微密圈

"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."

鈥淓ffective 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.鈥�

"Effective teaching during a pandemic involves empathy and flexibility. Students are obviously going through changes in their lives, but everyone鈥檚 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."

鈥淓ffective 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 it鈥檚 pretty hard to do your best work when you are in an environment that is not the best for learning and also there鈥檚 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.鈥�

"It鈥檚 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 isn鈥檛 consistent with answering her emails, which make students feel devalued... But, most of the classes are being structured similar to what we鈥檇 do in the classroom in the best way. Breakout rooms on Zoom become a resource for small group work, but it isn鈥檛 the same experience to being together in a classroom."

鈥淒uring 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.鈥�

鈥淎n 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.鈥�

鈥淪ince I am taking a lot of natural science classes, I鈥檝e 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 weren鈥檛 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.鈥�

鈥淚 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.鈥�

鈥淎 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鈥�This is great as it brings light in this scary time.鈥�

鈥淚 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.鈥�

鈥淚 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.鈥�

鈥淏eing 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 don鈥檛 really make sense for the Zoom format. If you have a presentation, that won鈥檛 really be effective anymore because it鈥檚 so challenging to schedule meetings with people when they live all over the globe and you don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e going through.鈥�

鈥淭eachers 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 we鈥檙e ok.鈥�

"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."

鈥淚 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 students鈥擨 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.鈥�

鈥淏e 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.鈥�

鈥淚 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 don鈥檛 and motivation is really hard right now.鈥�

鈥淚 think it's important to check in with students, both emotionally: 鈥渉ow are you doing,鈥� 鈥渉ow has the transition been鈥�, but also asking, 鈥渨hat technology do you have at home,鈥� 鈥渨hat are your home circumstances like?鈥� Two of my classes sent out a survey during spring break, and it was all anonymous. 

鈥淣ot to freak out. It鈥檚 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.鈥�

鈥淥ne, 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鈥� 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.鈥�

鈥淚 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 can鈥檛 always control that.鈥�

鈥淚 have really good Internet, and it鈥檚 usually really reliable - but sometimes it cuts out during classrooms and sometimes I don鈥檛 hear everything when it glitches. Also, and not that it鈥檚 different for teachers, but it鈥檚 a lot harder to read emotions and listen actively to people when the professors are giving lectures.鈥�

鈥淪tructure is good but also understanding people鈥檚 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 student鈥檚 situation is different and very few can actually excel in a remote class setting."

"I think it鈥檚 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 it鈥檚 extremely hard for me to immerse myself in class discussions because I鈥檓 surrounded by family, don鈥檛 have a space to actually work, or mentally/emotionally drained. Second, I believe it鈥檚 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 don鈥檛 have a space to work."

鈥淚 want the faculty to know that we don鈥檛 know what is happening beyond a screen in a person鈥檚 life and to just be understanding towards students and welcoming to students when they need help.鈥�

鈥淚n terms of an inclusive classroom, I think it is important for faculty to understand that the 微密圈 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.鈥�

鈥淚 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鈥� 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.