Taking Forward and Leaving Behind
Boschman, L., Gust, C., McDowall, K., McLester, J., Whidden, C., & Andjelic, C. (2022). Taking forward and leaving behind: What lessons can we draw from the student voice? In Jacobsen, M. & Smith, C. (Eds.), Online Learning and Teaching from Kindergarten to Graduate School (pp. 355-385). Canadian Association for Teacher Education. Find the volume here.
When we, as instructors in a community-college education program, looked back on the past few years, we were cognizant of emergency pandemic shifts made by instructors and teachers. To ascertain the impact of these pandemic shifts on student learning, we studied the student voice utilizing two cycles of action-research methodology. In Cycle 1, we examined how the inclusion of pandemic-teaching shifts in the areas of pedagogy, content, and connection impacted student learning. Student voice was solicited by surveying first- through fourth-year education students in March 2021. Utilizing their responses, we adapted our Fall 2021 courses, incorporating some of the student-identified impactful pandemic teaching strategies. In Cycle 2, we examined similar concepts but focused on the impact on student learning from the continued inclusion of pandemic shifts in the areas of pedagogy, content, and connection, and what teaching and learning adaptations arising from our pandemic shifts should be carried forward and which should be left behind. To gain student voice on these concepts, we re-surveyed our students in November 2021. After thematically analyzing the student voice regarding the impact of each adaptation, we discovered that students wanted us to take forward: (a) alternative pedagogical approaches, (b) strategies to create and maintain meaningful connections, and (c) mindful adjustments to course content. They wanted us to leave behind: (a) excessive screen time, (b) extraneous workloads, and (c) reliance on lecture-centered learning. As we enter a post-pandemic era, we are cognizant that new paradigms can and should be woven into a reimagining of education.