For teaching, this truly is an unprecedented time.
Part of that life is career progression and education. The faculty and staff at APSU are doing everything that they can to take the proper precautions and follow safety protocols in order to try and ensure students can still receive the best education possible during these uncertain times. However, this has required some significant changes to how faculty normally approach their curriculum.
Professor Amy Wright, CECA Coordinator for Creative Writing, had to make drastic changes in order to accommodate these new guidelines.
“I’ve made significant changes to the structure of my classes in order to keep the curricula intact,” Wright said. “For example, writing workshops and peer reviews have long been a key component of my courses; In order to enact this back and forth online we use D2L discussion boards and virtual breakout sessions.”
These peer reviews are valuable tools that she uses to give students feedback on their assignments and allow them the experience of evaluating other’s work. These peer reviews would normally be done in a classroom environment. Professor Wright has adjusted this program to an online venue.
Matthew Anderson, an Assistant Professor with the Engineering Technology Department, also made a few adjustments with his curriculum.
“For my classes, which I chose to teach in the hybrid delivery method, it meant offering a virtual lab session option while also broadcasting the face to face lectures via Zoom,” Anderson said.
This has been an unusual adjustment period, not only for the students attending these classes but for the professors who are administering them as well.
Professor Wright, like all of her fellow faculty, was given the option to teach in the classroom or online.
“I feel very fortunate to be a professor at a university that provided faculty with options to teach online or on-ground,” Wright said.
Safety, comfort and convenience seem to be weighing factors for the professors’ decisions. They had complete control of how they wanted to give the instructions.
“I never was aware of any instance where the faculty member did not get to fully choose the instruction delivery method of their courses,” Anderson said.
While the professors have complete control of on-campus or virtual instruction, their main focus is the safety and well-being of the students they’ll be teaching.
In this unusual situation that the whole world is facing now, Wright expressed that the faculty support and give their best wishes to the students attending this semester.
“I would like to express my gratitude and admiration for all the students who are returning to the classroom this fall. In honor of their acts of courage and eagerness to move forward, I hope Austin Peay can serve as a place of refuge, stability, and community in the midst of many other unknowns,” Wright said.
This is the first time any school year is beginning under such unusual and challenging circumstances, and it will take a combined effort among the student body and faculty to ensure its success.
