With the recent and rapid transition to online classes, faculty struggle to maintain a successful learning environment. All lectures, assignments, presentations and assessments must be given online.
Although many people would think technology would cause problems with online classes, some professors claim that it’s not a big issue at all.
“The hardest issue that I have encountered is trying to find a way to teach challenging material when I can’t tell whether students are having a difficult time understanding,” said Nicholas Boaz, assistant professor of chemistry and director of undergraduate research and prestigious fellowships.
While students are having trouble adjusting to this new style of learning, professors are also struggling with how to go about teaching online classes. From recording lecture videos at home to figuring out how to give tests, professors must do their best to keep teaching their classes.
“The hardest part has been deciding on the right model for disseminating information,” said Paul Bloom, associate professor of physics. “It’s definitely been challenging and stressful.”
Adapting to Change
Although challenges have arisen with teaching online classes, professors have been able to adapt to the circumstances.
“What has been really helpful for me is an online group of chemistry professors (from across the nation) that has formed to support the move of chemistry courses to remote instruction,” said Boaz.
Boaz thinks the current situation with online classes is more difficult for students than it has been for professors. For example, many students may have been laid off from their jobs or are taking care of sick family members.
Information Technology Services
While some professors don’t seem to be having technical difficulties, ITS has struggled a little bit with the transition.
“I think it’s fair to acknowledge that the last few weeks have been a big challenge for the ITS team, particularly with the speed of the transition,” said Vice President for ITS and Chief Information Officer for the Cabinet Matthew Burden. “While the College anticipated some bumps in the road, our community across the board … have risen to meet that challenge.”
Burden said most of the technology and resources that people are using are online and can be maintained by ITS via the cloud.
Laboratory Sciences
One thing that science professors cannot adjust well to online classes is the lab component. Nothing online can truly replace the hands-on experience students receive in the lab. However, some introductory physics labs found an alternative learning method. Students can complete online simulations to still receive similar learning experiences as if they were in the lab.
“In our intermediate labs, we have either opted to provide students with data from real experiments to analyze or find things we can send home with them,” said Bloom. The same goes for other science labs as well, including chemistry and biochemistry.
In the end, professors are doing what they can to make this transition as stress-free as possible for students. It may not be ideal, but it’s the new reality that everyone will have to grow accustomed to.
“I hope that my students know that I am still committed to their success and learning,” said Boaz.
