{"id":120424,"date":"2020-12-01T16:04:38","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T15:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=120424"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:16","slug":"faculties-dont-enjoy-hybrid-teaching-slightly-more-on-campus-classes-scheduled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/12\/01\/faculties-dont-enjoy-hybrid-teaching-slightly-more-on-campus-classes-scheduled\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculties don\u2019t enjoy hybrid teaching; slightly more on-campus classes scheduled"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faculties started the new academic year by teaching most of their classes online. However, in the second semester they hope to carefully start offering more in-person classes. \u201cJust having a few activities organised on campus can be quite motivating.\u201d The faculties don\u2019t really care for hybrid teaching.<\/p>\n

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A corona-proof lecture in the Theil building. There must be a minimum space of two seats between the students.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAmber Leijen<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The faculties are slowly beginning to plan to get more students back to the campus after the Christmas break. Most faculties will continue to focus those attempts first and foremost on first-year students, as they have been doing since the start of the current academic year. \u201cSomething we had to temporarily stop doing but wish to start up again now is mentor groups. These allow first-year students to get together under the supervision of a more advanced student,\u201d said Bram Steijn, the Vice-Dean of the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB). Some tutorials, too, will be taught in person again \u2013 for instance, certain tutorials taught to the Bachelor\u2019s students of the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (ESHCC) and lectures taught at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS).<\/p>\n

The Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) also offered \u2018on-campus days\u2019 in the first semester and will continue to do so in the second semester. \u201cWe received a very positive response to the on-campus day for our first-year students,\u201d says Brigitte Hoogendoorn, ESE\u2019s Programme Manager. \u201cJust a few activities organised on campus can be quite motivating.\u201d What is notable is that ESE\u2019s on-campus activities will be geared more towards second-year students, as well. \u201cThey had relatively few on-campus activities before the Christmas break. For instance, we have now scheduled the practicals for two Block-3 subjects back to back on the same day, so that second-year Bachelor\u2019s students of Economics will be able to come to campus weekly to attend these practicals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hybrid teaching not a hit<\/h2>

The faculties did not really enjoy their experience of lectures and seminars that were able to be attended both on campus and online, the so-called \u2018hybrid lessons\u2019. ESHCC, for instance, is keen to drop the hybrid format where possible. Jason Pridmore, the Vice-Dean of Teaching at ESHCC, had the following to say on the subject: \u201cWe\u2019ve noticed that it\u2019s not a great format for either lecturers or students. How are lecturers to divide their attention between students asking questions in the lecture theatre and students asking questions online?\u201d ESE and the Erasmus School of Law (ESL) will also do their best to avoid this format in the upcoming second semester. \u201cThere will be a few classes that will be taught online and in person simultaneously, but generally, we will choose either one of the two formats,\u201d says Piet Scheele, a Policy Director at ESL.<\/p>\n

Exams to be administered in person where possible<\/h2>

Where possible, the various faculties will administer their exams on campus. For instance, the great majority of ESL and Erasmus MC students will be able to sit their exams in a large regular exam room. Nevertheless, all faculties have encountered restrictions. \u201cExams sat by fewer than 450 students will be administered on campus,\u201d says ESSB\u2019s Steijn. \u201cThe larger exams must be taken online. There\u2019s no way around that.\u201d Due to accusations of cheating and technical issues, most students and lecturers would rather avoid online exams.<\/p>\n

Online teaching greatly improved<\/h2>

Despite the fact that more activities will be offered on campus, the vast majority of classes will continue to be taught online during the second semester. In recent months, the faculties have learned a lot about how to deal with online teaching. For this reason, most of the deans of teaching we spoke to told us they have a great deal of faith in the quality of the online lectures. \u201cBoth lecturers and students are much better equipped for them now,\u201d says Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) Dean of Teaching Eric Waarts. \u201c<\/em>Technology has improved, and teaching methods have been adjusted in such a way that our online classes are no longer inferior to our on-campus classes.\u201d For instance, students are highly appreciative of the fact that many course materials and lectures can now be found online and that they can be accessed at any time from any place.<\/p>\n

Creative online teaching formats must be retained<\/h2>

Lecturers are coming up with more and more ways to convey the subject matter in a creative manner. ISS\u2019s lecturers are, too. \u201cWhen teaching online, creative formats \u2014 such as using music, photos or art \u2014 work well,\u201d says Karin Arts. \u201cAnd we also really like group assignments in which students get to create posters or videos together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furthermore, many faculties have come to appreciate small-scale online meetings. Several faculties and institutes, such as ESSB, ISS and RSM, have had a very positive experience of \u2018breakout rooms\u2019, i.e. divided sessions created during Zoom or Team meetings in which smaller groups can have online discussions. The various faculties\u2019 deans wish to use this teaching format more often in the second semester. \u201cThis method allows students to go more in-depth,\u201d says Waarts. \u201cMoreover, it allows students to get to know each other much better.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\u2018You don\u2019t learn how to perform a physical examination on Zoom\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Finding alternatives to work placements and hands-on teaching continues to be a great challenge, particularly for the Faculty of Medicine. \u201cFinding an alternative to the foundation programme (internships \u2013 ed.) is quite hard,\u201d Vice-Dean Maarten Frens admits. \u201cYou don\u2019t learn how to perform a physical examination on Zoom.\u201d Some students are still able to follow the foundation programme at Erasmus MC or at hospitals in the surrounding region. \u201cIn addition, we are teaching students clinical reasoning, as well, on the basis of online cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some ESSB students will not be able to have their work placements. \u201cBut we did manage to arrange quite a few short-term placements for our Bachelor\u2019s students of Public Administration and Sociology,\u201d says Steijn. Other students will be able to take a third-year course instead of a work placement.<\/p>\n

More \u2018fun\u2019 activities<\/h2>

In addition to regular classes, several faculties want to offer their students more informal activities in the second half of the academic year. ESL is one of those faculties. \u201cWe will organise such activities to allow students to get to meet each other,\u201d says Scheele. \u201cFor instance, we\u2019re going to establish a buddy programme for first-year students.\u201d RSM, too, wants students to get to know each other. Says Waarts: \u201cWe\u2019re already doing a lot on top of the regular classes, for instance through the STAR faculty society In addition, at the request of our students, we have scheduled many getting-to-know-each-other moments between or during our online classes, for instance through break-out sessions, where students get to hang out in an informal manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The in-person activities offered on campus are optional, but the faculties expect many students to attend these on-campus classes. \u201cSome students don\u2019t mind taking all their courses online at all, but they are definitely in a minority,\u201d says Scheele.<\/p>\n\n\t

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