Hybrid Moments….

So, a weekend out from the start of this Fall 2020 semester. Here at Towson, we are offering face to face opportunities at the discretion of each faculty and student. That is, faculty can choose for their course to be fully online, synchrnous or asynchronous, or have some face to face options; students can chose to not come in. Our class, since it is a research class, is starting off as a hybrid. This has been one of the most daunting aspects leading up to the semester. I am providing in class opportunity for students to come in and conduct research. The class is small, the room holds 6, so we could work it out. However, the uncertainty of not knowing how many students will chose to come in, how that will change, and managing to provide both in person and at home material to ensure everyone succeeds in the course is tough.  As I mentioned in the last post, I will be lecturing from the classroom, so 6 students could come in; it will be on Zoom, so students could join in; and I will record lectures, so students could tune in later.

It seems Hybrid has a lot of meanings among University and even within Universities and Departments. I empathize with our students trying to navigate all the uncertainty and options, do they have to come into class, do they have to sign up, do they choose to stay remote, is there a sign up sheet to come in, what happens if we go fully online? The question of “where is my classroom” may have a whole new meaning this semester. Some want to come in and get experience in research. Others do not think it is worth the risk. I get it. Meanwhile, us faculty seem to be facing similar issues of whether or not we choose to come in, technology issues (lecture live, broadcast, and record), uncertainty of potential in class numbers (given the constraints), and we are all trying to make the organization of our courses as clear as possible. Clear organization can be difficult if everyone (student and faculty) are in their own ‘choose your own adventure’ story. I feel as though the book is written, I know the content and the goals, but I have no idea which story students will choose. And I want to make sure, regardless of their path they have the tools to succeed in a research based course, in a hybrid environment, during a pandemic. There’s really no going back to page 7 this semester, is there? And I am just one faculty in a University writing my own choose your own adventure this semester. Not to mention the plethora of technology available. It is great we have so many options, and I do appreciate all the efforts the University has put in to providing us faculty with the tools to succeed. There have been great resources, tutorials, and discussions of all the options; and I’m excited to try out a few new ones this semester. But, all this technology can also be daunting figuring out which to use, how to use, and when to use them. It’s also occurred to me that again, I am one faculty, so students may be using Zoom for one class, Webex for another and Blackboard Ultra for yet another. So, I guess not only are students and faculty dealing with multiple choose your own adventure books, but they are going through those books on different platforms (hardcopy, audiotape, digital…). Thinking about, maybe a definition for a “Hybrid” course is choose your own adventure. Since adventures are suppose to be fun, let’s try and keep it positive for the semester and embrace the uncertainty (I say now before it all starts ;). I went out on campus with the ULA’s the other day and within minutes we caught some katydids, leafhoppers, and moths, and were able to film quickly. There is some hope we can do this.

For our class, the longer time on Monday is designed to give research experiences in class. So, some students could come in for that. However, if a student chooses not to come in, they will have to complete the assignments at home. Most of the early assignments are focused on stepping students through the process of using high-speed cameras, filming animals, digitizing, and getting some performance variables. As many (if not all) smart phones and GoPros have the capability to record at 120-240 fps, students could collect videos at home. Although, this is still a concern as we cannot assume all students have the latest tech gadgets (I’m working on alternative solutions to this). I have insect nets ready and some small containers for students to use at home, if they choose. Digitizing, analyzing, and presenting can all be done remotely. It is really the data collection that is the trickiest part, can a hypothesis be formulated to collect insects, video their performance, and digitize the videos at home.  Will it be like me in undergraduate counting fruit flies late at night on the kitchen table to see if I got Mendelian Inheritance? Or, does it all have to be home if at least one group member chooses to come in to record, while the others Zoom in to assist in the logistics and data recording. This is something I’m waiting to determine as we start next week. As students are mostly graded on the process and not the outcome, I hope, even if projects fail, they will still get something out of the course and do well, even if working remotely. But, I feel I am constantly thinking of alternative solutions that may work or that I may have to deploy if the situation at the University changes.

Sometimes I feel like Dr. Strange in the Avengers Infinity Wars when he looks into every imaginable outcome for the semester. Hopefully there is more than one solution for us all to succeed during this semester. Stay tuned as we begin on Our Adventure on Monday. Good luck to everyone else out there navigating these difficult times.

“If you’re gonna scream, scream with me. Moments like this never last…..”