Walsh Lisa L, Bills Robert J, Lo Stanley M, Walter Emily M, Weintraub Benjamin E, Withers Michelle D
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, USA.
J Microbiol Biol Educ. 2022 Apr 4;23(1). doi: 10.1128/jmbe.00323-21. eCollection 2022 Apr.
The majority of academic institutions were underprepared for a global pandemic, leading to spikes in instructor anxiety and drops in student engagement with STEM courses. With many STEM professors teaching online for the first time, they independently sought out training in distance education and inclusive teaching practices. Had institutions been proactive in providing such professional development prior to the pandemic, the negative impacts of transitioning to online education would have been reduced. While recent events are still fresh in people's minds, we advocate for increased or maintained professional development opportunities for STEM instructors in order to protect this critical pedagogical support from budget cuts.
大多数学术机构对全球大流行准备不足，导致教师焦虑情绪激增，以及学生对STEM课程的参与度下降。由于许多STEM教授首次进行在线教学，他们自主寻求远程教育和包容性教学实践方面的培训。如果机构在大流行之前就积极提供此类专业发展机会，向在线教育过渡的负面影响就会减少。鉴于最近的事件仍历历在目，我们主张为STEM教师增加或维持专业发展机会，以保护这一关键的教学支持不被削减预算。
