Topic Area: Online Teaching & Learning
Presented by: Andrew Krause, Tsveta Sendova
Abstract:
We are excited to share the redesigned departmental teaching structure that we implemented during pandemic-forced online teaching. Our department has realigned our teaching efforts into cohesive course-teams, in lieu of traditional independent (coordinated) teaching roles. No longer are individual instructors responsible for specific sections, but instead instructors have a role on a larger team that shares the instructional load. For example, 24 instructors for MTH 132: Calculus 1 worked together in a variety of roles to deliver a cohesive course to 1400 students.
This configuration has important advantages, the three most important being: flexibility, support, and adaptability.
Flexibility: With diverse roles available, each instructor can contribute with their strength — leading online webinars, small group tutoring, assessment design, video creation, etc.
Support: The large team can support instructors who experience challenges that disrupt their ability to teach (health, family, etc.). It is easy to substitute one or a few teaching roles, rather than an entire “”teacher””.
Adaptability: Having a cohesive “”backbone”” of the course (D2L, materials for students, etc.) makes it possible to rapidly adjust to changing scenarios, such as changing guidance on in-person meetings. It is easy to plug in additional face-to-face meetings as alternatives or enhancements to the online structure.