Aha! Moments: Hybrid/Remote Teaching Tips Fall 2020 – Week of Sept. 7

This weekly series–a continuation of the CFD summer publication and workshops–will showcase faculty discoveries, strategies, and innovations emerging from HyFlex/remote teaching.

If there is a teaching tip you would like to share, email Mary Balkun, Director of Faculty Development, at <mary.balkun@shu.edu>.

 

Week of Sept. 7

Brian Nichols, Biology and Microbiology Department

Designating a student in class to read questions that pop up in the comments has helped me engage the students at home. I just ask for volunteers. The students have been very helpful and understanding this year so far.

 

Anthony Haynor, Sociology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice Department

In my remote teaching in the Spring and now this Fall I have implemented three practices seemingly producing positive results:

  1. Devoting the first 15-20 minutes of each session to students’ sharing their experiences (issues that they are dealing with in their families, what is happening at SHU, etc.). The rationale here is pretty simple—to send a clear message to students that we are living in very challenging times and that I as their professor acknowledge that reality.
  2. Posting responses to focus questions on the assigned reading in advance of our meeting.  I have been finding that this has increased student engagement and fosters a livelier class discussion. I have been getting 50%-75% of the class posting substantial comments each week.
  3. Providing students with considerable latitude and guidance in the selection of topics and texts for their term projects. Again the goal here is enhancing student engagement by matching topics/texts to what students have a passionate interest in. It is not that I didn’t focus on this in the past, but I find that I am devoting more attention to working with students on their topics and choice of sources. There is a work-in-progress presentation at the end of the semester, and these tend to be livelier if students are genuinely interested in what they have been reading.

In the case of (2) and (3) I require that students respond to the posts of some of their classmates. This tends to build community within the class.

 

Rachael Warmington, English Department

I found it effective to have students type their thoughts and responses in the Teams chat as well as to engage in dialogue verbally. The key to HyFlex seems to be keeping students engaged and active in multiple ways. Sometimes I have students read what they typed and other times I refer to what a student has shared in the chat.

I was also able to have students complete in-class writing assignments in the Bb Discussion Board. Students did not have any issues being logged into Teams and toggling to Blackboard to complete and then share their writing. The instructor can also pull up the Discussion Board posts for everyone in the class to view via Teams.

 

Susan Nolan, Psychology Department

I give students two or three discussion questions before showing brief videos in class. I then encourage them to use the chat during the video to start answering the questions, so they’re primed for a discussion afterward. The follow-up discussion can be either with the whole class or in their break-out groups.

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