{"id":120077,"date":"2020-11-24T10:38:04","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T09:38:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=120077"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:15","slug":"level-of-discussions-is-higher-online-than-in-a-full-lecture-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/11\/24\/level-of-discussions-is-higher-online-than-in-a-full-lecture-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Level of discussions is higher online than in a full lecture hall\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christiaan Heij is a lecturer in Econometrics and has been working exclusively from home since March. He always teaches his online lectures from the same spot in his home, with a nice impressionistic tapestry in the background. Being over the age of sixty, he is glad that those in-person classes that are still being taught to first-year students are being taught by his younger colleague.<\/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\tPauline Wiersema<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

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Econometrics lecturer Christiaan Heij during an online consultation.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

\u201cDoes it feel very different, teaching a lecture to more than three hundred students in a lecture hall or via a screen? Yes and no. Not all students feel heard in a full lecture theatre, either. To many of our students, the transition from secondary school to their degree programme is a pretty big shock, anyway. We work at a much higher pace than they are used to. And unfortunately, about half of our first-year students drop out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zoom consultations three times per week<\/h2>

Heij did not have to teach any lectures prior to the summer and spent that time working hard to record his lectures for his new first-year students on video. Those recordings are now used in the new academic year.\u201cIn addition, I have an online consultation hour \u2013 which often lasts longer than an hour \u2013 on Zoom three times a week, to discuss the subject matter discussed that day. I\u2019ve found that students find it easier to ask questions there than in a full lecture hall. They seem to find it easier to give input that way. I think that\u2019s very valuable. The level of the discussions also tends to be higher than what I generally see in a full lecture hall.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018I had never worked with a tablet before, but my colleagues explained to me how to do it\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

\u201cWhat was new for me was working with all the new information technology devices. I had never worked with a tablet before, but my colleagues explained to me how to do it. Now I use a tablet to explain questions during my lectures. And because I\u2019m an experienced lecturer, I know which components students tend to struggle with and I now use quizzes to give my students some more practice with these. I\u2019m currently working much longer hours than I\u2019m supposed to work each week, but I don\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n

\u2018I miss the energy\u2019<\/h2>

\u201cOf course things are different in a lecture hall. I can crack a joke there if I feel that students\u2019 attention is flagging. I can\u2019t do that now. I miss the energy that comes from direct interaction. But I do think that the students have adjusted to the circumstances extremely well. Things are going a lot better than I was expecting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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