INSPIRING STUDENTS VIA REMOTE LEARNING IN AN INTRODUCTORY GEOSCIENCE COURSE (OR AN OLD DOG CAN INDEED LEARN NEW TRICKS)!

Hang on for the ride! Two weeks before spring break 2020, all our students were sent home, we had two weeks to prepare and begin teaching virtually for the remainder of the semester. At first, I was afraid, then petrified, but realized it was on me to continue teaching and inspiring my students as if they were right in front of me. Preaching to the choir, this was no trivial task! Here’s how I survived AND succeeded.

1. New course format! Prepare, record and animate lectures so that they were available to students 24/7.
2. Weekly ZOOM meetings! Since my students came from diverse geographic locations (Maine to China and not China, Maine) and time zones, the regularly scheduled times were not possible. So, we met once a week via Zoom on Fridays. Students came with breakfast, dinner, coffee and sometimes in their jammies! It became GEOBrunch. We spent the time talking about the lectures and laboratory exercises and socializing. Seeing their smiling faces, pets, parents and “work spaces” was so helpful to my attitude. It kept them real! A new way to do review sessions!
3. Field trips! Fortunately, most of the indoor labs like maps, rocks and minerals and tectonics were completed before shutdown, so those that remained were outdoors. So, I got in my car, took my iPhone, visited many of our traditional field locations and recorded them. I became a script-writer, videographer, producer and director! Field trips were created at Acadia National Park and the Maine State Museum (before they were closed), and a local stream with assistance from a couple of students. This was a blast! The videos were posted on YouTube and exercises were set up on our course Moodle site.
4. Quizzes, exams and written assignments! These were a challenge at first, but as my fluency on Moodle improved, they became easier. Weekly quizzes were given on the material presented the previous week. Giving quizzes on Moodle allowed feedback in both directions and grading was easier! Weekly short, two-page written assignment were also assigned. Two major exams (mid-term and final) were given in this format. This has worked so, well that I continued them when in person courses resumed in the fall.

Positives: 1) the course became exciting to me again and my creativity bloomed, 2) student participation rose, 3) student interest rose, 4) students appreciated my efforts, 5) I became more confident in trying new things and experimenting, and lastly, I have a whole suite of new things in my bag of teaching tricks and can do a lot more with the technology available to me!

Negatives: It was a lot of work...