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Student choice

Discussion of teaching in three modes (F2f, synchronous online, asynchronous online) in the same class, aka., hyflex

Thinking about the future

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Approaching this fall, I faced the challenge of teaching in such a way that I could move easily between f2f and online and support students who might be out for a positive COVID-19 test or a quarantine. I also wanted to support students who might be uncomfortable coming to the classroom.

In addition, although the university promised to observe CDC guidelines for physical distancing in the classroom, I was quite sure such would not be possible with our need to keep enrollments high (for financial reasons) and our promise to open f2f in the fall. [Indeed, one of my classes this fall had 18 students in a room for 24 students with most students sitting with two persons at a 5 ft table.]

So I decided to teach using multi modalities simultaneously. Students could choose to attend class f2f or remotely and move freely between the two modalities. The technology is discussed in previous blog posts.

I have also reshaped my classes to be flipped in form, with most lecturing pre-recorded and class time devoted to exploring and working with course content. When I do lecture, I use the Zoom whiteboard projected in the classroom so that both remote and f2f students see the same thing. I was also hoping that sufficient numbers would choose to participate remotely allowing me to then keep f2f students 6 ft apart.

By midterm I am happy to report that on most days half or more of each class is remote, students in the classroom are sufficiently distanced, and I have been able to serve

  • a first-generation college student from a multi-generational household afraid the student might bring the virus home
  • a mom who had trouble arranging for her son to get care so she could attend class one day a week
  • three students who came down with COVID-19, one of whom is a long-hauler and will to be back this term
  • four other students quarantined
  • three students at a distance who had decided not to come back to the university this fall.

I have run three cycles of written feedback by students on the course mechanics (every two weeks) and have received unexpectedly positive feedback.

Teaching classes in a flipped and multi-modality way seems to be a successful way to serve students during the pandemic.

But it also seems to me that this approach may be appropriate for education the other side of the pandemic. A flipped and multi-modality approach would let me continue to serve the varied circumstances within which students will be seeking education in the midst of highly complex lives.

I can do this and at a relatively low cost. But will the university make such an approach possible?

Experiments in multimodality teaching: a Walkabout

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For today’s session of THL431 (Lutheran Doctrine 1), I have five students in the classroom and six connected through Zoom. Our topic this week has been the Doctrine of God, part of which included a bit of history on the developing expression of the Trinity in the church. I had spoken of the Council of Nicea in class and the protagonist Athanasius. The walkabout followed…

Overcoming the last audio issue

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One of the last challenges I have faced in this project is integrating audio from remote participants in such a way that classroom students can hear them clearly. To solve this issue I’ve patched the Yamaha mixer into the room sound system by disconnecting the sound system from the projector. Now students in the classroom can hear clearly the remote students, my own voice is amplified, and the mixer through a loopback feature is able to include that audio in the recording made by Zoom. We have now solved both the video problem by using an iPad monitor connected to the projector and we have solved the audio problem by bypassing the projector and plugging directly into the amplifier on the ceiling.

In all my classes, students may freely choose whether to attend in person or remotely and switch between those modalities. It seems to me, that this kind of multi-modality provides not only an advantage during the pandemic but also opens up possibilities for expanding enrollments in classes, especially under-enrolled classes like Greek, in a post-pandemic context.

Now that the audio and video basic problems have been solved, I’m going to be monitoring feedback from students to tweak approaches and work on improving effectiveness. I do want to explore the possibility of adjusting equalizer settings so as to improve the ability of students to hear upper tones and consonants from me as I’m speaking through a mask.

One of the challenges of this work over a longer period is the setup time. It typically takes me a good 20 minutes to unpack, put in place, and double check the equipment settings and the equipment itself prior to class. Since it is best to open the Zom session at least 10 minutes before class, that means I need to access the classroom 30 minutes before the start of class. That of course is not a viable operational approach in classrooms that need to be used to the max. Therefore some kind of dedicated room or dedicated storage in a room will be necessary to speed the setup process.

Overall, I’m pleased with what we’ve been able to do so far. It is a lot of work. but it has given distinct options to students.

Outlook after one week

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Hyflexc setup

Pausing to reflect

After one week , the hyflex model has helped

  • Students with COVID-19 continue to make progress in class.
  • Another student won’t fall behind because of the orientation requirements of a practicum.
  • A mother is able to keep up while helping her child who is learning from home.
  • Several students still uncomfortable with coming to  a classroom with others can learn remotely.
  • The remaining f2f students can spread out more.

Still challenging after one week are

  • the time it take to set up and tear down (15-20 minutes each)
  • remote audio
  • keeping track of course content and the Zoom session

I remain committed to my plans for the benefits to the students. I expect the challenges to recede.

Tick, tick, tick,…

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After a week of experimenting, I have discovered it takes 20 to 25 minutes to set up and tear down a classroom using this hyflex model. I am quite thankful that, for all of my classes, none has a course meeting before or after mine in the rooms that I use. So it’s working this semester, but in another context it might not work so well. Audio from remote participants is still a work in progress but everything else has settled in rather well. There is one additional challenge. It’s the lighting in the rooms. I can’t turn off the lights in front of the screen. All the lights are either on or off. Would that the rooms had been designed better.

But overall the first week has worked. Next week, the challenge is to become more efficient.

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