Teaching Online and Caring for Students and Colleagues

Abstract

This chapter explores how the University's decision to move all courses to an online format impacted faculty members. It illustrates the challenges associated with transitioning from a brick-and-mortar, four-year university that predominantly offers in-person classes into one that operated almost completely online. The chapter focuses on faculty and how different aspects of their pedagogy were immediately impacted by the pandemic. It addresses how faculty participants expressed their concern for students and colleagues as well as the initiatives and actions participants took to assist students and colleagues. The chapter discusses the impact of COVID-19 and the transition to online learning on a traditional institution of higher education. The experience of transitioning to online teaching varied widely for faculty and was dependent on the course and content delivery, experience with online teaching and online tools, and course context. All faculty made accommodations for students, whether at the behest of the University directive to accommodate student needs or because they felt it was in the best interest of the students. Faculty participants also adjusted their expectations for assessments and grading. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)