Grace before grades: Applying lessons from COVID-19 to future teaching

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, college students abruptly found themselves adapting to a very new learning environment in the spring of 2020. For many students this new environment meant increased social isolation. It also meant learning to use technology in new ways on top of continuing to learn standard curricula. Many students experienced heightened concerns for their physical safety and the safety of their loved ones. And, in some cases, students also found themselves “on the front lines” due to their jobs as “essential workers.” Not surprisingly, these abrupt and substantive changes contributed to elevated stress in students. 

Although not always detrimental, stress can elicit widespread changes throughout the body. Importantly, and most relevant to teachers, stress-induced neural changes are often associated with impairments in learning and memory, which may be influenced by alterations in executive functioning and/or a student’s individual perception of the stressor (Tsai, Eccles, and Jaeggi, 2019).

Anticipating the students’ disruption, our faculty rapidly implemented strategies to buttress executive functioning and support our students’ coping skills. The process afforded us an opportunity to reevaluate our course learning outcomes to consider how to best meet (or approximate) them while offering flexibility to students. As we look ahead to a fall term that will also look quite different from previous terms, we recognize that many of these strategies can continue to support our students in a responsive and flexible way.

Time-management and organization

Consider explicit guidance regarding time management strategies (e.g., remind students to maintain a master calendar, demonstrate how they can work backwards from deadlines to break down large assignments into manageable tasks, provide guidelines for how long to allot for assignments, encourage them to keep a regular structure to the day and to reduce distractions when working). This fall, infusing some discussion of time management into beginning of semester class meetings could also be helpful to support student learning and semester planning.

Frequent communication

Provide more frequent communication with students regarding both course-related information and support resources available to them. We delivered these messages early and often, and they were most often delivered through both written and video messages in our college’s learning management system.

Smaller “bites”

Review how you “package” your course materials, both traditional lectures and assignments. Consider mini-lectures (approximately 5-20 minutes) and additional scaffolding activities. Careful forethought of how best to deliver each part of a course, and also having a back-up/alternate plan in place beforehand in case certain aspects of instruction are again disrupted, will pay dividends in terms of faculty time and stress.

Inclusion

Assess and respond to student barriers (e.g., internet and technology access) when planning course activities. Preplanning for these things for the fall semester allows faculty (or institutions, if the data gathering is conducted more broadly) to identify and address specific challenges that their students may face.

Student self-care

Ensure students have access to well-being resources (we created this websiteopens in new window) and consider infusing opportunities for stress reduction (e.g., mindfulness activities, journaling, self-care challenges) into at least classes for which stress reduction fits within the overarching course learning objectives. In addition, ensure that you are attending to your own work-life balance and can model good self-care for your students.

Flexibility

Allow greater flexibility, such as a larger window for taking exams and completing assignments, and no-penalty extensions due to unforeseen circumstances.

The onset of the COVID-19 crisis in spring 2020 created a significant disruption in how many faculty approached their teaching. Within that crisis we were afforded an opportunity to reassess our teaching practices and reinvent ourselves as not only rigorous academics but also more compassionate educators. Although we acknowledge that course adaptations are not a one-size-fits-all solution, and that careful consideration of the assessment objectives and student capacities to succeed should drive these course-by-course decisions, we were able to successfully reconsider and prioritize learning outcomes that center on student support. We look ahead to the fall semester with these lessons in mind and as we engage in our course planning, we find that we are intentionally thinking about how we can continue to use these strategies to improve our work.

All authors are full-time faculty in the department of psychology at York College of Pennsylvania.

Jennifer N. Engler, PhD, is an associate professor in clinical psychology. Her specialty courses address typical and atypical child development. In addition to pedagogical research, she also studies adolescent identity and poverty attitude change.

Dani Curlik, PhD, is an assistant professor of biopsychology. Her specialty courses address behavioral neuroscience in humans and laboratory animals. Her research focuses on studying learning, memory, and the production of new neurons in the adult brain.

Perri Druen, PhD, is an associate professor in social psychology. Her specialty courses address environmental sustainability, as well as personality. She recently completed a study on personality and COVID-19 mindset, and investigates social dilemmas and selective exposure.

Carla G. Strassle, PhD, is a professor in clinical psychology. Her specialty courses address adult psychopathology, counseling theories, and professional issues related to undergraduate internships. Her research focuses on critical thinking and stigma of psychological disorders.

Randi Shedlosky-Shoemaker, PhD, is an associate professor of social psychology. Their specialty courses examine culture, inclusion, and equity. In addition to pedagogical research, their research encompasses the role social identities play in perceptions of cultural issues.