covid-19 response – Houghton STAR

Article by Victoria Hock (’23)

As we all know, many changes have been brought to Houghton’s campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, not only are some students learning remotely, but some professors are teaching remotely.

Professor of Religion Kristina LaCelle Peterson discussed that she misses “being in a room with actual human beings,” and she also added that she’s “grateful for technology that allows us some amount of interaction, but obviously it’s not the same.” As for how she’s changed up her classes to an online format, she mentioned that she has structured her courses with “weekly independent learning opportunities,” which means that “each course is a blend of synchronous and asynchronous learning.” She noted that this “puts some of the responsibility for learning back into the hands of students. This also gives her the chance to “hear a little of what’s going on in each student’s thinking,” which she added is “particularly helpful in big classes.”

Professors Heidi and John Giannini expressed similar sentiments. Professor of Philosophy Heidi Giannini brought up some of the positives to teaching remotely. “In some ways, I think working remotely has made my job easier than many of my colleagues’: I don’t have to worry about delivering the same course in as many formats at once, I don’t lose class time to sanitization procedures, and I can more readily have my students engage in small group work because I don’t have to worry about maintaining social distance.”

However, she also added that there are a few “significant drawbacks” to being completely online too. Some of the drawbacks that she mentioned include having “less of a personal connection with my students. I worry that when I return to campus, I won’t recognize many of the students I’ve taught this semester because they appear only in little boxes on my screen, a few at a time, and many of them masked.” She also added that the “online dynamic is different from what you have in person,” specifically discussing that it is much easier to start a conversation during in-person classes than online. Professor Giannini also added that students can sometimes be “more frequently distracted” when they are participating in a Zoom class session, and that they can also “seem more hesitant to reach out and ask for help” when a professor is only accessible online.

Professor of Philosophy John Giannini discussed that there are both well-known and less common differences between teaching online and in-person. “Some of the differences in online teaching are pretty obvious,” he mentioned, bringing up differences such as not being able to give quizzes on paper, that everyone is on computers for the whole class, and that technical issues can sometimes hinder communication. As for some of the more subtle differences, he explained they were things he wasn’t able to foresee. For example, he mentioned that a lot of communication goes on surrounding class time between him and his students, explaining that he chats with students, people ask him “questions that wouldn’t fit in class,” and he compliments people on their work. He then added that “while teaching online a lot of that communication just doesn’t happen.” Professor Giannini has also found “many other subtle ways in which being in a room is different from communicating via an online lobby,” mentioning things like “decreased ability to read body language, or much less fluidity in conversational back-and-forth.” He then added that “Even if you can technically do a lot of the same things online as in person they do not feel the same–and that matters.”

Overall, much like online learning, online teaching appears to have benefits, such as not losing class time to sanitization procedures and more readily being able to have students engage in small group activities, and drawbacks, such as a higher likelihood of distraction and technical issues sometimes coming up. Online professors have been working their hardest to innovate and create an engaging, beneficial class. Given the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching may continue, so professors may need to continue innovating, creating an online learning environment that students can benefit and learn from.

Do you have any professors teaching remotely? How have they handled it? Well? Comment below or get in touch with us via Instagram, Twitter, or email (star@houghton.edu)!

Campus Changes Please, but Puzzle

Thanks to the pandemic restrictions that have been put in place, the Houghton campus has had to adapt physically in a number of ways. Yet, the campus isn’t the only thing that needed to adapt. Students also are being forced to confront the new changes on campus, and the response is slightly mixed.

The Dean of Students, Marc Smithers (‘08), headed the Emergency Management Team when the pandemic initially struck. Since then, the “Preparing a Residential Education Plan Team” (P.R.E.P. Team) has been made to handle the pandemic situation which Smithers is still a chair of.

Speaking of chairs, in the words of Smithers there was a lot of thought put into the furniture around campus. As he says, “There was intentional social distancing of all furniture, we removed furniture from Java 101, [and for] the campus center we made sure that all the furniture would be conducive to social distancing.”

When asked about new classrooms Smithers explained that there are a lot of different spaces being used as classrooms which haven’t been utilized in the past, such as the Chapel and the south end of the Dinning Hall. But these classroom settings may change based on the needs of the students and professors.

The new patio seating area outside the CC. Credit: Evan Tsai

Interestingly, some of the largest changes, according to Smithers, are being done on the outside. “We specifically want to encourage people to be outside more. We created the outdoor patio space through a generous gift, and tried to put canopies up, but those quickly blew away. We’re doing all we can to encourage people to be outside.” During the planning phases of this semester Smithers explained that The P.R.E.P. Team considered adding “Ventilation” to The Big Three, but ultimately decided against it.

Some big changes also took place in regards to the fitness areas on campus. In an interview with Matthew Webb, the Director of Athletics, he said, “We have adjusted a lot, particularly relative to the use of our indoor facilities. Access to our indoor facilities is now more limited and we have a new “registration” system to allow access to our indoor facilities which is a brand new process for everyone.” Webb continued, “We were actually thinking at one point we might not be able to open at all [but] my staff did a LOT of work in putting together a plan so we can be open!”

Interestingly, one of the most controversial changes is in the way signs have been handled in the Campus Center. “We have a lot of signage around campus to point out to people what our expectations are,” Marc said, “and custodial helped us to identify where on campus those signs needed to go.”

Some student reactions have been less than enthusiastic though. “I think a lot of [the changes] are good, especially for safety of everyone,” Louis Schriver (‘22) explained, “but in the [Campus Center] doorways that come from the side from Roth Hill the first [door] is an entrance but the stairs there are UP ONLY. So if you’re actually following the traffic laws you need to walk into the building, walk to the other stairwell, and then go down, which is really annoying.” Demetri Court (‘24), a new London Honor’s student echoed these same concerns when he said, “I think most of the [measures] are making sense and are not too intrusive, but the signs on the doors – and on the stairs as well – I got big problems with.”

Overall, it seems like most changes have been met positively, as according to Smithers, “I have a lot of pride in our students and I think that that’s been affirmed most every day that I’ve seen students back on campus. I’m just very appreciative.” And, in the words of Regan DeWeese (‘23), “I’m proud of the policy they’ve put into place. I think they have a good sense of what they’re doing and I feel safe!”

What are your thoughts on the changes around campus? Glad? Confused? Comment below or get in touch with us via Instagram, Twitter, or email (editor@houghtonstar.com)!