The coronavirus pandemic has forced San Jose State to transition to an online setting for the foreseeable future, but there is some concern among students and staff about the effectiveness of these online courses.
Students have made the transition to Zoom, a trend that will likely continue as the Fall 2020 semester will consist of mostly online classes as precaution against COVID-19, stated Vincent Del Casino Jr., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, in a campuswide email sent on April 30.
However, some students are finding it difficult to switch to online classes.
“Remote learning is great during this time, of course, but I liked having a routine where I’d get to get ready and leave the house,” English senior Yulissa Ferreira said in an Instagram message. “My professors are really putting in that extra effort to successfully transition our once in-person courses to online.”
But certain classes may be more difficult in an online setting because direct interaction with physical course materials can’t be replaced.
“I do not think that physical lessons such as labs can be performed online without reducing learning quality,” said Thuy Le, an electrical engineering professor and department chair, in an email. “Adding online components is good but replacing a physical classroom/lab by online is not a good idea.”
Some students feel SJSU could do more to ease the strain of finances and grades.
“We are all doing our best to navigate things and the school is, too. But, as students of an institution that claims to care about their students’ well-being, the least they could do is live up to that claim,” psychology senior Victoria Fountain said in an Instagram message. “So many of us need financial help. There should be some kind of reimbursement or partial refund of tuition. Online classes are not and never will be as productive, effective, personal, or meaningful as hands-on/in-person learning. Period.”
Students are not the only ones having trouble with the online transition as some faculty members share the same doubts about the efficacy of online classes on Zoom.
“I tried Zoom for a couple of sessions, and then I abandoned it for the delivery of lecture material,” political science professor James Brent said. “Instead, I'm now recording my lectures and posting them to YouTube. The only reason we meet on Zoom is for active discussion, not for me to present information.”
Other faculty members believe that using Zoom is a beneficial tool, adding that it depends on students to do their part to further their education.
“It is possible that in some courses, students are required to read books and write an essay so the instructor could learn of students' understanding of the subject,” said Fred Barez, a mechanical and aerospace engineering professor, in an email. “Even in such courses without a laboratory component, students wish to discuss and argue different points of view. This certainly can be solved when Zoom is used and students could see each other to discuss their views.”
However, not every professor is holding classes through Zoom and some students are having a hard time learning with the new class format.
“My professors are definitely lacking in keeping class engaged. [Four-fifths] of my classes aren’t even meeting on Zoom or having online lectures,” biology freshman Iris Schmidt said in an Instagram message. “I just get emailed a list of assignments to do and I feel like I paid thousands of dollars just to teach myself the material.
