Engaging online tutorials and lectures

Dr Corinne Green | Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (ASSH)

Engaging students in synchronous tutorials involved intentionally building an online community and using active learning activities.

 

 Overview video

 

Hello, my name is Corinne Green and I work with Associate Professor Michelle Eady in the School of Education and I want to tell you about how we handled our tutorials in Autumn 2020.

So our face to face setup had a lot of active learning within these tutorials, students were going to be working in groups, discussing things, coming back as a larger group, and so we decided to continue that in the remote learning environment. We kept synchronous tutorials held via the Zoom platform, and we found that the features of that platform meant that the kinds of activities that we were wanting to do in face-to-face, were able to be moved across to the remote learning fairly easily.

>So we used the zoom breakout rooms, put timers on those as the tutor was able to jump between those rooms or students could ask for help if they needed to, so I was still able to connect in with their conversations and give extra support as needed. So we found that using zoom and having this remote learning meant that our tutorials were just as effective as they had been before, but it did take a bit of experimentation to get to that point.

There were some points as we went through the semester that we decided that a particular topic would be better covered in an asynchronous way rather than synchronously, and so it meant that I needed to be really upfront with communicating with the students what those changes were so that they knew what to expect and could be set up for success.

This subject had run in previous years with two-hour lectures and one-hour tutorials. When the move to remote learning was announced, we devised a plan to move all teaching to synchronous, online classes. This was to keep a familiar structure for students and to maintain connection with them while teaching remotely. However, some less interactive lectures became asynchronous as we began to re-evaluate the best use of everyone’s time. These additional ad-hoc changes were confusing to some (e.g., note-takers for reasonable adjustments), but this was remedied with clear communication.

The planned face-to-face tutorial content focused on active learning, and this was relatively easy to replicate in Zoom by using a combination of features – especially structured breakout rooms. We also used the attendance activity in Moodle for students to mark their own attendance to tutorials in the minutes before the tutorial began. In accordance with UOW policy, our tutorials officially started at 35 past and ended at 25 past (i.e., 50 minutes). Even online, this was important to maintain, as it allowed students to set-up or reset if coming from another online class. While I was in the Zoom meeting at 30 past, I used this time as an icebreaker. Posing a new question each week (e.g., What would you do with one million dollars?) was a great way to relax students and get them sharing before subject content was discussed. This was informed by student feedback which asked for more casual conversations and interactions, and helped create a positive learning community.

How?

The set-up for tutorials was relatively easy. The changes to subject delivery and access instructions were clearly communicated for students. This was so important to the successful delivery of the subject. SOLSMail messages were sent every week summarising the changed delivery for that week, in addition to timestamped updated announcements on our Moodle site. Overall, I personally preferred communicating with students via text and not video updates, as I felt there were already so many videos for students to navigate. Text-based communication was also a time-saving choice; I could use the same format and just adapt it to that week’s information. However, the most valuable communication occurred during the live sessions, so I left time for general Q&As and summaries.

Even with the ice-breakers, monitoring student engagement was harder in Zoom tutorials. I did not insist on videos being on, as I found that the students who did not show their faces to the whole class actually turned on their videos in the smaller breakout rooms. Being able to drop in to the breakout rooms allowed me to note these behaviours, as well as refocus group work – though my abrupt entry sometimes startled students. With only one of me, I used the timer function for breakout rooms to keep students on track, and students could call to me via the ‘Help Button’ if they were lost. These functions really helped replicate that face-to-face classroom experience.

Each student only had access to the Moodle section for their class, reducing confusion. If a student could not make their tutorial, they emailed for approval to attend a make-up tutorial, and I sent the link for their make-up Zoom tutorial. Alternatively, they could watch the recording of their tutorial (shared via Echo360) and provide their responses to the activities conducted for their attendance to be marked.

Reflection

You can read more about the impact of remote teaching on students and staff in this online article by UOW Media. 

In online tutorials, I think leaving time for casual interactions and ice breakers was vital. This kind of bonding is important for active learning via group work to occur. I have found that students need to feel safe and welcome in order to participate online. The combination of using the full range of Zoom breakout room functions, clear group work instructions and virtually checking-in on breakout rooms was also a powerful engagement strategy in my subject. I also believe it is OK to change your delivery part-way through the session as your confidence with new tools grows or as needs change, as long as these changes are clearly communicated to students.