CBU faculty creativity on display in switch to remote instruction
Riverside, Calif. (April 15, 2020) – Students in Dr. Glenn Pickett’s music composition class at California Baptist University normally present their work through an in-class presentation. For the remainder of the spring semester, however, student presentations are being done online.
CBU transitioned to remote instruction for the spring semester in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, faculty members are using a mixture of remote instruction technologies to turn student courses into collaborative online environments.
Pickett, a professor of music, said he is using video conferencing tools such as WebEx for lectures and YouTube for presenting other information.
“I do think the value is we’re going to be able to use this as another tool in our toolbox when the fall comes,” Pickett said. “I’m going to be able to have a library of these lectures that students will be able to access outside of classroom to help reinforce the live and in-person lecture. I think that’s going to be a great thing.”
Additionally, in the Shelby and Ferne Collinsworth School of Music, one-on-one lessons are being offered via WebEx or similar platforms. Ensembles are delivering material remotely through both synchronous and asynchronous means.
Dr. Nicole MacDonald, program director of athletic training at CBU, said the athletic training program is also utilizing WebEx to provide remote learning environments where faculty members can interact with students in addition to observe students practicing skills.
“Students have been anxious to get online and see their faculty, preceptors and fellow students and get back to the business of learning. They have been very responsive to meetings with our network of athletic trainers and talking through clinical scenarios,” MacDonald said.
Some senior nursing students are finishing their clinical hours for direct patient care remotely. Faculty members have devised learning experiences for students that involve a form of remote contact with the patient population, said Dr. Juliann Perdue, department chair of the undergraduate program. Students are doing wellness checks, developing teaching plans, providing discharge plans and even attending AA meetings remotely, Perdue explained.
For the remaining clinical hours, students will use remote simulation, case studies and virtual programs, Perdue added.
Dr. Tom Ferko, associate dean for the division of natural and mathematical sciences, said the division is using a mixture of simulated and virtual labs in addition to recorded demonstrations. For instance, faculty members for General Chemistry II (CHE125) have videotaped lab experiments. Lab instructors, through WebEx, will watch these recorded labs with students and explain techniques and observations as they navigate the videos together.
“We are committed to giving our students an experience that is educationally valuable and helps to prepare them for both additional courses that they will take but also their careers and wherever God is taking them beyond CBU,” Ferko said.