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Teaching & Learning in Times of Crisis

Ten Tips to Support Students

• You may be someone’s sense of “normal” in a time when nothing else is.
  • Accommodate this need for normalcy with an open mind.
  • Consider virtual as well as in-person office hours.
  • Do not pretend this did not happen or is not unfolding in real time. Traumatic events have a direct and substantial impact on cognitive capacity. Remain mindful of that.
    • Focus on listening, not (just or immediately) lecturing.
    • Consider easing back into teaching by facilitating discussions and groupwork.
    • Consider pedagogies without penalties: teaching in a way that does not penalize students who cannot participate.
    • Read the room. When in doubt, ask.
      

2. Provide time and space to discuss student experiences, perceptions, and concerns.

• You don’t have to be the expert on what to do next, but you may be able to point them in the right direction. This shows you care. It also provides another means of sharing resources to help students.
• These directions include:
  • The Dean of Students Office and counseling services, 208-885-6716, are available to visit any student groups needing more focused support or assistance.
    

3. If you have work that is due or major projects on the horizon, consider alternative formats, flexible due dates, making (current) assignments optional, or removing them altogether.

• Flexibility is essential.
• Consider meeting students where they are, literally and figurative.
• Note that in this particular moment (11/15/22), holding fast to imminent deadlines or requiring work does not respect the need many students presently have to pull back and grieve, process, and otherwise exist peacefully in a space where they know their best work is not possible.
  

4. Remember that this is just one or two weeks of content, but it is one or two weeks that every student will remember forever, and probably not because of the content of your class. Perspective is critical. This tragedy is what they will remember forever. How we support our students will be, too.

5. Re-weight grades, mindful that their best work may still be to come.

• Avoid the temptation to re-weigh past work only.
• Consistent with #3, above, the expectations we have of one another can be adjusted to reflect the reality of the human experience in this moment.
• Explain your adjustment plans to your students and pay close attention to any deviations in performance between now and the end of the semester.
  

6. Reassure your students that their grades, tests, projects, and learning are not substantially at risk as we struggle with this tragedy.

• Let them hear it from you, directly. Institutional messaging is important. So is yours.
• Reassurances can be conveyed to the entire class as well as individual students.
• Announcements in Canvas, via email, and verbally help.
• Reassurances can be conversational –invite their input.
  • Discuss concerns
  • Consider collaborative solutions.
    

7. Be mindful of the cognitive load.

• The best line on this is from a research article on the topic: “working memory capacity is reduced immediately following an acutely stressful experience” so:
  • Adjust expectations and due dates.
  • Upon return, hold review sessions.
  • And critically, note that we are not even at the “immediately following” stage; we are at the unfolding stage. Consider the exponential impact of this on student engagement and learning.
    

8. Focus on relevance.

• This week and hereafter, ask yourself: “What really matters?”
  • Keep that central to your teaching, communications, and expectations.
    

9. Acknowledge what’s happening and discuss it.

• Research indicates that students expect and respect faculty acknowledging the impact of traumatic events: “from the students’ perspective, it is best to do something”, meaning “don’t do nothing”.
  • Avoiding or ignoring reality is unadvisable.
  • Even small acts of compassion make a big difference.
  • Research indicates that students appreciate and value faculty acknowledging tragic events and their impact on student engagement.
    • It is also necessary to do something with this knowledge.
      • Be mindful, respectful, and realistic.
        

10. Remember that the stresses and anxieties students, faculty, and staff bring into the learning environment during and in response to a crisis can have a significant impact on student learning.

• It is not just the event and an individual’s response to it, but what we bring into the classroom that matters.
• As news unfolds, as new pieces of a tragic puzzle become revealed, the human response will vary.
• Be the one who takes the initiative.
  • Be proactive with your empathy.
  • Be the one who starts the conversation.
  • Communicate ideas and expectations early, clearly, respectfully, and flexibly.
  • Convey your concern for your students with authenticity and compassion.
  • Think about what “space and grace” might look like in your classes.
  • Reframe and refocus the value of learning and your class: this knowledge is still important.

This list was composed by collaboratively by Dr. Brian Smentkowski, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning; Dr. Kelly Quinnett and Dr. Erin Chapman, Faculty Senate Chair and Vice Chair; Dr. Deborah Thorne, Professor of Sociology; Dr. Kristin Haltinner, Associate Professor of Culture, Society, and Justice; and Dr. Casey Johnson, Assistant Professor of Philosophy.

Crisis Resource Materials

On discussing tragedies such as the death of students

• What to Say After a Student Dies (www.chronicle.com)
  A faculty guide on how to help during a campus crisis and how to avoid inflicting more harm.

On connecting with our students, ourselves, and one another during and after tragic events

• Huston, Therese A., & DiPietro, Michele. (2007). “In the eye of the storm: Students perceptions of helpful faculty actions following a collective tragedy”. In D. R. Robertson & L. B. Nilson (Eds.) To Improve the Academy: Vol 25. (Also available as a PDF.)
• A Post-9/11 Framework
• Teaching after Charlottesville by Derek Bruff
  A review of best-practices for faculty-student interactions after a traumatic event and resources specific to teaching in the wake of violence at Charlottesville in 2017
• Discussing Traumatic Events from UC Berkeley
  Guidelines on how to prepare for and structure a discussion, if you choose to do so
• Brené Brown on Empathy (video)
  3-minute video on distinction between empathy and sympathy with strategies about how to listen to and connect with someone who is suffering

For on-campus student assistance

• The Dean of Students Office and counseling services, 208-885-6716, are available to visit any student groups needing more focused support or assistance.
  
  

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• UI Guide to Teaching and Learning in Times of Crisis (02-05-2021)
• Grief Resources: Sudden Death Grief
• Typical Grief Reactions
• Mourner's Bill of Rights

Altering Instructional Formats to Include All Students

With many students choosing to remain off-campus after the holiday, we have assembled resources and a team to help you provide a successful and inclusive conclusion to your classes this semester.

• CETL support is a click away at cetl@uidaho.edu. Messages received here, Monday through Wednesday (November 21-23), inclusively, and resuming on 7am, Monday, November 28, will be directed to an instructional designer who can provide direct assistance, pedagogical advice, and solutions for you and your classes.
  
  
• CANVAS 24/7 support is offered to both INSTRUCTORS and STUDENTS. Login to Canvas and from the menu on the left, click on Help (located at the bottom) to view your available support options such as:
  • Live Chat with Canvas Support
  • Canvas Support Hotline Phone Number
  • Search the Canvas Guides
  • UI Canvas Support for Faculty
  • UI Canvas Support for Students
    
    
• For direct assistance with Zoom, please contact OIT's Collaboration and Classroom Technology Services (ccts@uidaho.edu). For additional resources, see Zoom Help FAQs.
  
  
• Thinking about "flexing" your classes from your classroom? Contact OIT's Collaboration and Classroom Technology Services (ccts@uidaho.edu). For additional resources, see Tech-4-Teaching.
  
  
• Need a quick guide to shifting teaching strategies, assignments, projects, group work, and office hours over to an online format, or any combination of instructional modalities? Check out Quick Tips for a Rapid Transition: Supporting a Shift in Instructional Format.
  
  
• For an excellent resource that proved useful the last time we had to pivot immediately, please read Delivering High-Quality Instruction Online in Response to a Crisis: a Faculty Playbook.