{"id":14344,"date":"2021-07-30T09:44:08","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T23:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educational-innovation.sydney.edu.au\/teaching@sydney\/?p=14344"},"modified":"2021-07-30T09:44:08","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T23:44:08","slug":"learning-on-and-off-campus-in-the-new-normal-key-insights-from-sydney-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educational-innovation.sydney.edu.au\/teaching@sydney\/learning-on-and-off-campus-in-the-new-normal-key-insights-from-sydney-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning on and off campus in the new normal – key insights from Sydney students"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago during the 2021 Sydney Teaching Symposium<\/a>, students from a range of faculties, backgrounds, and year levels spoke about their own experiences of learning on and off campus over the past 18 months. From their candid and thoughtful responses to burning questions posed by staff, we’ve curated the top 10 student insights here.<\/span><\/p>\n

This article was contributed by members of the student panel (Mahmoud Al Rifai, Kate
<\/span>Papadimitriou<\/span>, Michelle Cheung, Robert Tran, Helena Ng, Caleb Op’T Land<\/span>), Rebecca Denham and Samantha Clarke.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Insight 1: Build
student-<\/span>teacher<\/span>
and student-student relationships<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

I had one
tutorial
where the tutor made a point of
<\/i>remembering my name<\/i>
– it really made me look forward to going that
tute…<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A key theme of the symposium was
<\/span>building and
maintaining
relationships in education,
with our keynote speaker
Peter Felten<\/a>
inviting everyone to “consider putting teacher-student and student-student relationships at the heart of your teaching<\/i>“. Our student panel gave us a clear message that connecting with their teachers and peers made all the difference. They mentioned a few
simple things that teachers had done to make them feel they had a personal connection
with their teachers at a time when they may be feeling more isolated<\/strong> – things like having regular zoom drop-ins, using students’ names, checking on their wellbeing as well as their study, and providing regular updates via emails or announcements with important dates and reminders.

<\/span><\/p>\n

Weekly drop-ins<\/i>, whether on zoom or face to face –
even just being able to go to them and have a chat with your teacher,
it’s
really invaluable
to forming a relationship…<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fostering relationships between students
is just as important<\/strong>,
with
one
panellist
describing
a
valuable
time where he formed lasting connections
with peers
by
participating
in extended activities before the unit started, with a dedicated group: “<\/span>It was really helpful, you have a dedicated group, you know who your friends are,
<\/i>you have a base<\/i>
that you can expand out of in the unit<\/i>“.
Another idea for building relationships was for the
<\/span>whole class to work together on a project, like a class charter, or a Canvas page that everyone contributes to, creating a feeling of connection in the class.
<\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n

Insight 2: Students appreciate flexibility and choice of mode<\/h2>\n

The student panel was asked about the factors that influenced their choice of whether to attend classes in-person or participate
remotely.
Students’ responses were that they
appreciated the flexibility of being able to choose
and, in this choice,
there were
two
key
factors
that influenced their decision:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. whether it was practical<\/strong> to come in the campus (often this is around timetables and distance – students travelling a long way are reluctant to attend for a single class), and<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. the benefit<\/strong> they saw in in-person classes, such as when it involved
    getting more interaction or better access to demonstrations.
    <\/span>
    <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    [My decision is based on]<\/i>whether or not
    I’ll
    get more out of an in-person class than I would just doing it at home<\/i>\u2026 in some of my tutorials on Zoom, I
    wasn’t
    talking to anyone, I was just doing the worksheet by myself…<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Students also talked about the need for a balance between face to face and online – for example, one student decided on face to face for labs and tutorials, given the lectures were all online: “<\/span>it’s really important to
    <\/span><\/i>get one on one or group interaction in your classes<\/i>“<\/span><\/p>\n

    Insight 3: Provide safe environments for contributions<\/h2>\n

    As our teaching will
    likely continue
    to involve Zoom classes,
    staff were keen to get a feel from the panel about how to make their Zoom tutorials a space where students feel safe to contribute and learn,
    and also
    how teachers can measure engagement when students may not have their cameras on. The two key takeaways were that students feel more comfortable contributing in smaller groups
    <\/strong>and that there are
    easy ways
    to check
    for
    engagement and understanding<\/a> without needing cameras on.<\/strong><\/span>
    <\/span><\/p>\n

    My ideal zoom
    tutorial
    would have a lot of
    <\/i>work in breakout rooms<\/i>
    –
    it’s
    the closest you can get to a
    face-to-face
    class. Because
    you’re
    working in such small groups with your peers, not only do you feel
    more
    <\/i>safe
    to contribute,<\/i>
    it
    also gives
    you
    chance for a little bit of
    <\/i>social contact<\/i>.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    To check for understanding and to measure engagement without putting students on the spot,
    the panel appreciated
    teaching techniques such as
    the use of anonymous polls, asking students to use the reactions available in Zoom, or just getting them to put their responses in the Zoom
    chat. “<\/span>Teachers get those students who have their cameras turned off to just do a
    <\/span><\/i>little reaction, like a thumbs up<\/span><\/i><\/b>
    just so they know
    they’re
    engaging\u2026people [also]<\/span><\/i>use the chat<\/span><\/i><\/b>
    function to say something they want to contribute.<\/span><\/i>“<\/span><\/p>\n

    One of the
    panellists
    identified
    the benefit of clearer structure in
    their
    tutorials<\/strong>, where students know that once they have
    attempted
    the problem, the tutor will go over it, rather than students having to ask.
    <\/span>Another
    panellist
    mentioned how connecting the content to the real world<\/strong> made those classes feel more relevant and engaging.<\/span>
    “<\/span>The tutorials that I really enjoy are where then the tutor spends the first 5 minutes linking it
    <\/span><\/i>to real-life concepts<\/i>\u2026 how
    what
    we’re
    going to learn applies to the real world and our careers…”<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    Insight 4: Provide
    options for assessing
    <\/span>engagement and
    <\/span>participation
    <\/span><\/h2>\n

    Touching on
    <\/span>measuring engagement, the panel was asked how teachers can
    assess participation
    in ways that are fair and helpful for learning.
    <\/span>Whist
    having a
    range
    of experiences
    in this area, the panellists
    agreed that it was fairer to have
    <\/span>options of how students
    could demonstrate participation, rather than just turning up and speaking in class<\/strong>. For
    example, a system where students could choose to be marked for live participation or have an optional task to do before the class instead of verbally contributing
    in
    the class.
    They went on to say that
    they also found
    it
    <\/span>more meaningful and less stressful if participation was not assessed every <\/strong>week for every student.<\/p>\n

    That’s fair, because you’re
    <\/i>not disadvantaged [if you’re an introvert<\/i>], you’re still engaging with the content.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    One
    panellist
    recognised that having marks for participation was linked with showing up to class and that discussing class content did encourage discussion
    <\/span>but warned against tricks<\/strong> like having participation marks assigned to a quiz given only at a specific time in the lecture, which makes students feel that “<\/span>they’re backed into a corner\u2026 felt like you were forced to be there rather than wanting to share your opinions.<\/span><\/i>“<\/span><\/p>\n

    Insight 5: Make things easy to find on Canvas<\/h2>\n

    The panel also had some clear advice on removing barriers to learning by having well-designed
    Canvas
    sites. The focus here is on clarity and organisation
    –
    <\/span>    making it easy to find resources through<\/span><\/b>
    <\/span>labelling and structure<\/span><\/b><\/a>, and having frequently asked questions.<\/span><\/b>
    Aside from
    <\/span>    helping students<\/span><\/a>, one of the benefits
    is
    that it reduces
    the need for students to ask the lecturer how to find things, freeing up more time to communicate
    with our students
    on the actual course content. “<\/span>When the
    <\/span><\/i>layout is very clear<\/i>
    it means that
    <\/i>learning is super easy<\/i>
    and you don’t have to communicate with tutors so much because all the content was there, and there were frequently asked questions that were constantly being updated.<\/span><\/i>“
    <\/span>For another panellist,
    having resources well labelled and organised in a consistent
    way
    made it much less overwhelming to join a unit a bit
    later
    in the semester.
    <\/span>
    <\/span><\/p>\n

    Insight 6: Design assessments that are authentic and encourage deeper thinking<\/h2>\n

    Panellists
    were asked about
    <\/span>assessments that they found meaningful and helpful. The responses were varied around assessment type but all responses shared common themes of requiring
    <\/span>depth of thinking<\/span><\/b>,
    <\/span>application to the real world,
    or authentic experiences<\/span><\/b>
    – assessments that gave them an opportunity to experience activities typical of their field of study and that helped them to develop their critical thinking skills.
    <\/span>For one of our
    panellists, the most meaningful assessment was an essay, which are often seen as being less authentic or relevant, although this essay was on a topic where many people have strong opinions:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u2026[it]forced me to research and really learn about and evaluate all sides of the discussion and understand where these different viewpoints had come
    from
    and it really made me
    re-evaluate my own beliefs and my own values
    – it wasn’t just like I was doing an assessment for
    uni, it was like I was really
    <\/span><\/i>learning and developing as a person<\/i>
    as well.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Interestingly, for another student, helpful and meaningful were different things! The most helpful assignments were evaluation assignments –
    similar to
    what “<\/span>professionals do in a workplace<\/i>“
    and marked to professional standards. But meaningful assignments were those that “<\/span>required you to think and
    <\/span><\/i>challenge yourself and engage<\/i>
    in philosophy and multi-disciplinary areas”<\/span><\/i>.
    <\/span>Similarly, a first-year student described how a group assignment on a problem was
    really meaningful
    and helpful as it gave “<\/span>hands-on experience<\/i>
    on what it means to be an engineer\u2026something that gives[a]first-year
    an
    experience
    of
    what they’ll be doing with their degree”.
    <\/span><\/i>In subjects like law, one
    panellist
    found a lot of meaning
    in an assignment that involved going to court and writing a report: “<\/span>it
    was eye-opening\u2026 it gives a
    <\/span><\/i>real-life<\/i>
    aspect of the law\u2026 something you couldn’t imagine just be reading your textbook<\/span><\/i>“.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Insight 7: Focus on organisation and communication for group work, especially when online<\/h2>\n

    On
    group work,
    the panel had some useful insights for how teachers can make this
    <\/span>    run
    more
    smoothly<\/span><\/a>.
    It was noted that group work can be
    really great
    or an absolute disaster –
    especially when
    online
    –
    but the common thing for successful group work is are two key ingredients:
    good
    organisation
    and
    effective
    communication<\/strong>.<\/span>
    <\/span><\/p>\n

    \u2026the
    <\/i>students all have the same understanding
    <\/i>of what needs to be accomplished, and what steps need to be taken. It’s important to have
    <\/i>group communication<\/i>
    – and to set individual tasks or roles, perhaps have a group leader.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    On communication, one
    panellist
    mentioned that while many groups rely on social media channels to communicate, it can be
    really useful
    when
    teachers
    provide some direction: “<\/span>…one of my units did a really good job of making sure that everybody contributed by creating a
    <\/span><\/i>Canvas discussion group<\/span><\/i><\/b>.
    Having
    some common ground between teachers and students is quite important[as it]can give
    <\/span><\/i>peer to peer support<\/span><\/i><\/b>
    and teacher to peer support…<\/span><\/i>“<\/span><\/p>\n

    Another panellist noted the benefits of working in the same groups over
    a period of time<\/strong>: “<\/span>..we
    <\/span><\/i>all love <\/i>working with people that we have worked with before<\/i>
    – we know how they work, what their timelines are, how we can accommodate to each other’s strengths”<\/span><\/i>.
    However, it was also noted that there was often a lot of stress associated with choosing their own group<\/strong>, especially for students who don’t know anyone else in the class; “…<\/span>when they announced the group
    work
    I was like, oh no, I hate forming groups, it’s <\/span><\/i>nerve-wracking…<\/i>“.
    This student really appreciated the way the groups were
    formed
    by his teacher:
    there was a poll on interests around the topics, and then the teachers put the students into groups with similar interests “<\/span>\u2026
    I ended up being in a
    really good
    group – I got to know some new people, but
    <\/span><\/i>not feel the pressure
    <\/i>of having to find it.<\/span><\/i>“<\/span><\/p>\n

    Insight 8: Use open book exams
    <\/span><\/h2>\n

    Students identified closed book exams as being susceptible to academic integrity issues<\/strong>,
    one reason
    being that students struggle to memorise the content in time
    and so are more tempted to cheat.
    <\/span>They recommended replacing them with open book exams<\/span><\/b>
    which,
    rather than relying on rote memorization,
    rely
    on an understanding of the concepts,
    making exams more difficult
    to
    cheat on but also better at assessing
    knowledge and understanding of content; “[the]<\/span>shift
    to online has made it easier to cheat, but to guide students away[from this pathway], make
    <\/span><\/i>exams open book where possible<\/span><\/i><\/b>
    \u2026[exams that]really require you to think,[where]<\/span><\/i>you can’t just type it into Google<\/span><\/i><\/b>“.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Insight 9: Show compassion and be flexible<\/h2>\n

    The question
    “<\/span>What do you wish your teachers knew about what it’s like to be a student at the moment?”
    gave our
    panellists
    the opportunity to show us how important it is to recognise the complexity of all our lives.
    <\/span>The students recognised that teaching under the current circumstances has meant a lot of changes and extra effort but
    wanted to
    remind us
    that students are also having to deal with multiple demands on their time and facing other life challenges<\/strong> that are impacting their studies, and things like showing understanding, connecting with compassion, and
    being flexible
    can make a real difference.

    <\/span><\/p>\n

    \u2026
    it’s
    really difficult
    for [teachers] to have to change up their whole teaching style, things are already hard enough for them online, but
    <\/i>it’s a struggle for us too<\/i>, and although
    we are in their class, we have a bunch of other classes happening in the background, and work and family stuff, and COVID\u2026 things are hard for everyone.
    <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Insight 10: Prioritise mental health, flexibility, and connections<\/h2>\n

    Finally, recognising that the challenges we’ve been facing have also resulted in innovation and improvement in the way we teach and learn – the panel gave us an idea of what we should hold onto post-COVID,
    with the top choices being
    <\/span>open book exams,
    drop-in
    sessions on
    Zoom,
    flexibility and ensuring mental health is prioritised,
    and
    simple extensions.<\/p>\n

    A final message from one panellist:<\/span><\/p>\n

    …now we’re all doing this distance learning thing,
    right
    now
    it’s the
    <\/i>most important time to show the connection with your students…<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Want to know more?<\/h2>\n