Castelli Frank R, Sarvary Mark A
Investigative Biology Teaching Laboratories Department of Neurobiology and Behavior Cornell University Ithaca NY USA.
Ecol Evol. 2021 Jan 10;11(8):3565-3576. doi: 10.1002/ece3.7123. eCollection 2021 Apr.
Enrollment in courses taught remotely in higher education has been on the rise, with a recent surge in response to a global pandemic. While adapting this form of teaching, instructors familiar with traditional face-to-face methods are now met with a new set of challenges, including students not turning on their cameras during synchronous class meetings held via videoconferencing. After transitioning to emergency remote instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our introductory biology course shifted all in-person laboratory sections into synchronous class meetings held via the Zoom videoconferencing program. Out of consideration for students, we established a policy that video camera use during class was optional, but encouraged. However, by the end of the semester, several of our instructors and students reported lower than desired camera use that diminished the educational experience. We surveyed students to better understand why they did not turn on their cameras. We confirmed several predicted reasons including the most frequently reported: being concerned about personal appearance. Other reasons included being concerned about other people and the physical location being seen in the background and having a weak internet connection, all of which our exploratory analyses suggest may disproportionately influence underrepresented minorities. Additionally, some students revealed to us that social norms also play a role in camera use. This information was used to develop strategies to encourage-without requiring-camera use while promoting equity and inclusion. Broadly, these strategies are to not require camera use, explicitly encourage usage while establishing norms, address potential distractions, engage students with active learning, and understand your students' challenges through surveys. While the demographics and needs of students vary by course and institution, our recommendations will likely be directly helpful to many instructors and also serve as a model for gathering data to develop strategies more tailored for other student populations.
高等教育中远程授课的课程注册人数一直在上升，近期因全球疫情而激增。在适应这种教学形式时，熟悉传统面对面教学方法的教师现在面临着一系列新挑战，包括学生在通过视频会议举行的同步课堂会议期间不打开摄像头。在因应COVID-19疫情转向紧急远程教学后，我们的基础生物学课程将所有面对面的实验部分改为通过Zoom视频会议程序举行的同步课堂会议。出于对学生的考虑，我们制定了一项政策，即课堂上使用摄像头是可选择的，但鼓励使用。然而，到学期末，我们的几位教师和学生报告说，摄像头的使用率低于预期，这降低了教学体验。我们对学生进行了调查，以更好地了解他们不打开摄像头的原因。我们证实了几个预测到的原因，包括最常提到的：担心个人形象。其他原因包括担心被别人看到以及背景中的物理位置，还有网络连接不稳定，我们的探索性分析表明，所有这些因素可能对代表性不足的少数群体产生不成比例的影响。此外，一些学生向我们透露，社会规范在摄像头使用中也起到一定作用。这些信息被用于制定策略，在促进公平和包容的同时，鼓励（而非要求）使用摄像头。总的来说，这些策略是不要求使用摄像头，在建立规范的同时明确鼓励使用，解决潜在的干扰因素，通过主动学习吸引学生，并通过调查了解学生面临的挑战。虽然学生的人口统计学特征和需求因课程和机构而异，但我们的建议可能会直接帮助许多教师，也可作为收集数据以制定更适合其他学生群体的策略的范例。
