Faculty, students adjusting to a whole new educational reality that is up and running

When you consider how little time there was to prepare, it’s remarkable what students, faculty members and staff at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University have been able to accomplish over the course of the past month.

Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, classes at CSB and SJU – and at universities, elementary, middle and high schools across the nation – have been transferred entirely into the online realm.

It’s a technological and logistical feat that, had it been attempted under normal circumstances, would likely have entailed years of planning.

But, as we all can attest to, these are not normal circumstances. And, in just a few weeks,  a whole new educational reality has gotten up and running.

“Flexibility really has been the key,” said Mary Stenson, an associate professor of exercise science and sports studies at CSB/SJU. “Everybody has pitched in to make this work. It was such a quick turnaround. But our students have handled it great. And I think our faculty members have done such a good job adapting to a whole new situation.”

It’s meant trying new approaches to replace old ways of doing things that just aren’t possible in a digital format.

“That’s been hard, especially in the sciences where a lot of our students had been doing research projects and spending time in the lab,” Stenson said. “But there are two really cool things we’ve been able to do.

“The first is that we’ve been able to use the old lab data from last year’s class and students have been able to go through and process and analyze that information. The second is that, in lieu of doing a research project, we’ve been able to collaborate with the biology department and we’ve used some of their old data so my ESSS students have been able to serve as consultants to biology students completing their research projects. While they’re missing the hands-on experience, they are still able to do some of that data analysis and that’s been very valuable.”

With students now away from campus and many back home with their families, Stenson said she and other professors have tried to work around whatever circumstances they might be facing – from technological capabilities to work schedules to other demands on their time.

“Things can change for people day-to-day depending on what else is going on around them,” she said. “I have a student who’s back home on the family farm. And since she’s been home, they’ve put her to work. So when she needed an extension on something she was working on, I said ‘No problem.’”

Students seem to be appreciative of that type of approach.

“I think we’re getting into the swing of things now,” said Nick Neumann, a junior economics major at SJU, on April 1. “The first couple of days were an adjustment. But now we’ve all been figuring out what we need to do to make it work and everyone has been really patient and flexible.”

“It’s going pretty well so far,” added Olayinka Fadahunsi, a first-year global business leadership major at CSB. “My professors have been understanding about the different schedules everyone is facing. They’ve been really good about not giving us too much work to do, but still making sure we have enough to keep us busy.”

Fadahunsi also said her professors have tried to inject some levity into these uncertain times, citing her first-year seminar class taught by Dana Drazenovich in which students decided to dress to match the theme on a given day.

“She’s been trying to make the class as fun as possible,” Fadahunsi said. “We’ve had a neon theme, a USA theme, a pajama theme. That kind of stuff just makes you look forward to going to class even more.”

Drazenovich – who has also been having students submit photos and video of their weekend, which she compiles into a PowerPoint presentation – said having some light-hearted moments is a key part of making online classes work.

“I think it’s important to find ways to have some fun right now,” she said. “This is a really stressful time for all of us and I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be college-aged and trying to deal with all this. So if you can find ways to make the process more fun, it helps get everyone talking to each other in this new format like they would before class when we were on campus." 

Steve Schwarz, a visiting assistant professor of global business leadership at CSB/SJU, said figuring out how to make things run most smoothly online has meant doing some experimentation.

“I use Zoom, Canvas and make screen recordings in PowerPoint,” he said.

“I like to ask a lot of questions, but it is a bit awkward when you have 20-plus (students) in (an online) class. The first day no one wanted to speak up. Everyone had muted their audio/video and students seemed reluctant to participate. The next class, I used the breakout room feature in Zoom which moved students to smaller groups of three to four.

“This worked much better, and students enjoyed reconnecting in smaller groups. When we returned to the large group, videos were on and students were much more engaged in the large group discussion.  

“Also, we’ve had few pets join our class,” he added with a smile.

Students in many classes at CSB and SJU are now spread out across different areas, which has also meant making some adjustments to be sure the schedule work for everyone.

“I do have students in different time zones and I think that is a challenge for our students,” Schwarz said. “I have condensed videos that students can watch which help if they are not able to watch the live class. 

“It’s probably a bit early to tell how that is going, but it seems to work well. With my Excel course, students can rewind and rewatch instructions that I may have covered too quickly.  I have had a few students tell me that this is very helpful and they are learning a lot. 

“Also, I teach class at two different times and allow students to join either class session, which some have done.”

Schwarz, Stenson and Drazenovich all said that, even in the short window that circumstances dictated, the training CSB and SJU provided them in preparation for the move to online classes proved invaluable.

“CSB/SJU gave us a week to prepare our courses and lots of online training resources,” Schwarz said. “Our IT department has been super helpful and responsive. For a school that is based on face-to-face instruction, I am very impressed with the infrastructure in-place to make these changes. 

“CSB/SJU is focused on teaching and is a very collaborative place.  In talking with other professors, everyone has great care for students and has been very mindful in how classes were designed.”

But above all else, all three professors credited the efforts of their students for making the process work.

“Coming into all this, I had no idea what to expect as far as student engagement,” Drazenovich said. “I didn’t know how students would take to Zoom and what the whole thing would look like.

“But I’ve been really amazed at how students have adjusted. More than anything, I think we’ve seen so much resilience. Our students have really been stepping up and that’s made a huge difference.”