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There has been a lot of discourse on social media about how, for college classes, we should just stop teaching and give students all As. I get that this is not business-as-usual, but I also think it’s a bit more complicated than that. [Thread] (1/n)
Although people don’t always know what they want, my students have said in surveys pretty much UNANIMOUSLY that they want to be back in class - for routine and structure in their days and return to normalcy. They also WANTED synchronous classes. Their wifi allows for it. (2/n)
They paid tuition. I don’t know my university’s plan to refund tuition, but they extended the withdrawl period. We were a month into the semester when we stopped teaching on campus (last day of on campus teaching was March 11). They should get a class b/c they paid for it. (3/n)
This is a math class for preservice elementary teachers. My colleagues and I have conducted research that shows that these courses make a difference for teachers YEARS later into their careers. For the sake of their future students, this course matters. (4/n)
I have built in a lot of flexibility into the course now: We always allowed quiz revisions. Our mid-terms are now multi-day, take home, and collaborative. The sessions are recorded so if they can’t come, they can watch and stay caught up. (5/n)
The university offers pass / fail options for students - they can decide in early June, after they receive their grades, if they would prefer to convert grades. There are levels of pass / fail that also impact whether they can go on to the next course, indicate high pass. (6/n)
The students seem to want to see each other. Having a live, interactive class connects them back to their university community. I survey the students regularly about their preferences, to adjust as their needs change and shift. (7/n)
That said, more may get sick. (One of my students is sick already.) Their family members may get sick. For students who cannot engage with class, I can develop individualized plans with them once they are well. Health is the top priority. (8/n)
I suppose I feel like my professional obligation is to give these students some version of a learning opportunity. The pedagogical content knowledge of future teachers is important. So I think I’ve found a way of operating, including fewer learning goals, that can work. (9/n)
But I keep cringing when I see the tweets about maybe we should just stop teaching completely right now. Maybe I’m completely wrong in my approach. It’s just hard to know. I’m making the best decisions I can as I check in regularly with the students. (10/n)
I also see that my situation is unique. All of my students are in the same time zones. They all have their own laptops. They all have the wifi bandwidth in their homes to participate in a synchronous course. Not all students in classes would be in this situation. (11/n)
A lot of my students live in the NYC / northern NJ area. They are in the area of the country with the most infected people. So this situation is evolving. I will change and move to asynchronous if their stress levels are rising too high with the current course structure. (12/n)
It’s just hard to know what to do right now. We’re figuring it out as we go. So I didn’t stop teaching. I didn’t automatically give my students As. I did make things more flexible and I did cut down the work load and course goals. I’m trying. (13/n)
