We found 16 results that contain "lts"
Posted on: #iteachmsu
Instruction, Feedback, Assessments & Centering Students in Remote Environments
This playlist is a growing collection of content aimed at supporting educators as they traverse ongoing shifts in teaching environment, procedures related to grading, and other uncertainties that results from ongoing pandemics... all the while keeping student success at the core of their work.
ASSESSING LEARNING
Posted on: #iteachmsu
Facilitation skills are important for teaching adults and leading productive meetings. Facilitative leadership helps groups reach consensus, make decisions, and get things done. It embraces inclusive and creative thinking and discussions and helps ensure that all participants in a class, meeting, or workshop are engaged, collaborating, and contributing. It is about leading a participatory group process.
The videos below focus on facilitating online to help groups brainstorm ideas, define goals, and reach consensus.
Visit MSU Extension's Facilitative Leadership webpage to learn more.
Tools for Online Facilitative Leadership
Facilitation skills are important for teaching adults and leading productive meetings. Facilitative leadership helps groups reach consensus, make decisions, and get things done. It embraces inclusive and creative thinking and discussions and helps ensure that all participants in a class, meeting, or workshop are engaged, collaborating, and contributing. It is about leading a participatory group process.
The videos below focus on facilitating online to help groups brainstorm ideas, define goals, and reach consensus.
Visit MSU Extension's Facilitative Leadership webpage to learn more.
Posted by: Anne Marie Baker
Posted on: Spring Conference o...
Exploring Inclusive Practices Across the Curriculum: Results from the Inclusive Pedagogy Fellows...
Title: Exploring Inclusive Practices Across the Curriculum: Results from the Inclusive Pedagogy Fellows Program in the College of Arts & Letters at MSUPresenters: Kathryn McEwenCo-Presenters: Denise Acevedo (WRAC); Catalina Bartlett (WRAC); Cheryl Caesar (WRAC); Jonathan Choti (LiLaC); Rebecca Cifaldi (AAHD); Caitlin Cornell (CeLTA); Sonja Fritzsche (CAL); Ural Grant (Theatre); Joyce Meier (WRAC); Ayman Mohamed (LiLaC), Karen Moroski-Rigney (CAL), Shannon Quinn (LiLaC)Date: May 11th, 2023Time: 2:45 pm - 3:45 pmClick here to viewDescription: We propose a workshop to share and discuss the activities of the College of Arts & Letters Inclusive Pedagogy Fellows Program from AY 2022-2023. The CAL Inclusive Pedagogy Fellows (IPF) Program provides a proactive collaborative space for a cohort of educators seeking to design, establish, and maintain intersectional and inclusive learning environments in their teaching and curriculum development activities. Ten Fellows from 3 units across CAL came together to explore and engage with inclusive pedagogies from a variety of perspectives and disciplinary approaches, and to focus on different ways of knowing, trauma-informed, translingual, and transcultural pedagogies, and intersectionality. Aligning with the conference focus on community, conversation and classroom experiences, we propose a roundtable session for Fellows to reflect on their experience in the program, share their take-aways on facilitating inclusive practices in the classroom, and discuss concrete strategies for creating more inclusive learning environments. We envision this workshop as an interactive conversation about what the Fellows learned, how they applied new knowledge and skills, and where they want to go next in their inclusive pedagogy practices. Participants are invited to engage with the workshop participants and enhance the strategies Fellows plan to implement. The roundtable will consist of Fellows from the program. Post-presentation outcomes for participants include leaving the session with some initial first steps and strategies for implementing inclusive practices. Using the roundtable format, we aim to facilitate interactive discussion across disciplines.
Authored by: Kathryn McEwen
Pedagogical Design
Posted on: #iteachmsu
Recognizing Megan Walsh: Graduate Student and Educator
It is Graduate Student Appreciation Week, and we would like to highlight the many roles of our graduate and professional students. This week we will recognize one outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant/Educator every day on #iteachmsu.
Megan Walsh teaching in 2019Megan Walsh stands out as a MSU Graduate Teaching Assistant. Megan applies pedagogical approaches that promote student agency. Megan keeps students’ attention by changing their focal points. She’s like a highly organized traffic cop. She physically and mentally divides her lessons into clear, logical sequences. Each purposeful transition results in refreshed student mental states. Students could not help but be fully engaged in her fast-paced environment. It was like watching a seasoned sports coach getting team members to run different, complicated plays really well. I was very fortunate to have had Meagan as a student. She is a rising teacher-star! Thank you for being an excellent educator, Megan! Department/Program: The Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages, The Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Program
Megan Walsh teaching in 2019Megan Walsh stands out as a MSU Graduate Teaching Assistant. Megan applies pedagogical approaches that promote student agency. Megan keeps students’ attention by changing their focal points. She’s like a highly organized traffic cop. She physically and mentally divides her lessons into clear, logical sequences. Each purposeful transition results in refreshed student mental states. Students could not help but be fully engaged in her fast-paced environment. It was like watching a seasoned sports coach getting team members to run different, complicated plays really well. I was very fortunate to have had Meagan as a student. She is a rising teacher-star! Thank you for being an excellent educator, Megan! Department/Program: The Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages, The Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Program
Authored by: Paula Winke and the Graduate School
Pedagogical Design
Posted on: #iteachmsu
Universal Design for Learning
What is Universal Design for Learning?
According to the CAST website, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is “a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.” Although UDL is not exclusive to digital accessibility, this framework prioritizes inclusivity and thus inherently lends itself to the creation of courses that are accessible to all students.
UDL is built on an understanding of the term learning as the interaction and layering of:
Recognition, or the “what”
Skills and Strategies, or the “how”
Caring and Prioritizing, or the “why”
The ultimate goal of UDL is to design a course that is accessible to everyone from its very inception and is open to flexibility. UDL can help instructors create accessible goals, methods, materials, and assessments.
UDL proposes the following three principles to upend barriers to learning:
Representation - present material in a variety of ways
Action and Expression - allow students to share what they know in their own
Engagement - provide students with choices
Explore this topic further in CAST’s “UDL at a Glance”:
UDL GuidelinesLearn more about the Guildlines for UDL via the accessible and interactive table on the CAST website.
Instructional Technology and Development’s Incorporating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into Your Course Design
Further Reading
Michigan Tech’s guide for UDL
Weaver Library’s Research Guide Universal Design for Learning (UDL) & Accessibility for Faculty
Introduction to Universal Learning Design (UDL) by Shannon Kelly
Sources
About universal design for learning. CAST. (2024, March 28). https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl
This article is part of the Digital Accessibility Toolkit.
According to the CAST website, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is “a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.” Although UDL is not exclusive to digital accessibility, this framework prioritizes inclusivity and thus inherently lends itself to the creation of courses that are accessible to all students.
UDL is built on an understanding of the term learning as the interaction and layering of:
Recognition, or the “what”
Skills and Strategies, or the “how”
Caring and Prioritizing, or the “why”
The ultimate goal of UDL is to design a course that is accessible to everyone from its very inception and is open to flexibility. UDL can help instructors create accessible goals, methods, materials, and assessments.
UDL proposes the following three principles to upend barriers to learning:
Representation - present material in a variety of ways
Action and Expression - allow students to share what they know in their own
Engagement - provide students with choices
Explore this topic further in CAST’s “UDL at a Glance”:
UDL GuidelinesLearn more about the Guildlines for UDL via the accessible and interactive table on the CAST website.
Instructional Technology and Development’s Incorporating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into Your Course Design
Further Reading
Michigan Tech’s guide for UDL
Weaver Library’s Research Guide Universal Design for Learning (UDL) & Accessibility for Faculty
Introduction to Universal Learning Design (UDL) by Shannon Kelly
Sources
About universal design for learning. CAST. (2024, March 28). https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl
This article is part of the Digital Accessibility Toolkit.
Posted by: Katherine Knowles
Pedagogical Design
Posted on: #iteachmsu
Matricultural Practices in Studio Art Courses
Instructing students during the Covid 19 pandemic has created many new challenges and upended normative pedagogical practices in learning spaces. Teaching in the arts, a traditionally hands-on process, represents a particularly unique set of challenges. Studio art faculty have long been asked to perform with limited resources, particularly those in the domestic arts where practitioners are largely women, people of color, and folks from marginalized populations. In this poster presentation, I will discuss how historically, in times of war, and now a pandemic, domestic work or matriculture, is revisited by societies at large. One needs only to look at the proliferation of bread making advice across social platforms; an intense return to cooking, and the sharing of recipes for meals that are comforting; renewed interest in growing plants and gardening to recognize the need to prioritize domestic activities as high priorities during this time. It is noteworthy to acknowledge that these same domestic activities function as productive distractions from trauma, and offer meditative practices, while providing individuals and their families with activities and outcomes that commonly bring about feelings of comfort, and security. Accordingly, I will discuss how these domestic skills can be applied to experimental learning and how students can draw on these practices with rigor for more personal resilience, innovation and imagination in their studio arts practice.To access a PDF of the "Matricultural Practices in Studio Art Courses" poster, click here.
Description of the Poster
Matricultural Practices in Studio Art Courses
Rebecca E. Schuiling Apparel and Textile Design Art, Art, History and Design Michigan State University
Introduction
Studio environment, now that we are online, happens in the home. Students are making studios of their kitchen table, twin bed, and basement floors. Creative projects that would have been executed on industry standard machines and equipment are now being created from discarded items in the family garage, recycle bin, and the junk drawer. While creative spaces, commonly known professionally as studios, have always had direct connections to matricultural underpinnings, at this time, studio practices and matricultural practices commingle.
Students and professors alike take for granted the matricultural items and spaces around them, because they commonly exist in patriarchal spaces such as drawing studios with rigid standing tables, fluorescent lighting, cell structure classrooms with concrete floors. The pandemic forced them to examine their surroundings with a critical eye to discover new approaches and materials for creative outcomes. This returned everyone to a matricultural ethos, where materials and approaches reflect the Hestian sphere. Materials that were readily available commonly were found in the natural environment and in the home, which lead to a new appreciation for sustainable media and materials readily available when viewed through a lens of multiplicity.
In my studio courses; Knitwear, Advanced Knitwear, and Explorations in Apparel and Textile Design, I employ matricultural pedagogical strategies. The following are a few highlights as to the use and success of Matriculture as a pedagogy.
Matriculture as Pedagogy
In the introduction to her book, Cassandra Speaks 2020, Elizabeth Lesser notes that the stories a culture tells, become the culture. Stories with terms coded as feminine, “the home, the hearth, the “womanly arts” of empathy and care” are erased in favor of stories of warriors and violence (Lesser 2020:11). In this way, matriculture embraces practices commonly considered domestic arts, crafts, and even women’s work, because it offers sustainable practices and compassionate community based outcomes.
In ReMembering Matricultures: Historiography of Subjugated Knowledges, Irene Wiens-Friesen Wolfstone imagines a future where curricula and syllabi are developed through the conceptual and theoretical framework of Matricultures. Her working definition of Matriculture is mother-centered societies founded on maternal values of care-taking and meeting needs, which become ethical principles for men and women, mothers and not-mothers. Matricultures are socially egalitarian and governed by consensus (2018: 5)
During the Coronavirus pandemic, many returned to matricultural spaces, materials, and approaches for creative studios without fully realizing the connection. Given these factors, professors commonly asked students to use what is around them for creative outcomes in their studios, such as garden mud and dough used for ceramics; a pile of pots and pans for still life drawing; and onions and beets used for fabric dyes.
Matriculture Pedagogical Case Study Examples
Students were asked to be highly resourceful for space and materials while taking creative studios online. Closets of parents and peers were raided so as to locate appropriate materials that can be upcycled or repurposed. Furry family companions and stuffed animals within the home, are now models for knitted items such as scarves, blankets, mittens and hand warmers.
Reconnecting with Matricutural Relationships
A student in my Advanced Knitwear class could not afford new yarn or notions for the class. She reached out to her family, and her grandmother was gifted her a stash of materials including yarns. Her grandmother was thrilled that her granddaughter was learning to knit and that the materials she had collected over the years would finally be utilized for a creative outcome. The student had lots of materials for her projects that would not impinge on her affording other supplies. (Studio majors commonly spend more than $500 per course per semester).
Reconnecting to Matricultural Spaces
Due to the fact that many students are working in tiny spaces, as they are sharing their homes with extended family members, or are limited to small apartments or dorm rooms. Space is at a premium in the pandemic, especially for students. Students negotiate with family or roommates for space at the kitchen table or for a bedroom to become a studio for the semester. Storing supplies requires communication and innovative thinking to prevent children or pets from inadvertently ruining paints, markers, fabrics, and other creative materials. In return, the students will offer gifts of their time to make roommates dinner or even some of their creative outcomes.
Reconnecting to Matricultural Resources
Students in fashion illustration courses are using tea or coffee to paint their croquis figures. Orange peels and strawberry hulls now build the silhouettes to create texture and line for garment illustrations. Collage items are created as students forage around the house collecting and collating mail, paper goods, and other household items. Everyday household objects take on a new life in still lifes created in the home, frequently with family members critiquing and contributing.
Analysis
Wolfstone notes that Foucault’s methodology of historiography exposes how knowledge construction is influenced by colonialism, patriarchy and capitalism. Wolfstone posits that this is a useful framework “for exploring questions such as: How did we get to this place where patriarchy is presented as the only viable social order? How can we remember the subjugated knowledge of matricultures?” ((Wolfstone 2018: 7). In a patriarchal society, crafts are coded as feminine and amateur. They do not carry hegemonic institutional accreditations. Furthermore, crafting is often discounted as medium as it is typically associated with clothing and, therefore, considered superficial or surface. The Covid-19 Pandemic has forced a societal reckoning with this prioritization. The anxiety, fear, and unknown of living through a contagion, coupled with societal and economic unrest and institutionalized disparities; has led us back to the familiar; to home; to matriculture. To the domestic work that sustains life.
By employing Matriculture as a pedagogical method in my creative studios, students are encouraged through their studio practice and design processes to simultaneously reconnect to family, reconnect to resources, and reconnecting to spaces in their own lives and creative practices. Thus, moving away from a traditional patriarchal lens of institutionalized learning to an authentic, sustainable, and community based matricultural practice.
Summary
In times of crisis, the domestic or matriculture is revisited. In my studio pedagogy, I employed matricultural practices, materials, and approaches because many students were isolated in home environments, where they were also engaged with domestic activities that were applicable to experiential learning and creative outcomes. Students reconnected with family, the home, and resources found in the home. Students draw on these practices with rigor for more personal resilience, innovation, and imagination in their studio practice and creative outcomes.
Bibliography
Foucault, M. (1984). Nietzsche, genealogy, history. In P. Rabinow (Ed.) The Foucault reader (pp. 76-100). New York: Pantheon Books.
Kimmerer, R. W. (2015). Braiding sweetgrass. Milkweed Editions.
Lesser, E. (2020). Cassandra Speaks. Harper Wave.
Wolfstone I.W.F (2018). ReMembering Matricultures: Historiography of Subjugated Knowledges. Accessed April 19, 2021: https://www.academia.edu/37336416/ReMembering_Matricultures_Historiography_of_Subjugated_Knowledges
In her book, Robin Wall Kimmerer notes that “cosmologies are a source of identity and orientation to the world. They tell us who we are. We are inevitably shaped by them no matter how distant they may be from our consciousness…..On one side of the world were people whose relationship with the living world was shaped by Skywoman, who created a garden for the well-being of all. On the other side was another woman with a garden and a tree. But for tasting its fruit, she was banished. And then they met- the offspring of Skywoman and the children of Eve- and the land bears the scars of that meeting, the echoes of their stories” (Kimmerer 2015: 6-7).
Wolfstone continues, “Matricultures do not presume the subordination of men, and thus are not the reverse of patriarchy. Matricultures assume a reciprocal relationality between land and culture”
My research is an exploration of the material culture of dress and appearances, specifically knitted dress. I draw from disciplines including but not limited to Dress, Cultural Studies, Sociology, and Visual Culture in order to build qualitative methodological frameworks, studies, and analyses that allow for better understanding of the rituals of craft. My research and scholarship reveal how crafting practices and rituals of handcraft are vehicles of empowerment.
Description of the Poster
Matricultural Practices in Studio Art Courses
Rebecca E. Schuiling Apparel and Textile Design Art, Art, History and Design Michigan State University
Introduction
Studio environment, now that we are online, happens in the home. Students are making studios of their kitchen table, twin bed, and basement floors. Creative projects that would have been executed on industry standard machines and equipment are now being created from discarded items in the family garage, recycle bin, and the junk drawer. While creative spaces, commonly known professionally as studios, have always had direct connections to matricultural underpinnings, at this time, studio practices and matricultural practices commingle.
Students and professors alike take for granted the matricultural items and spaces around them, because they commonly exist in patriarchal spaces such as drawing studios with rigid standing tables, fluorescent lighting, cell structure classrooms with concrete floors. The pandemic forced them to examine their surroundings with a critical eye to discover new approaches and materials for creative outcomes. This returned everyone to a matricultural ethos, where materials and approaches reflect the Hestian sphere. Materials that were readily available commonly were found in the natural environment and in the home, which lead to a new appreciation for sustainable media and materials readily available when viewed through a lens of multiplicity.
In my studio courses; Knitwear, Advanced Knitwear, and Explorations in Apparel and Textile Design, I employ matricultural pedagogical strategies. The following are a few highlights as to the use and success of Matriculture as a pedagogy.
Matriculture as Pedagogy
In the introduction to her book, Cassandra Speaks 2020, Elizabeth Lesser notes that the stories a culture tells, become the culture. Stories with terms coded as feminine, “the home, the hearth, the “womanly arts” of empathy and care” are erased in favor of stories of warriors and violence (Lesser 2020:11). In this way, matriculture embraces practices commonly considered domestic arts, crafts, and even women’s work, because it offers sustainable practices and compassionate community based outcomes.
In ReMembering Matricultures: Historiography of Subjugated Knowledges, Irene Wiens-Friesen Wolfstone imagines a future where curricula and syllabi are developed through the conceptual and theoretical framework of Matricultures. Her working definition of Matriculture is mother-centered societies founded on maternal values of care-taking and meeting needs, which become ethical principles for men and women, mothers and not-mothers. Matricultures are socially egalitarian and governed by consensus (2018: 5)
During the Coronavirus pandemic, many returned to matricultural spaces, materials, and approaches for creative studios without fully realizing the connection. Given these factors, professors commonly asked students to use what is around them for creative outcomes in their studios, such as garden mud and dough used for ceramics; a pile of pots and pans for still life drawing; and onions and beets used for fabric dyes.
Matriculture Pedagogical Case Study Examples
Students were asked to be highly resourceful for space and materials while taking creative studios online. Closets of parents and peers were raided so as to locate appropriate materials that can be upcycled or repurposed. Furry family companions and stuffed animals within the home, are now models for knitted items such as scarves, blankets, mittens and hand warmers.
Reconnecting with Matricutural Relationships
A student in my Advanced Knitwear class could not afford new yarn or notions for the class. She reached out to her family, and her grandmother was gifted her a stash of materials including yarns. Her grandmother was thrilled that her granddaughter was learning to knit and that the materials she had collected over the years would finally be utilized for a creative outcome. The student had lots of materials for her projects that would not impinge on her affording other supplies. (Studio majors commonly spend more than $500 per course per semester).
Reconnecting to Matricultural Spaces
Due to the fact that many students are working in tiny spaces, as they are sharing their homes with extended family members, or are limited to small apartments or dorm rooms. Space is at a premium in the pandemic, especially for students. Students negotiate with family or roommates for space at the kitchen table or for a bedroom to become a studio for the semester. Storing supplies requires communication and innovative thinking to prevent children or pets from inadvertently ruining paints, markers, fabrics, and other creative materials. In return, the students will offer gifts of their time to make roommates dinner or even some of their creative outcomes.
Reconnecting to Matricultural Resources
Students in fashion illustration courses are using tea or coffee to paint their croquis figures. Orange peels and strawberry hulls now build the silhouettes to create texture and line for garment illustrations. Collage items are created as students forage around the house collecting and collating mail, paper goods, and other household items. Everyday household objects take on a new life in still lifes created in the home, frequently with family members critiquing and contributing.
Analysis
Wolfstone notes that Foucault’s methodology of historiography exposes how knowledge construction is influenced by colonialism, patriarchy and capitalism. Wolfstone posits that this is a useful framework “for exploring questions such as: How did we get to this place where patriarchy is presented as the only viable social order? How can we remember the subjugated knowledge of matricultures?” ((Wolfstone 2018: 7). In a patriarchal society, crafts are coded as feminine and amateur. They do not carry hegemonic institutional accreditations. Furthermore, crafting is often discounted as medium as it is typically associated with clothing and, therefore, considered superficial or surface. The Covid-19 Pandemic has forced a societal reckoning with this prioritization. The anxiety, fear, and unknown of living through a contagion, coupled with societal and economic unrest and institutionalized disparities; has led us back to the familiar; to home; to matriculture. To the domestic work that sustains life.
By employing Matriculture as a pedagogical method in my creative studios, students are encouraged through their studio practice and design processes to simultaneously reconnect to family, reconnect to resources, and reconnecting to spaces in their own lives and creative practices. Thus, moving away from a traditional patriarchal lens of institutionalized learning to an authentic, sustainable, and community based matricultural practice.
Summary
In times of crisis, the domestic or matriculture is revisited. In my studio pedagogy, I employed matricultural practices, materials, and approaches because many students were isolated in home environments, where they were also engaged with domestic activities that were applicable to experiential learning and creative outcomes. Students reconnected with family, the home, and resources found in the home. Students draw on these practices with rigor for more personal resilience, innovation, and imagination in their studio practice and creative outcomes.
Bibliography
Foucault, M. (1984). Nietzsche, genealogy, history. In P. Rabinow (Ed.) The Foucault reader (pp. 76-100). New York: Pantheon Books.
Kimmerer, R. W. (2015). Braiding sweetgrass. Milkweed Editions.
Lesser, E. (2020). Cassandra Speaks. Harper Wave.
Wolfstone I.W.F (2018). ReMembering Matricultures: Historiography of Subjugated Knowledges. Accessed April 19, 2021: https://www.academia.edu/37336416/ReMembering_Matricultures_Historiography_of_Subjugated_Knowledges
In her book, Robin Wall Kimmerer notes that “cosmologies are a source of identity and orientation to the world. They tell us who we are. We are inevitably shaped by them no matter how distant they may be from our consciousness…..On one side of the world were people whose relationship with the living world was shaped by Skywoman, who created a garden for the well-being of all. On the other side was another woman with a garden and a tree. But for tasting its fruit, she was banished. And then they met- the offspring of Skywoman and the children of Eve- and the land bears the scars of that meeting, the echoes of their stories” (Kimmerer 2015: 6-7).
Wolfstone continues, “Matricultures do not presume the subordination of men, and thus are not the reverse of patriarchy. Matricultures assume a reciprocal relationality between land and culture”
My research is an exploration of the material culture of dress and appearances, specifically knitted dress. I draw from disciplines including but not limited to Dress, Cultural Studies, Sociology, and Visual Culture in order to build qualitative methodological frameworks, studies, and analyses that allow for better understanding of the rituals of craft. My research and scholarship reveal how crafting practices and rituals of handcraft are vehicles of empowerment.
Authored by: Rebecca Schuiling
Pedagogical Design
Posted on: #iteachmsu
Learning in the Time of COVID-19
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan State University, like many universities, closed its on-campus offerings and hastily moved to remote learning in March 2020. In addition to moving all classes online, students were asked to leave on-campus housing if possible. As COVID-19 cases continued to increase through the summer, plans to reopen in the fall were halted and most institutions announced they would continue offering instruction through remote learning. At the start of the spring 2020 semester, we collected data from MSU students enrolled in introductory economics courses about their grade expectations and views of economics as a major. In order to understand how students responded to the disruption generated by the pandemic, we began collecting additional data about the direct effects of the pandemic on their learning environment, including changes to living arrangements, internet access, studying behavior, and general well-being. Survey data were collected at the beginning and end of the spring, summer, and fall terms of 2020. Supplementing this survey data with administrative data on demographic characteristics and actual grade outcomes, we investigate how the pandemic affects students and how students' final grades in their economics course relate to their responses to the pandemic and virtual learning. We find the effects vary with student background characteristics (including race, gender, GPA, and first-generation college status) and final grades are related to internet connectivity, stress, and anxiety. These unique data allow us to provide a descriptive analysis of students' reactions to an unprecedented disruption to their educational environment.
To access a PDF of the "Learning in the Time of COVID-19" poster, click here.Description of the Poster
Learning in the Time of COVID-19
Andrea Chambers, Stacy Dickert-Conlin, Steven J. Haider, and Scott A. Imberman
Introduction
This study provides a snapshot of how students were experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic in the month following the abrupt shift to online instruction and how students have adapted to the experience of remote learning more long term. It contributes to the concerns that the mental well-being and academic performance of students has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Research Questions
What demographic and academic factors are associated with student responses to questions about internet access, ability to focus, feelings of anxiety, and their financial situation?
How are students’ final grades in their economics course related to their responses to the pandemic and virtual learning?
Methodology
Surveyed students enrolled in introductory economics courses from one large, public research university during three semesters (Spring, Summer, and Fall) of 2020.
Students completed surveys at the beginning and end of the semester.
Supplemented these data with administrative data on demographic characteristics and actual grade outcomes.
Conducted multiple regression analyses of student characteristics on student perceptions and final semester grades.
Survey
The Two Surveys:
Initial Survey – General information and grade students expected to earn in the class
Final Survey – Students’ reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic and remote learning
Response Rate:
Of the 6,665 eligible students, 3,445 students (52%) answered at least one of the COVID-related questions.
COVID-Related Statements:
My internet connectivity is sufficient to complete my economics coursework.
My final grade in my economics course will be unaffected.
My overall semester GPA will be unaffected.
My time available for studying has increased.
My ability to focus on my studies has declined.
My anxiety about my studies has increased.
My financial situation has worsened.
Sample Descriptives
Female: 47.3%, Male: 52.7%
White: 71.5%, Black: 4.2%, Hispanic/Latinx: 4.7%, Asian: 6.6%, 2 or more Races: 2.7%, Other or Not Reported: 1.5%, International: 8.7%
1st Year at MSU: 37.5%, 2nd year at MSU: 38.5%, 3rd Year at MSU: 16.5%, 4th Year or Later at MSU: 7.6%
First-Generation College Student: 18.5%
Results
Image: A stacked bar chart detailing the percent of students who strongly agree and agreed with each COVID-related statement on displayed on top of the percent of students who strongly disagreed, disagreed, or neither agreed nor disagreed with each COVID-related statement.
Title: Figure 1. Responses to COVID-Related Questions for Spring, Summer, and Fall 2020
Details of image:
My internet connectivity is sufficient: 83.3% strongly agree/agree and 16.7% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
My econ course final grade will be unaffected: 36.0% strongly agree/agree and 64.1% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
My overall semester GPA will be unaffected: 31.2% strongly agree/agree and 68.8% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
My time available for studying has increased: 46.9% strongly agree/agree and 53.1% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
My ability to focus on my studies has declined: 69.0% strongly agree/agree and 31.0% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
My anxiety about my studies has increased: 74.0% strongly agree/agree and 26.0% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
My financial situation has worsened: 36.3% strongly agree/agree and 63.7% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
Research Question 1: What demographic and academic factors are associated with student responses to questions about internet access, ability to focus, feelings of anxiety, and their financial situation?
Empirical Strategy: where is an indicator for whether the student agrees or strongly agrees with the statement.
Ability to Focus
April 2020: 83% of students report their ability to focus on their studies has declined.
December 2020: 61.5% of students state feeling their ability to focus has declined.
During the initial reaction to the pandemic and remote instruction, we do not see statistically significant differences across student characteristics such as gender, race/ethnicity, or first-generation college status. However, when we look at the continued response in the summer and fall semesters, female students are more likely to state their ability to focus on their studies has declined relative to their male peers by 9 percentage points.
Anxiety about Studies
Over 70% of students in the sample report an increase in anxiety about their studies in April 2020 and through Summer and Fall 2020.
Female students are more likely to report an increase in anxiety relative to their male peers of around 8 percentage points in the Spring 2020 and 16 percentage points during Summer and Fall 2020.
Financial Situation
April 2020: 48.6% state that their financial situation has worsened.
This condition was felt more by first-generation college students, women, and lower performing students compared to their respective peers.
December 2020: 30% state their financial situation has worsened and first-generation college students during Summer and Fall 2020 are still more likely to experience a worsened condition.
Research Question 2: How are students’ final grades in their economics course related to their responses to the pandemic and virtual learning?
Empirical Strategy:
where is a vector of COVID-related questions and are the student background characteristics, year in college, GPA, and expected grade at the start of the semester.
Internet Connectivity: Students who did not have sufficient internet connection earned lower final grades.
COVID-Related Stress: In April 2020, students who strongly agree their ability to focus has decreased and students across all semesters who strongly agree their anxiety has increased earned lower final grades.
Financial: Students who state their financial situation has worsened earned lower final grades in the summer and fall semesters.
Discussion & Conclusions
As many students in this study report feeling their ability to focus has declined and anxiety has increased, findings suggest women, first-generation college students, and lower performing students may be particularly vulnerable to these feelings and experiences.
Survey results suggest financial situations worsened for first-generation college students, which could lead to food or housing insecurity for these students, issues which could lead to increased stress and anxiety, lower grades, and possibly prevent students from persisting in higher education.
Requiring access to instruction via online learning has showcased the need for quality internet access.
The coronavirus pandemic has raised a lot of questions about the future of online education, it is important to keep in mind the ways in which students are impacted by such a move.
To access a PDF of the "Learning in the Time of COVID-19" poster, click here.Description of the Poster
Learning in the Time of COVID-19
Andrea Chambers, Stacy Dickert-Conlin, Steven J. Haider, and Scott A. Imberman
Introduction
This study provides a snapshot of how students were experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic in the month following the abrupt shift to online instruction and how students have adapted to the experience of remote learning more long term. It contributes to the concerns that the mental well-being and academic performance of students has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Research Questions
What demographic and academic factors are associated with student responses to questions about internet access, ability to focus, feelings of anxiety, and their financial situation?
How are students’ final grades in their economics course related to their responses to the pandemic and virtual learning?
Methodology
Surveyed students enrolled in introductory economics courses from one large, public research university during three semesters (Spring, Summer, and Fall) of 2020.
Students completed surveys at the beginning and end of the semester.
Supplemented these data with administrative data on demographic characteristics and actual grade outcomes.
Conducted multiple regression analyses of student characteristics on student perceptions and final semester grades.
Survey
The Two Surveys:
Initial Survey – General information and grade students expected to earn in the class
Final Survey – Students’ reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic and remote learning
Response Rate:
Of the 6,665 eligible students, 3,445 students (52%) answered at least one of the COVID-related questions.
COVID-Related Statements:
My internet connectivity is sufficient to complete my economics coursework.
My final grade in my economics course will be unaffected.
My overall semester GPA will be unaffected.
My time available for studying has increased.
My ability to focus on my studies has declined.
My anxiety about my studies has increased.
My financial situation has worsened.
Sample Descriptives
Female: 47.3%, Male: 52.7%
White: 71.5%, Black: 4.2%, Hispanic/Latinx: 4.7%, Asian: 6.6%, 2 or more Races: 2.7%, Other or Not Reported: 1.5%, International: 8.7%
1st Year at MSU: 37.5%, 2nd year at MSU: 38.5%, 3rd Year at MSU: 16.5%, 4th Year or Later at MSU: 7.6%
First-Generation College Student: 18.5%
Results
Image: A stacked bar chart detailing the percent of students who strongly agree and agreed with each COVID-related statement on displayed on top of the percent of students who strongly disagreed, disagreed, or neither agreed nor disagreed with each COVID-related statement.
Title: Figure 1. Responses to COVID-Related Questions for Spring, Summer, and Fall 2020
Details of image:
My internet connectivity is sufficient: 83.3% strongly agree/agree and 16.7% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
My econ course final grade will be unaffected: 36.0% strongly agree/agree and 64.1% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
My overall semester GPA will be unaffected: 31.2% strongly agree/agree and 68.8% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
My time available for studying has increased: 46.9% strongly agree/agree and 53.1% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
My ability to focus on my studies has declined: 69.0% strongly agree/agree and 31.0% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
My anxiety about my studies has increased: 74.0% strongly agree/agree and 26.0% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
My financial situation has worsened: 36.3% strongly agree/agree and 63.7% strongly disagreed/disagreed/either agreed nor disagreed.
Research Question 1: What demographic and academic factors are associated with student responses to questions about internet access, ability to focus, feelings of anxiety, and their financial situation?
Empirical Strategy: where is an indicator for whether the student agrees or strongly agrees with the statement.
Ability to Focus
April 2020: 83% of students report their ability to focus on their studies has declined.
December 2020: 61.5% of students state feeling their ability to focus has declined.
During the initial reaction to the pandemic and remote instruction, we do not see statistically significant differences across student characteristics such as gender, race/ethnicity, or first-generation college status. However, when we look at the continued response in the summer and fall semesters, female students are more likely to state their ability to focus on their studies has declined relative to their male peers by 9 percentage points.
Anxiety about Studies
Over 70% of students in the sample report an increase in anxiety about their studies in April 2020 and through Summer and Fall 2020.
Female students are more likely to report an increase in anxiety relative to their male peers of around 8 percentage points in the Spring 2020 and 16 percentage points during Summer and Fall 2020.
Financial Situation
April 2020: 48.6% state that their financial situation has worsened.
This condition was felt more by first-generation college students, women, and lower performing students compared to their respective peers.
December 2020: 30% state their financial situation has worsened and first-generation college students during Summer and Fall 2020 are still more likely to experience a worsened condition.
Research Question 2: How are students’ final grades in their economics course related to their responses to the pandemic and virtual learning?
Empirical Strategy:
where is a vector of COVID-related questions and are the student background characteristics, year in college, GPA, and expected grade at the start of the semester.
Internet Connectivity: Students who did not have sufficient internet connection earned lower final grades.
COVID-Related Stress: In April 2020, students who strongly agree their ability to focus has decreased and students across all semesters who strongly agree their anxiety has increased earned lower final grades.
Financial: Students who state their financial situation has worsened earned lower final grades in the summer and fall semesters.
Discussion & Conclusions
As many students in this study report feeling their ability to focus has declined and anxiety has increased, findings suggest women, first-generation college students, and lower performing students may be particularly vulnerable to these feelings and experiences.
Survey results suggest financial situations worsened for first-generation college students, which could lead to food or housing insecurity for these students, issues which could lead to increased stress and anxiety, lower grades, and possibly prevent students from persisting in higher education.
Requiring access to instruction via online learning has showcased the need for quality internet access.
The coronavirus pandemic has raised a lot of questions about the future of online education, it is important to keep in mind the ways in which students are impacted by such a move.
Authored by: Andrea Chambers
Navigating Context
Posted on: #iteachmsu
Improve Your Course with Ally
D2L, MSU's learning management system, includes access to Ally, which is an accessibility tool that benefits both students and instructors. It provides alternative file types for students and suggestions on how to improve accessibility to instructors.The infographic below provides an overview of how instructors can benefit from Ally. This Canva link is to an accessible format of the infographic and includes links to useful resources.
Authored by: Andrea Bierema
Posted on: Educator Stories
Norman Scheel's Educator Story
This week, we are featuring Norman Scheel, a Research Associate in MSU’s Department of Radiology Cognitive Imaging Research Center. Norman was recognized via iteach.msu.edu's Thank and Educator Initiative! We encourage MSU community members to nominate high-impact Spartan educators (via our Thank an Educator form) regularly!
Read more about Norman’s perspectives below. #iteachmsu's questions are bolded below, followed by their responses!
You were recognized via the Thank an Educator Initiative. In one word, what does being an educator mean to you? Share with me what this word/quality looks like in your practice? (Have your ideas on this changed over time? If so, how?)
The word would be “rewarding”. For me, teaching and learning is a two-way street and no matter in which direction you are driving, it is always an investment in the future and there is always traffic in both ways. Above all, I want to set up my students for success. As a teacher, I see myself as a conductor to help my students achieve their personal goals and as a role model who possibly has a substantial influence on the future of my students. So, seeing my students excel is highly rewarding, but I am also learning so much from my students, every day, which is also immensely rewarding.
Tell me more about your educational “setting.” This can include, but not limited to departmental affiliations, community connections, co-instructors, and students. (AKA, where do you work?)
I am now in the final stages of my postdoc in the Radiology Department of Michigan State University and am currently applying for Assistant Professor positions. Together with Prof. David Zhu I supervise and mentor the graduate students in our lab as well as students that rotate through it. I also mentor and advise students remotely for their bachelor’s and master's theses at my home University of Lübeck, Germany where I did my Ph.D. in Computer Science and Computational Neuroscience. In my research, I work interdisciplinary with many different universities, e. g. Vanderbilt University, University of Texas, John Hopkins University, or the Max Planck Institute Tübingen, Germany, on a variety of research questions. With my collaborators at these institutions, there are always students working on joint projects where it is natural to mutually teach skills important for the project’s success but also in the personal interest of the students.
What is a challenge you experience in your educator role? Any particular “solutions” or “best practices” you’ve found that help you support student success at the university despite/in the face of this?
My German Diploma in Informatics taught me the importance of multidimensional learning, or as Aristotle said, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. Over the last few years, I saw a trend that students are taught highly specific topics, without relating these to a “grand scheme”. Integrating information from multiple perspectives gives cross-references to other related topics and courses. This integration facilitates the ability to abstract learned information and helps to apply it in a more holistic way of connecting “the bigger picture”. For clarity, the content in my lectures is presented in a way that is illustrative rather than abstract, so that students are able to grasp the content and put it into relation to what they have learned before. I always try to highlight cross-references as much as possible, so that students see past the boundaries of final exams.
What are practices you utilize that help you feel successful as an educator?
The most important I think is to find a way to effectively communicate. As my teaching is typically in a small group or individual setting, I am able to tailor my teaching directly to the needs of my students. This helps tremendously in finding ways to communicate expectations between my students and me.
What topics or ideas about teaching and learning would you like to see discussed on the iteach.msu.edu platform? Why do you think this conversation is needed at MSU?
It would be amazing to have a central place on the platform, where educators could advertise potential master’s or bachelor’s theses, or rotation projects, or vice versa, students could advertise that they are on the look-out for these projects, with a few skills that they have, to see if there might be a fit. In my time here at MSU, it has been very difficult to find mid-level academic hands, especially interdisciplinary ones. The lack of or at least problematic communication between different parts of the University makes local collaboration very difficult.
What are you looking forward to (or excited to be a part of) next semester?
I am excited for a few of my students to get the chance to present at scientific conferences. It is always such a rewarding experience and always such a big push for motivation and new ideas.
Don't forget to celebrate individuals you see making a difference in teaching, learning, or student success at MSU with #iteachmsu's Thank an Educator initiative. You might just see them appear in the next feature!
Read more about Norman’s perspectives below. #iteachmsu's questions are bolded below, followed by their responses!
You were recognized via the Thank an Educator Initiative. In one word, what does being an educator mean to you? Share with me what this word/quality looks like in your practice? (Have your ideas on this changed over time? If so, how?)
The word would be “rewarding”. For me, teaching and learning is a two-way street and no matter in which direction you are driving, it is always an investment in the future and there is always traffic in both ways. Above all, I want to set up my students for success. As a teacher, I see myself as a conductor to help my students achieve their personal goals and as a role model who possibly has a substantial influence on the future of my students. So, seeing my students excel is highly rewarding, but I am also learning so much from my students, every day, which is also immensely rewarding.
Tell me more about your educational “setting.” This can include, but not limited to departmental affiliations, community connections, co-instructors, and students. (AKA, where do you work?)
I am now in the final stages of my postdoc in the Radiology Department of Michigan State University and am currently applying for Assistant Professor positions. Together with Prof. David Zhu I supervise and mentor the graduate students in our lab as well as students that rotate through it. I also mentor and advise students remotely for their bachelor’s and master's theses at my home University of Lübeck, Germany where I did my Ph.D. in Computer Science and Computational Neuroscience. In my research, I work interdisciplinary with many different universities, e. g. Vanderbilt University, University of Texas, John Hopkins University, or the Max Planck Institute Tübingen, Germany, on a variety of research questions. With my collaborators at these institutions, there are always students working on joint projects where it is natural to mutually teach skills important for the project’s success but also in the personal interest of the students.
What is a challenge you experience in your educator role? Any particular “solutions” or “best practices” you’ve found that help you support student success at the university despite/in the face of this?
My German Diploma in Informatics taught me the importance of multidimensional learning, or as Aristotle said, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. Over the last few years, I saw a trend that students are taught highly specific topics, without relating these to a “grand scheme”. Integrating information from multiple perspectives gives cross-references to other related topics and courses. This integration facilitates the ability to abstract learned information and helps to apply it in a more holistic way of connecting “the bigger picture”. For clarity, the content in my lectures is presented in a way that is illustrative rather than abstract, so that students are able to grasp the content and put it into relation to what they have learned before. I always try to highlight cross-references as much as possible, so that students see past the boundaries of final exams.
What are practices you utilize that help you feel successful as an educator?
The most important I think is to find a way to effectively communicate. As my teaching is typically in a small group or individual setting, I am able to tailor my teaching directly to the needs of my students. This helps tremendously in finding ways to communicate expectations between my students and me.
What topics or ideas about teaching and learning would you like to see discussed on the iteach.msu.edu platform? Why do you think this conversation is needed at MSU?
It would be amazing to have a central place on the platform, where educators could advertise potential master’s or bachelor’s theses, or rotation projects, or vice versa, students could advertise that they are on the look-out for these projects, with a few skills that they have, to see if there might be a fit. In my time here at MSU, it has been very difficult to find mid-level academic hands, especially interdisciplinary ones. The lack of or at least problematic communication between different parts of the University makes local collaboration very difficult.
What are you looking forward to (or excited to be a part of) next semester?
I am excited for a few of my students to get the chance to present at scientific conferences. It is always such a rewarding experience and always such a big push for motivation and new ideas.
Don't forget to celebrate individuals you see making a difference in teaching, learning, or student success at MSU with #iteachmsu's Thank an Educator initiative. You might just see them appear in the next feature!
Posted by: Makena Neal
Pedagogical Design
Posted on: Masking Matters
Half of U.S. adults, 3 out of 10 Angelenos don’t wear masks when in close contact with non-household members, University of Southern California. 2021
Posted by: Garth J Sabo
Navigating Context
Posted on: The MSU Graduate Le...
Next up in our Leadership Theory Series, The Four Diamonds Model of Inclusive Leadership! One of our Coordinators, Ronald Asiimwe, introduced this leadership theory to the Institute at our Academy this year. We were especially interested in accountability partnerships & how to balance the personal and professional elements of relationships with your teammates.
Posted by: Emma Dodd
Navigating Context
Posted on: The MSU Graduate Le...
Happy Monday everyone! We're kicking off our Leadership Theory Series with the Social Change Model of Leadership. Looking to learn and implement leadership theory? Check out the Institute's website: https://grad.msu.edu/leadership-institute
Learn more about the SCM here: https://www.stophazing.org/.../2014/11/Komives_compiled.pdf
Learn more about the SCM here: https://www.stophazing.org/.../2014/11/Komives_compiled.pdf
Posted by: Emma Dodd
Navigating Context