This week, we’ll hear from people in the middle: Those who believe that while it’s a mistake to return to strict rules, students need clear guidance and expectations in order to thrive.
“I agree that too much flexibility (no deadlines, redo everything, no attendance policies, etc.) can lead to students not doing the work or feeling like there is no accountability,” writes Andrea Aebersold, director of faculty instructional development in the division of teaching excellence and innovation at the University of California at Irvine. “Many faculty have shared that they bent over backwards during remote learning with flexible everything and now that we’re back, students are demanding that their every request be granted. It’s time for the pendulum to swing back to a happy medium.”
Aebersold is advocating for “flexibility with guardrails.”
“Flexibility with guardrails means you have flexible deadlines, like a three-day grace period for turning something in. It means the lowest quiz score is dropped. It means students get choices on how to do an assignment every now and then (like written versus oral presentation). It means an attendance policy that allows for some missed days without penalty. Basically, I want faculty to make policies that make room for the unexpected to happen without ruining a student’s chance for success in the course. I don’t think we did that well before the pandemic. I’m honestly not sure we did it well during the pandemic either.”
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Margaret Menzin, a math and computer science professor at Simmons University, wrote that while it is essential to find ways to re-engage students, how to do so depends on the underlying problem. Are they struggling with anxiety, depression, or other mental-health issues? Or are they skipping class and avoiding assignments “because it has become acceptable to do so”?
Enforcing attendance policies and changing teaching may get the second group re-engaged, but they will not help those with mental-health challenges. Similarly, she says, it’s important to distinguish between the effects that online learning had on student engagement and the effects that the pandemic itself had.
“Let’s not blame online learning for the fallout of a pandemic which killed over a million Americans. Instead let’s look at the pre-pandemic studies of the effectiveness of online learning, especially asking for what age groups, etc., and with what pedagogy it is most effective.
“Finally we must recognize that online learning is here to stay,” she writes. Some students will prefer online courses. “And almost all faculty will sometimes need to pivot to being online: My university (in Boston) no longer cancels classes when we have a blizzard; we simply go online. It isn’t hard to imagine personal circumstances which would put me online for a short period. Online teaching is another tool in my kit, whether or not it is my favorite tool. But, as with every other tool, I want to be able to use it well.”
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Mary Beth Leibham, a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, wrote that rather than debate about pre- and post-pandemic practices, it’s more useful to keep in mind an adage that predates Covid: We need to meet our students where they’re at.
That relates to another truth, she writes: People feel most secure when they have boundaries.
“Within the context of higher-ed teaching, we provide boundaries by having firm deadlines and policies. The terms ‘optional’ and ‘flexible’ may be too ambiguous for many students and may be perceived as a lack of boundaries, which in turn can fuel insecurity and anxiety. I don’t think all people realize that it’s the lack of boundaries or the ambiguity that prompts their anxiety and insecurity, but I do believe there is an important association between boundaries and security that we need to keep in mind when designing our classes.
“As far as meeting our students where they are at, we need to consider where they are in terms of self-regulation (self-control, time management, delayed gratification, etc.). If they have a high level of self-regulation, then they can likely be very successful in classes with optional attendance and flexible deadlines. However, if they are still developing self-regulation, then they need us to help them by providing clear deadlines and policies.”
“Above all else,” she writes, “we need to be compassionate teachers who never lose sight of the fact that we are teaching students who want to know we care. Many of them realize that we can’t fix their problems or take away their stressors, and they don’t want us to do that. What they really want is for us to acknowledge that they have lives outside of our classes and that we care about them. Sometimes the best way we can show them we care is to meet them where they are and to provide clarity and boundaries.”
Thank you all for writing in. Your insights have helped deepen the conversation about what has worked and what hasn’t during the pandemic, and why. And you’ve given your colleagues food for thought as they turn their attention to the fall.
What Will College Look Like This Fall?
Does your college, or your department, have plans to focus on some of the problems with student disconnection this past year? Are you ramping up experiential-learning opportunities? Creating first-year courses that help rebuild academic and social skills? Modifying or developing new courses that connect to what’s happening in the world right now? Creating stronger ties among academic departments and student-support services, including mental-health counseling?
Even if you’re just in the idea stage, I’d like to hear from you as I report on what college will look like this fall. You can fill out this Google form or write to me at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com.
ICYMI
- This EdSurge story looks at how some online colleges and programs build student support into their classes and what other institutions could learn from them.
- In this Chronicle advice piece, three educators from UNC-Chapel Hill describe how better use of demographic data in the classroom can improve your teaching.
Thanks for reading Teaching. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email us at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com or beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com.
— Beth
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