Lucas Center Blog

News from the Faculty Side

March 26, 2020  / Jackie Greene, EdD  / Tags: thoughts, teaching, covid, partnership, learning, faculty, communication

Periodically, we (Bill, Jackie, and Clarisse) meet with faculty members participating in the Student Faculty Partnership Program.  This post will share some of the wisdom, ideas, concerns that emerged from this week’s faculty meeting.

Faculty Partners appreciate their student partners’ suggestions about how to communicate with all students.

• Communication is key during this time of transition and uncertainty. Various Lucas Center Blogs have information about establishing lines of structured communication with students. https://www.fgcu.edu/lucascenter/blog/news-from-the-student-world
• FGCU students are missing their professors and vice-versa.
• Most of us enter this profession because we like people, especially eager learners. Faculty report their students have communicated their preference for their professor’s familiar face and methodology in lecture delivery. So, instead of turning over your lectures to Kahn Academy, make certain you are front and center and use others as extra resources.

Although courses are not perfect, progress is being made and learning is occurring

• Faculty members report courses are up and running and give their student partners credit for helping them structure Canvas as a user-friendly learning tool.
• Deadlines for course readings and watching lecture videos are still important.
• Faculty and student partners agree short quizzes due before each class are good ways to have both a deadline and validation that reading/viewing are supporting learning.
• Faculty members recognize transparency with students is vital. Tell students WHY changes are being made, WHY portions of the course aren’t quite ready for use. Faculty members report students are very patient IF students understand the WHY.
• Excellent resource (general and discipline-specific info on transitioning to remote instruction): https://docs.google.com/document/d/19FceEB9-SQhz8ggKopTkEpbB7SgIUXgIjgoZSueUR9U/edit

Challenges in the areas of Labs, Field Trips, Community Service/Civic Engagement are being overcome

• Although not perfect, many faculty members report they have met the challenges of teaching labs online. Faculty are resourceful in developing alternative assignments, OR recording themselves doing the lab, OR providing data for students to analyze, and finding videos that demonstrated the concepts of lab exercises.
• Faculty and student partners worked together to find creative ways to meet the challenges for Community Service and Civic Engagement. Community partners still have needs to be met and are open to discovering new ways to meet those needs. Feasibility and communication are key in this area. The Office of Civic Engagement is a terrific resource.
• Links Below:
  • https://www.biointeractive.org
  • https://www.fgcu.edu/lucascenter/blog/helpful_teaching_resources

Alternative Assessments are moving learning forward (see HERE for more on assessment)

• Although reluctant, some faculty members are transforming large exams into smaller units given at various times throughout the remainder of the semester. They find achievement scores increase because smaller assessments support learning…they do not overload the brain.
• Some faculty members are offering choice in the area of assessments…students can choose between an exam or a research paper or a project. This time of transition offers opportunities to both faculty and students to become personally engaged in teaching and learning. Be creative, involve students in decision making as much as possible. Think beyond rote memorization, think application, think relevance to the challenges we currently face.
• Helpful resource: https://www.fgcu.edu/lucascenter/blog/pass-fail-alternative-grading-approaches

Visit the Lucas Center Blog for information, links, and resources--https://www.fgcu.edu/lucascenter/blog/

Classroom Observations

Jackie and Bill are still available for classroom observations of your Canvas Course.  The observations we do are different from the Quality Matters review completed by Digital Learning personnel.  If you are interested in exploring an on-line classroom observation we can be reached at:  wreynolds@fgcu.edu or jgreene@fgcu.edu.