May 18, 2020

Earlier this semester, EETI released our first interim brief describing preliminary findings from our NSF RAPID project to understand faculty, staff, and student experiences with the COVID-19 crisis and offer guidance moving forward.

Today we are releasing our second interim brief, based on 29 new stories (April 20 – May 13) from faculty, staff, and students across the College of Engineering, 13 of which came from faculty. Thank you so much to those who have contributed!

This interim brief reinforced many of the trends from the previous reports, and the more detailed stories allowed us to provide more pointed key takeaways and recommendations.  Particularly, our key takeaways from this wave of data collection are:

1. Both faculty and students lament the loss of face-to-face affordances – Faculty and students noted several aspects of face-to-face learning missing from online environments, including student-instructor interactions, conceptual feedback, collaborative work, and partial credit.

2. Opportunities exist to question the status quo in teaching and learning – There were many stories of stress and frustration. Some stories described new, more personalized, and collaborative approaches to teaching and learning.

3. Compassion is essential, and flexibility is its most basic form – Both students and faculty expressed empathy for the each other. The range of challenges faced by both groups point to the importance of flexibility and communication as we navigate this crisis.

Based on these takeaways, we also offer a number of recommendations for faculty, students, and the College as we move into summer and fall to address the challenges and opportunities that participants revealed in their stories.

To view the interim report, click here: RAPID Report 2 (April 20-May 13)