Student Voices
- What does effective teaching look like to you during the pandemic? What is happening in the remote classroom?
- What do you want faculty to know about teaching in an inclusive classroom during the pandemic? What advice do you have?
What does effective teaching look like to you during the pandemic? What is happening in the remote classroom?
"Effective teaching is teaching that continues to take the students' needs into consideration
and prioritize them above the actual academic standing of the student. I feel like
remote class times should be short and the activities should vary in order to give
change and slight excitement in times where there isn't much."
"Effective teaching during a pandemic looks like providing the necessary information
for students to learn (i.e. zoom class, videos, assignments, feedback, exams, etc.)
but also being understanding if students are unable to complete this work. Students
should be able to have the best content possible available to them without the pressure
of learning expectations at this time."
"Many of my classes have switched to recorded videos rather than zoom lectures. This
is useful for students in different time zones and I understand the benefit of it
but it creates an impersonal feel to the instruction and makes motivation for learning
more difficult."
Effective teaching is when professors upload their lectures to theSpring so that
the students can access the material at anytime, as it can be more difficult for students
to come to their classes at the regularly scheduled time now. In the remote classroom
there is a stronger feeling of anxiety and general stress among students.
"Effective teaching during a pandemic involves empathy and flexibility. Students are
obviously going through changes in their lives, but everyones experience in very
unique and sometimes difficult to talk about. In my experience, teachers have been
very understanding and making efforts to connect with students emotionally and be
available to support them. Most of my classes are still doing live zoom sessions at
least once a week, since they are discussion-based. Maintaining that structure and
routine is really helpful to me."
Effective teaching is the teacher doing their best and delivering strong lectures
but at the same time understanding that we are not at 100% right now and its pretty
hard to do your best work when you are in an environment that is not the best for
learning and also theres a pandemic happening. The professor is teaching as best
they can but they are also being understanding with deadlines and grades because they
understand the situation.
"Its the teacher going above and beyond to ensure that the students are getting a
deep understanding of the material being taught. Answering and checking emails consistently
& giving different ways things can be taught since everyone learning style is different.
I think teachers should find an online program where subjects can be taught and is
more interactive for the student."
"Effective teaching during the pandemic to me is being understanding and compassionate
to every student and not utilizing Zoom. I believe having virtual office hours and
simply putting up the lecture with speaker notes is sufficient so everyone can interact
with the lecture on their own time."
"I think effective teaching during a pandemic can be displayed by checking in with
students, answering emails consistently, and having zoom meetings/learning videos.
All classes vary in what material is being taught, but I feel like many professors
lack compassion when it comes to structuring their classes online. Something that
made me enjoy online classes is one of my professors made it clear that my needs/their
support matter the most. However, in another class that I have, my professor had one
Zoom call meeting with my class and continued to only put work up on theSpring for
us to do for her to grade. Also, she isnt consistent with answering her emails, which
make students feel devalued... But, most of the classes are being structured similar
to what wed do in the classroom in the best way. Breakout rooms on Zoom become a
resource for small group work, but it isnt the same experience to being together
in a classroom."
During this pandemic, I think the most effective teaching is done by a means of face
to face, online conference calls between professors and students. Although difficult
during these trying times, I think that this is the most important aspect of remote
learning. Having the resources available to speak to professors on a weekly basis,
or whenever needed, would be the most effective way to maintain the norms that come
with learning in a classroom setting. Overall, a majority of the professors that I
take classes with have done a great job at keeping face to face interaction, specifically
through Zoom. Professors are giving lectures that maintain our class schedules and
also holding open office hours for anyone who needs extra help with the material,
which has been very effective in my understanding of each subject area.
An effective teacher consists of the professor understanding we are all under a lot
of pressure and doing what they can to make the work flexible. In my remote classroom
the professors record the lectures, and we discuss the work/readings, and we get sorted
into breakout rooms to discuss the work in a smaller setting.
Since I am taking a lot of natural science classes, Ive found remote learning extremely
challenging. Though the lecture appears to go smoothly via pre-recorded video, slideshow
and zoom, the laboratories experience is far from what is normally expected if we
werent in a pandemic. The instructors are trying their best to continue the experiment
by providing us with data that was previously recorded. So that even if the students
are not able to perform the experiments, they can still evaluate the results.
I think for me, it's still doing the live interactions. One of my classes does recorded
lectures, and I have no motivation to sit through them, versus my other class. She
does the class as we normally would, and then she sends us to break out rooms and
that helps us learn together and understand the material.
A lot of my classes had under twelve students to begin with, so we are still doing
our regular discussions, which is really nice and has a sense of normalcy. For the
first ten minutes of class, my teacher changes her virtual background and we have
to guess the pop culture references吋his is great as it brings light in this scary
time.
I think that effective online learning is usually - at least for me - I prefer pre-recorded
lectures when the professors are really concise and clear. I think that helps a lot.
I know I have a couple of professors who write on a white board and show that to students,
which is nice. I love when teachers let us ask questions... I know that's really helpful,
and for one of my professors, she has a Q and A every week and that's the most beneficial
thing for me.
I mean normally our classes look a little bit like lectures and then the discussion
component for most of my classes. Honestly, a lot of them are still like normal classes
because teachers make sure to still involve everyone in the class, and they are usually
some type of pre-recorded lecture or the teacher lectures live and then some discussion
aspect.
Being lenient with meetings - not having to meet on a regular basis but more like
meeting and asking for student feedback. When we were at school we would meet like
twice a week, but I think being lenient and letting students do what they want to
do makes sense to me. I think also being open to extensions and maybe cutting out
assignments that dont really make sense for the Zoom format. If you have a presentation,
that wont really be effective anymore because its so challenging to schedule meetings
with people when they live all over the globe and you dont know what theyre going
through.
Teachers are checking in on us, and it feels more about our safety and our comfort
right now than having a particular discussion for an hour and thirty minutes. It feels
more human, and my professors were always like that, but it feels like they are trying
to make sure were ok.
What do you want faculty to know about teaching in an inclusive classroom during the pandemic? What advice do you have?
"I think faculty should know that students suddenly have very different abilities
as before, because circumstances have just changed drastically. I think they should
be much more lenient with grades and due dates because there are so many uncontrollable
factors that are now playing a part. Students also didn't sign up for online classes,
so there is a huge adjustment that people are going through and it's really hard to
keep doing just as well in school when your whole world is turned upside down in the
span of a week."
"I want faculty to know that we understand the hardships they are going through to
provide us with the best instruction possible during this time. We still want to learn
and hear what they have to say. Students who have become disengaged have done so mostly
as a coping mechanism and it is not a reflection on their teaching. We miss them and
want to hear more about how they are doing this time."
"I want faculty to know that some students really struggle without one-on-one or face-to-face
interaction. I advise professors to urge students to reach out without feeling shame
or embarrassment if they need extra support."
I would like the faculty to know that everyone is dealing with this in different
ways so just allow students to cope how they choose to cope and do not penalize students
for not being able to complete work at the same level they would be able to if we
were living in normal times. Advice I have is to be attentive to the students needs
and be available for their studentsI understand that professors are also dealing
with this crisis and may find themselves under stress and unavailable, but the students
are looking to their professors for guidance through this and are relying on the support
of professors to help them continue their studies in this hard time.
Be understanding, this situation sucks for all of us and what is best for us is if
you can help in a calm and nonjudgmental way. We all hate this and being understanding
if we miss a deadline or two goes a long way.
I appreciate that attendance is not taken in most cases because every day is touch
and go. However, the work load is a lot more since everyone thinks we have so much
time and we dont and motivation is really hard right now.
I think it's important to check in with students, both emotionally: how are you
doing, how has the transition been, but also asking, what technology do you have
at home, what are your home circumstances like? Two of my classes sent out a survey
during spring break, and it was all anonymous.
Not to freak out. Its been interesting to watch all of my professors work their
tech stuff and just to know that realistically their students are also having tech
issues at home, and we are all trying our best.
One, I hope they know that I am very grateful for the fact that they are teaching
during this hard time. I know that it's their job and it's amazing how much effort
they are putting in. Two, just knowing how important it is to be graceful with students
during this time and be willing to compromise some. Some of my professors who are
the most understanding are the most effective in their teaching styles modifying
some of the work because people are going through a lot of life circumstances at this
time and just knowing students have a lot of stressors aside from school.
I guess just keep doing the amazing job that my professors are doing. The biggest
advice I can offer is being willing to make yourself available to your students because
the hardest part about online learning is not having direct access to your professors
with office hours. And, good wifi helps too, but I know that they cant always control
that.
I have really good Internet, and its usually really reliable - but sometimes it
cuts out during classrooms and sometimes I dont hear everything when it glitches.
Also, and not that its different for teachers, but its a lot harder to read emotions
and listen actively to people when the professors are giving lectures.
Structure is good but also understanding peoples unique circumstances, and even
if a student doesn't have a specific thing going on in their lives, just remember
and understand that living at home during a pandemic is a lot to go through already.
So, being lenient to people and the circumstances but also offering some sort of structure
for students."
"To be patient with the students & understand that everyone is new to this just as
they are."
"I would want faculty to know how difficult it is to focus on academics while a pandemic
is occurring. Professors/teachers should be extremely mindful of not overwhelming
the student but trying to display that they care for the overall student more than
the assignments. Every students situation is different and very few can actually
excel in a remote class setting."
"I think its important for professors to change their grading policy. For one of
my classes, participation is 20% of our grade (greater percentage than any paper or
final we will take), and sometimes its extremely hard for me to immerse myself in
class discussions because Im surrounded by family, dont have a space to actually
work, or mentally/emotionally drained. Second, I believe its important to change
the amount of work given for online classes. An example of this is in one of my other
classes, my professor has given us several projects throughout the semester, and it
has been extremely difficult trying to get these projects done at home when I dont
have a space to work."
I want the faculty to know that we dont know what is happening beyond a screen in
a persons life and to just be understanding towards students and welcoming to students
when they need help.
In terms of an inclusive classroom, I think it is important for faculty to understand
that the 91做厙 student body is comprised of students from many different backgrounds.
This transition to remote learning and taking classes from home may be difficult for
some students, depending on their family situation, role in the household, or the
types of resources they have available. I think professors and faculty members have
been extremely understanding during this transition to remote learning, but I think
this is an important point to keep in mind.
I am fortunate to currently be in the same time zone and have been able to participate
in live Q&A sessions and meetings. And I found them to be very useful. At the same
time, I am also aware of my classmates situations where they have messed up the daily
structure and struggle to keep up with the materials. In these kinds of circumstances,
I wish the workload would have been divided into smaller pieces so that the routine
starts to build up again slowly and the last-minute panic is prevented.