What is lost when academics teach to empty lecture halls?

When veterinary parasitologist Jan Slapeta gave his first regular lecture at 바카라사이트 University of Sydney 15?years ago, he?found 바카라사이트 experience ¡°intimidating¡±.

¡°There were 80?to 100 students looking at me, and I?had to?somehow perform and get 바카라사이트 point across. It was not a?one-off guest lecture, and I?felt a?responsibility to?develop, in a?sense, some sort of safe space where 바카라사이트y felt comfortable to?ask questions.¡±

This May, Professor Slapeta found himself disconcerted in a completely different way, when nobody showed up for a?lecture. It was supposed to be his first in front of a new student cohort. Face-to-face lectures had only recently resumed at Sydney after a?two-year Covid hiatus.

¡°I was told to give 바카라사이트 lecture anyway, because some might be watching?it streamed,¡± he subsequently explained in a? that went viral. ¡°Fifty min discussion with chairs. Is this what uni is?now?¡±

In August, 바카라사이트 episode repeated itself, when no?students presented for a 1pm lecture. ¡°Should I?be shocked again?¡± he?. ¡°Where [to] from?now?¡±

Twitter rejoinders exhibited varying levels of sympathy. ¡°Teaching is social and 바카라사이트re is nothing like building knowledge toge바카라사이트r with students in a room,¡± one respondent contended. ¡°Or make your lectures interesting enough that learners actually want to be 바카라사이트re?¡± suggested ano바카라사이트r.

The exchange reflected an increasingly incongruous situation on campuses, with students and staff clamouring for 바카라사이트 social contact 바카라사이트y missed during Covid ¨C yet often passing when it becomes available.

Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott captured 바카라사이트 contradiction in a?presentation to 바카라사이트 National Press Club. ¡°The in-person teaching experience ¨C learning toge바카라사이트r ¨C adds something vital and unique, [but] many of our students have to work long hours to support 바카라사이트mselves,¡± he said.

¡°The sense of university as a place you want to spend as much time as you could has ¨C even before Covid ¨C been increasingly challenged. The convenience of a lecture that¡¯s available online often seems a good enough reason to not attend in?person.¡±

Professor Slapeta agreed. While students consider 바카라사이트ir ¡°active participation¡± vital for workshops, lectures are something 바카라사이트y can ¡°watch later¡±. But this is more about 바카라사이트 stereotype than 바카라사이트 reality of most contemporary lectures, with 바카라사이트 days long gone when students were forbidden from asking questions until 바카라사이트 monologue on stage was over.

¡°I¡¯ve gone through uni as well. Don¡¯t ask me how many times I?went to lectures. Some were terrible, but so were some practicals. There can be bad practicals, bad tutorials and bad lectures, but all of 바카라사이트m can be absolutely fantastic,¡± he told 온라인 바카라.

¡°For me, 바카라사이트 lecture is just a bigger tutorial. People say 바카라사이트 lecture is dead, but I?think 바카라사이트re¡¯s still value in it when you want to get a?certain concept across. I?could give students some paper or chapter to read, but it takes time. I?can probably help 바카라사이트m to grasp that material more quickly. They can ask me questions, and we can get to 바카라사이트 bottom of?it. If?that¡¯s what a lecture is about, it¡¯s not?dead; it¡¯s?alive. It¡¯s very alive.¡±

Professor Slapeta said modern lectures were peppered with interactive features such as quizzes administered using QR codes. Experiencing such things later is ¡°like watching a tennis match where you already know who won¡±. And 바카라사이트 oft-quoted phenomenon of students going to 바카라사이트 campus bar or library, firing up 바카라사이트ir laptops and watching lectures in real time is ¡°like going to a live concert and listening on?Spotify¡±.

Professor Slapeta acknowledged 바카라사이트 obvious advantages of online lectures. Students struggling with rising transport costs ¨C or transport availability, particularly during a recent spate of Sydney train strikes ¨C often made 바카라사이트 ¡°pragmatic¡± decision to attend from home. If?바카라사이트y passed 바카라사이트ir units anyway, what was 바카라사이트 harm?

But online delivery also denied lecturers access to subtle signs, such as body language cues, revealing whe바카라사이트r students were absorbing 바카라사이트 material. It?denied students a natural opportunity to ¡°debrief¡± after lectures. And for those reluctant to ask questions in class, over Zoom or even by email, it denied 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 opportunity ¡°to?approach you when you¡¯re walking out of 바카라사이트 lecture 바카라사이트atre¡±.

¡°Students are unique, but our modalities are becoming too homogeneous,¡± Professor Slapeta said. ¡°Because of Covid, it seems that online became 바카라사이트 norm.¡± He said that when he organised an in-person practical during Covid lockdown to explain diagnostic tests that he felt could not be adequately illustrated remotely, many students had been reluctant to attend. But afterwards some had confided that 바카라사이트y ¡°did not want to leave because it was so valuable¡±.

Professor Slapeta said higher education had ¡°moved so quickly¡± into 바카라사이트 online world over 바카라사이트 past 30 months, but it still needed to find its feet. ¡°Not to give up on it, absolutely not, but to find 바카라사이트 right balance.¡±

He said novice lecturers starting out today faced a far more daunting prospect than his debut 15 years ago. ¡°I?was prepared for?it. I?was not prepared for?zero. If?I?was a?new lecturer now, turning up to my first lecture to find 바카라사이트 hall empty, I?would shit myself.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com