Understanding Research Trends in HyFlex (hybrid flexible) Instruction Model: A Scientometric Approach

Abstract

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated that higher education institutions go online and utilize a HyFlex instruction model. The current study used a scientometric approach to evaluate the current status of HyFlex, as well as a visual analysis of the topic. Published research from 1989-2021 was retrieved from Web of Science (WoS) and the search generated 1453 results, which were analysed by title, year of publication, authors, country, journal, and research area. The data was processed using VOSviewer and Bibliometrix R software to visualize trends for HyFlex. The research identified document types, author collaborations, annual scientific production, most relevant journals, collaboration network between authors, institutions, country, cluster coupling of authors, documents and sources, thematic evolution, and co-occurrence of all keywords. The results indicated the topic gained interest in 2008, with the highest number of articles published in 2019-2020. The top collaborator and country with the highest volume of citations and published articles was the United States. Word clusters indicated the most repetitive words were students, education, performance, and knowledge. The visualization of data offers information on trends on the body of research as well as providing researchers an understanding of the topic.