Weighing the Importance of Online Courses – The Viewer

As students registered for classes last week, it has allowed the Seattle University community to plan ahead for the next term and ensure graduation requirements are met. for everyone. As Seattle U continues to return to in-person classes during the winter term, students have learned that some classes will remain virtual despite the university turning to primarily in-person offerings.

David Powers, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, spoke about the teaching methods that will be used in the next term.

“In terms of the proportion of in-person and online classes, we would expect winter to look a lot like fall. This means that the vast majority of undergraduate courses will be in person. The main exception in Arts & Sciences are language courses, which will again be almost exclusively online due to difficulties in learning and teaching pronunciation with masks. Our teachers and students have found it much easier to teach and learn languages ​​on Zoom without masks, compared to being in person with masks, ”Powers wrote in a statement to The Spectator.

College of Science and Engineering Dean Michael Quinn echoed Power’s statement.

“We have very little [courses] who are online this term and will continue to be online in the winter term… We’re pretty much running a regular schedule, ”Quinn said. “We try to do everything in person and what I’ve heard from the students is that they really want the lab classes in person. The students were talking about enjoying being in person because there are more opportunities to build community.

Many students are eager to take more in-person classes after more than a year of online classes due to COVID-19. Powers noted the enthusiasm he hears from students about the in-person classes.

“It’s hard to say if students are ‘favoring’ online classes… Most of the anecdotal information I hear is that despite the challenges of in-person classes in this phase of the pandemic, most people are happy to be back in person and are following directions to help us stay in person. said Powers.

However, some students opt for online courses because they allow more freedom in their schedules and control over their education. This was the case for Jay Grant, a third-year finance student.

“I chose an online course next term so I can have more time during the day. Being able to work the class around my schedule allows me to have more time for everything I have to do. The flexibility to take my course from anywhere is super beneficial when I’m on the go, ”said Grant.

For the College of Science and Engineering, Quinn assembled a Student Advisory Council made up of student representatives from each undergraduate major to hear their feedback on the terms they hope to see in the course offerings.

“Four or five years ago, we created the Student Advisory Council so that there were more opportunities for students to speak with the Dean. Much of what I hear about how students do I hear indirectly when speaking to faculty members and appreciate the opportunity to speak directly to students rather than through the faculty Quinn said.

Isaac Ibara, a third-year chemistry student, took a year off last year due to the pandemic. Back to class this year, Ibara relied heavily on her educational advisor when registering for classes.

“She helped me make that process easier, and so this year, coming back to everything and having to get used to programming, I have someone to talk to. I feel like my counselor really takes the weight off me in terms of thinking about classes or who I can ask my questions to, ”Ibara said.

So far, many students have already gone through the tense period of counseling, making their next step to full registration for winter courses. Students feel a general enthusiasm for face-to-face teaching, regardless of the circumstances. Some students learned the benefits of online classes during the pandemic while others began to cherish the traditional in-person approach even more.

Quinn stressed the importance of learning from the past year online. He noted how Seattle U hopes to bridge the gap between online and in-person courses using the strengths of both modalities in the future.

“There are things on the Internet [learning] that students appreciate, such as the ability to go back and hear parts of the course again. So one of the ideas for the future is to find a way to use the best of each modality. So we teach in person, but we don’t forget how having material online can benefit the students, ”Quinn said.

While it was not ideal to conduct a full virtual class year, Seattle U has incorporated the benefits of online education into its predominantly in-person class schedule for that school year.