{"id":111989,"date":"2020-04-03T13:50:18","date_gmt":"2020-04-03T11:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=111989"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:53","slug":"students-miss-interactions-and-are-anxious-about-the-lack-of-clarity-regarding-their-exams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/04\/03\/students-miss-interactions-and-are-anxious-about-the-lack-of-clarity-regarding-their-exams\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Students miss interactions and are anxious about the lack of clarity regarding their exams\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Due to the coronavirus crisis, lecturers had to switch from in-class teaching to online teaching overnight. It wasn\u2019t an easy thing to do, because certain aspects of lectures and seminars don\u2019t translate from lecture rooms to video connections. So how is that going? Farshida Zafar (a senior fellow at the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence for Digital Governance who also serves as the Erasmus X project manager) has been talking to students to hear more about their experiences. The first conclusion she drew after one week\u2019s research is that students miss interactions and are suffering considerable anxiety because they have no idea what their exams will be like.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGeertje van Achterberg<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Zafar has asked students to share their personal experiences, comments and concerns about EUR\u2019s online teaching with her. \u201cI\u2019m trying to identify patterns in the things they say, which we can then use to improve our classes. I also think my study can serve as an outlet for students, some of whom may need a listening ear. I\u2019ll be happy to be that ear.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

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Do you want to share your personal experiences, comments or frustrations with Farshida Zafar? You can e-mail her<\/a> or use the hashtag #LearningOnlineVSCorona<\/strong> on social media.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

Active listening<\/h2>

Zafar only embarked on her study a week ago, but she has already interviewed five students and received reactions from a larger group of students. She has already detected certain patterns. \u201cOne of the things I\u2019m hearing relatively often is that students are now having more difficulty with active listening. When you\u2019re attending an in-class lecture, you can ask the student sitting next to you what the lecturer just said, or how he or she feels about what was just said. Now you\u2019re just staring at a screen. This places considerable demands on your brain and makes it kind of hard to stay focused.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another thing that students are very concerned about is the lack of clarity regarding their upcoming exams. \u201cThey want to know really badly what\u2019s going to happen. In addition, some students are concerned about online exams. Not everyone has the right equipment or a proper connection<\/a>, and not everyone has the right level of peace and quiet at home, or even enough room to sit an exam. Sometimes there are too many distractions at home to be able to sit an exam or study.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018Not everyone has the right equipment or a proper connection, and not everyone has the right level of peace and quiet at home, or even enough room to sit an exam\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

\u2018It sucks\u2019<\/h2>

Zafar herself is a pioneer when it comes to new and electronic teaching methods<\/a>, but even so, she says the current situation \u2018sucks\u2019. \u201cPerhaps you can write that down slightly more diplomatically, but that\u2019s basically what it boils down to. It sucks because of the quarantine due to the pandemic, but it also sucks for the classes themselves. Education is more than just completing assignments and acquiring and applying knowledge. It also means striving for personal growth and interacting with your fellow students and lecturers. Which also includes a trip to the on-campus supermarket or taking part in your society\u2019s activities. Chatting with your fellow students, or with a lecturer you just met in a corridor. Students have lost all of that. Online teaching is a godsend in the current situation, but it\u2019s not the end-all and be-all. Moreover, life will go on once this coronavirus crisis is over, and at the very least, this study will help us identify the best practices and worst mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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