Melissa Duckett (Jacksonville State University)
Relational connections are important in all learning environments. These connections between faculty and their students can be difficult in routine face-to-face classroom settings. Within a COVID climate, these connections become even harder to make and sustain.
Utilizing the educational model of a flipped-classroom approach, lectures can be delivered through audio recordings in shorter segments to hold the students’ attention. By dividing the class into smaller groups, the students are safely brought into the physical classroom to maintain contact between instructors and students safely and participate in active learning through activities and interactive question and answer sessions.
Students who feel there is a connection with their instructors have increased satisfaction, enhanced learning, and improved student performance. There is also a reduction in the student’s feelings of isolation, which can lead students to feel less accountable for their learning. By maintaining classroom connectivity between students and their instructors, a feeling of normalcy can be obtained for our students that are threatened within this current climate.
View the presentation recording below.
