrid modes have students that received higher final grades than grades received in online courses. Online course grades were higher than AIP. Data from hybrid courses in second year (known as sophomore year at KSU) were too small to use. The overall mean final grade for all student-courses is almost exactly a B (3.008).

Analysis for Term
There are far more online courses as a percentage in Summer than in Fall or Spring. The analysis looks in Table 11 at whether courses in summer were different to the rest of the year in outcomes.   There is a far larger percentage of online sections in summer (41.75% versus 19.7%). Hybrid declines from 2.33% in spring to 1.18% in summer, while online increases. Final mean course grades for online and AIP both very slightly increase in summer, whilst hybrid mean course grades decline from 3.45 to 3.15. There does not appear to be differences in mode percentages or mode course final grades between Fall and Spring terms, so the study does not use that data further.

Analysis by Discipline
The study investigated whether the discipline influenced final grade with different modes, whose results are in Table 14.   In all disciplines with hybrid sections except economics, the mean final grade for hybrid is superior to online or AIP. In economics, hybrid is superior to AIP but not to online.

Analysis by Race/Ethnicity/International Student Status
The study considered in Table 17 whether different groups were better doing certain modes for their courses. Some students were "N/A" or unknown for reported group and thus the study deleted them. The resulting total data set contained 115358 student-course records.  Tables 18 and 19 summarize Table 17. International students finished the most hybrid courses proportionally, whilst they enrolled in the fewest number of online courses. This may be because United States Visa regulations require 12 credits of "in person" classes, such as AIP or hybrid. Students taking courses in the hybrid mode received the highest grades, except for those reporting an identity as Hispanic. For that group online students received higher grades than those learning AIP. The study uses the white race mean as the base case in the next table (Table  20) as it is the largest group. The biggest differences in mean grades are highlighted in bold. International students and Hispanic students received grades closes to white students in AIP courses. However, for those reporting as Black, the grades they received came closest to white students in hybrid sections. Analysis Using Previous GPA Previous university GPA before the start of the course is an indicator of academic ability. So, one would expect students with high previous university GPA to get better final course grades. Table 21 shows the effects of previous GPA.  Table 22 provides additional information about the findings from Table 21.  Table 23 and Figure 1 summarizes Table 22.

Figure 3. Course Final Grade Data vs Previous GPA for all Students by Instructor Mode
For all previous GPA, the hybrid is best for mean final grade is best then online, then AIP.

Results Using Only Multi-Mode Teachers
All data were deleted with instructors that only taught in the AIP mode, leaving 53,556 studentsections. Table 24 shows the results from the analysis without these instructors. In the table, the same results emerge as in previous analyses. That is, that students in hybrid courses received higher grades than in online courses. Further, both online and hybrid courses result in students receiving higher grades than in AIP courses.

Results Using Only Those Instructors Who Taught Hybrid Mode
The researcher then looked at data sets with instructors who taught hybrid, with 9834 data sets with 16 instructors (about 7% of all instructors). With this data in Table 25, hybrid is a far larger proportion of courses.  Table 26 further disaggregates information from Tables 24 and 25. Generally, instructors who taught at least one hybrid courses allocated higher grades in all modes than those that did not. With hybrid teaching instructors, there was little difference between online and hybrid results. Even so, both groups allocated higher grades than those who taught in AIP courses only.

Summary of Results for Course Final Grades
Previous GPA -The biggest predictor of a student's final grade in a course was their previous university GPA at the start of the course.
Sex -Generally, female students tend received higher final grades than male students in all formats and courses.
Race/Ethnicity/International Student Status -International students (who could claim multiple races and ethnicities) received the highest final course grades. Asian students in at KSU without international student status received the next highest grades. Students reporting their race as Black received lower grades than other groups. Students in hybrid courses received the highest final course grades across races, ethnicities, and status as an international or domestic student. The advantage in terms of higher grade received was highest for Black students and least for Hispanic students.
Mode -Overall, grades were higher in hybrid courses than online courses. Both hybrid and online grades were higher than AIP grades. However, hybrid courses tended to be more available in upper division courses.
Discipline -Only half the business disciplines taught courses in the hybrid mode, which may have affected results. However, in all disciplines with hybrid courses, the hybrid mean course grade was higher than that for online or AIP.
Based on these findings, more courses should be available in the online and hybrid modes, but especially the hybrid mode. There also might be benefits to using the hybrid mode that go beyond the scope of this student. If higher education institutions want to increase hybrid teaching, it seems reasonable to provide additional support to instructors to learn to teach in hybrid modes. Additional research might examine the types of supports.
While this study showed hybrid mode teaching resulted in higher grades than in AIP courses, it did not show why. One theory could be is that hybrid courses enable more interactive teaching than AIP. Another theory is that students took advantage of other affordances of online and hybrid courses that include a more fluid sense of time and deadlines. There is also the possibility that the instructors who give higher grades tend to be those who teach hybrid courses. In any case, additional research is also needed to determine why the grades are higher in these courses. Is because there is better teaching and learning? Is it because teachers set different expectations for learning in different modes? Is it because there are fewer threats to individuals' claimed identities in courses where one does not have to be in the AIP space? Or is there some other reason?
It would be interesting to do similar studies with other universities and colleges to see if KSU's patterns are similar or different. If done with several other teaching institutions and one found similar results, then one could make generalizable conclusions about the effect of teaching mode on course grades.

Limitations
This study has several limitations.
1. The use of previous GPA to represent the academic ability of an incoming student is a convenient assumption. However, that is how most students rate their learning. 2. The use of course final grade to represent learning from a course is a common approximation of learning, but admittedly imperfect. 3. This analysis did not consider other factors like how many online or hybrid courses the student had done before the course, how many online or hybrid courses the student took at the same time, or whether the student was only taking online courses or mixing F2F with online and hybrid courses. 4. In the main study, hybrid student course records were only a small proportion of the total data. 5. The study did not examine differences between instructors. However, many instructors grade harder than others for the same course. Hybrid teaching instructors may grade higher than those teaching other modes. 6. The data for this case study comes from one university. Other universities and colleges may show completely different patterns. 7. Variables for Race/Ethnicity and International Student Status were all grouped together for this analysis, which might obscure some of the nuance between students who claim these characteristics. 8. Since KSU only collects information about sex using a binary of Male/Female. Data and analysis for those who might claim a non-binary sexual/gender identity was unavailable.

Conclusions
The base data set has only a very small proportion of all student-course records from hybrid sections. This may mean that the results are heavily biased towards online and AIP modes. However, due to the large number of student-course records, this analysis can provide useful information that might cause other universities to consider their own patterns. The analysis also showed there was little difference in type of student who did each mode, except those students with more experience in the academy tended to do more online courses. This research basically replicates most of the previous studies with larger student populations, but with more information of how student types affect the results.

Declarations
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
The author received approval from the ethics review board of Kennesaw State University, USA for this study.
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.