How did the Learning and Teaching team find having to change things so dramatically during lockdown?
The module leaders had the most work to do - it's not as simple as moving face-to-face teaching online. Module leaders had to pre-record content so that it was suitable for delivery online, arrange for extra help sessions and change assessments to be online. Ordinarily exam papers go through a 3 month process of writing, checking, formatting, checking by the external examiner then being sent to the central university for printing in preparation for the exam - we're not used to examining whole modules solely online.
The most important thing was the safety and health of our students. We had students in difficult situations and we supported them the best we could. We had meetings to change module content to relieve load and to change deadlines to take into account circumstances at that time. We spent a long time supporting individual students who needed it, responding to extenuating circumstances and acting accordingly. We looked at every single student’s grades ahead of the exam board to ensure that none were adversely affected by the pandemic. I am very proud of the way we have been able to support our students through the last 9 months!
What have been the main challenges delivering online learning for the new semester?
Module leaders have spent countless hours pre recording lecture material to be made available online. It takes a lot longer to prepare, record and upload pre-recorded content than it does to deliver the material in an in-person lecture! A lot of us have gone through a steep learning curve, but we are sharing good practice, and once complete a good number of the videos will be able to be used in future years. 'Flipped classroom' is a good pedagogical approach for engineering education - students watch videos or read text in advance of a problem solving class. In effect all our modules have changed to a flipped classroom approach during the summer, whereas before only a few modules were designed this way. Ideally we would be able to deliver the problem based learning component face-to-face, however due to room capacity limitations this is very difficult. We hope that next semester we will be able to offer more face-to-face problem based learning classes//tutorials.
We've some students who are not in Sheffield because they've not been able to travel from their home countries and others for personal and health reasons, so all content that is delivered face-to-face also has to be delivered online. Staff in the Diamond have worked hard to create online versions of labs so that those students not in Sheffield do not miss out. Delivering group work online is a challenge - whilst some students are happy to share ideas and thoughts online, others find it difficult. We are working on ways to facilitate online group work.
Did our students adapt well?
Very well! We know it has been difficult for many of our students. There are sometimes challenges with poor internet connection and for those students without their own laptops/computer the difficulty in accessing facilities was a challenge at the start of the pandemic, but we were able to tap into hardship funds to help support those students. One of the biggest challenges is how to recreate the informal interaction students would usually get before/during/after face to face teaching. These interactions help reassure students they are on track and haven't forgotten anything, and also enable issues to be highlighted quickly with a student just feeling like they are the only one struggling. We have been talking with our student reps to try to find ways to enable this interaction in an online world. Students have adapted to new levels of time management and independence - both skills they will find useful in their careers and lives going forward.
Will the delivery of online learning change anything for future teaching post covid?
Very few modules will go back to the same way they were delivered pre-covid. I suspect we will have a greater variation in assessment methods - e.g. there will be less paper based exams. Paper exams can be difficult for students with disabilities and dyslexia, and some of the new types of online assessment are more accessible. There are still further improvements we can make but we will try to keep our assessment more wide in nature. Many modules will continue to take a flipped classroom approach, with recorded material to be completed before an in-person problem based learning session. Overall I think these changes will be beneficial for student learning.