Mark Spieles, Marketing & Hospitality Services
Creating community in a bi-modal class has its challenges; however, a sense of community remains one of the foundations for the student experience. Approaching the blended learning experience from a humanistic perspective means being more empathetic to student needs while delivering rigorous content. For example, feedback from the student community indicates that they desire consistency in the delivery and the organization of the material. To ensure a seamless experience, CIS helped me create consistent, well-organized packets for each class session, including outlines of the content and podcasts that link to the learning objectives.
In a [recent] student survey, 55% of the community expressed that their biggest challenge this semester was time management and workload. To mitigate these challenges, I craft announcements for each class (something of value) and send personalized messages via Microsoft Teams. I provide instructions delivered in-class and through my podcasts, which have been valuable for problem-solving activities. Coaching students on managing time and organizing for the demands of problem-solving activities have also shown promising results.
Overall, an intentional focus on listening, gathering and providing feedback, frequent communicating, and responding with purpose has enabled clear connections with course outcomes.