Professors and students are preparing for a second semester of learning integrated with online class procedures.
The “OCU Practices” section of the “Responding to COVID at OCU” document states while the OCU COVID-19 alert level is on high, lecture halls should only be used in-person for classes of fewer than 25 students, and an increased health safety protocol is in place for other classroom spaces.
Bob Greve, associate dean of Meinders School of Business, said he thinks faculty are becoming more comfortable teaching virtually and students are more comfortable receiving online content.
“We know interaction is the key to a successful course, so when we can’t interact face to face, we want to find other ways to interact, whether it’s reaching out to students via email or office hours on Zoom. We’ve also started to do breakout rooms more so students can interact with each other in small groups,” he said.
Greve said he was pleased by how quickly faculty and students adapted and feels optimistic about the spring semester.
“Maybe I’m optimistic, but I feel the biggest challenge is mainly behind us. For me, the big challenge was having to adapt so rapidly, and I would optimistically suggest the biggest challenges are behind us in terms of technology,” he said.
Dr. Lisa Wolfe, professor of Hebrew Bible, said she faced challenges last semester coordinating small group discussion in class. She said she tried to have large group discussions to keep conversation flowing and socially distant, but it left out some students who were less vocal.
“I think what I’m going to do this semester is put students in small online discussion groups to discuss things outside of class, and then they can share what they spoke about in class, and they’ve already formed their thoughts,” she said.
Wolfe said other challenges included confusion around who has permission to be on Zoom and trying to make tests fair for all students when some were in-class and others were online. Her solution was to make all quizzes and tests online or take-home to provide an equitable experience.
Wolfe said she thinks the last semester was difficult for everyone, but she was impressed with all community members’ handling of the situation.
“Yeah, it was tough, and I think it’s going to continue to be tough for a while. It really made me appreciate in-person class,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe also said she hopes this semester will be smoother since everyone has experience with socially distanced and online learning, but these are stressful circumstances.
“Not only do we have experience with the practical challenges of being in class both in-person and on Zoom, and it changes from day to day and class to class, but we also have experience with living with unpredictability. I think that’s really stressful for everyone. I’m someone who likes to plan a year out, so knowing things will change day to day is stressful. I think in a way we’re getting used to that; we just don’t know for sure,” she said.
Carolina Garcia, business marketing junior, said last semester was challenging because it was a new experience for everyone.
“While I don’t blame everyone, no one really knew what they were doing,” she said. “It was a major struggle for me. I never realized how much physically attending classes affected my focus until I couldn’t anymore. I feel like I did the best I could, but it definitely took a lot.”
Garcia said she thinks, overall, everyone has done a good job adapting. She also said she would like more engaging ways to participate in class.
“I wish we could go back to ‘normal,’ but realistically speaking, I would love more engagement or enticing ideas,” Garcia said. “The hardest part for me was being motivated. It was hard to learn and stay focused.”
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