Pandemic Teaching Transitions Back to Classroom with Lessons Learned

MELVILLE, N.Y., June 8, 2021 — The COVID-19 pandemic created numerous changes and challenges for many people. In the education field, teachers were asked to re-create lesson plans and student interactivity in a virtual realm, something many had never experienced.

During the 180th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, which will be held virtually June 8-10, Andrew Morrison, from Joliet Junior College, will reveal lessons learned by educators during remote teaching caused by the pandemic and what techniques they can use in the return to classroom instruction. The session, “Lessons learned teaching through a pandemic and looking forward to a post-COVID-19 classroom,” will take place Tuesday, June 8, at 1:45 p.m. Eastern U.S.

Morrison said many adaptations for pandemic teaching likely will not transition to classroom, but he felt some, such as the use of online collaboration tools, should be retained to increase the equity of access to the course or to increase student engagement.

“In general, I think there are some online tools that I’ve used that I think can be used to enhance the face-to-face class,” Morrison said. “I think this may need a bit of tweaking to get right the first few times we do it, but I am hopeful that it will work to increase the student engagement with the material and understanding of what we are trying to accomplish.”

To keep students involved in online classroom activities, many educators changed their previous teaching techniques, experimenting with new components on the fly. They did this while still juggling nonteaching work and family responsibilities due to the pandemic.

“It was just a lot to deal with all at once,” Morrison said. “I think really the biggest challenge was that I pretty much had to change everything that I was doing. One of the strategies I learned for implementing the active engagement components in classes was to only implement one change into a course each time it was taught. This year has been pretty much the exact opposite of that.”

Developing an online classroom culture with students meant creating an environment where students feel valued and have trust to reach out to instructors for help instead of turning to an internet source. Morrison said the physical disconnect from students heightened his awareness of their perception of teachers.

“I feel that some students had the wrong idea of the role I was in over the past year,” he said. “They had this idea that I was just there to set up the class and grade assignments. It was disheartening at times to see that my expertise was not valued by the students.”

###

———————– MORE MEETING INFORMATION ———————–

USEFUL LINKS

Main meeting website: https://acousticalsociety.org/asa-meetings/ 
Technical program: https://acousticalsociety.org/technical-program-and-special-sessions/ 
Press Room: http://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/

WORLDWIDE PRESS ROOM

In the coming weeks, ASA’s Worldwide Press Room will be updated with additional tips on dozens of newsworthy stories and lay language papers, which are summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience and accompanied by photos, audio and video. You can visit the site during the meeting at http://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/.

PRESS REGISTRATION FOR MEETING SESSIONS

We will grant free registration for credentialed and professional freelance journalists who wish to attend the meeting sessions. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, contact the AIP Media Line at [email protected]. We can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips or background information.

VIRTUAL MEDIA BRIEFINGS

Press briefings will be held virtually during the conference. Credentialed media can register in advance by emailing [email protected] and including your full name and affiliation in the message. The official schedule will be announced as soon as it is available, and registered attendees will be provided login information via email.

ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world’s leading journal on acoustics), Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. For more information about ASA, visit our website at http://www.acousticalsociety.org.

###