GoDuke: Duke Student-Athletes Adjust to Online Learning
date：2020-05-19 19:13author：小编source：GoDukeviews：
DURHAM (from GoDuke Magazine, May edition) -- If you took a stroll through the Duke campus over the past two months, you would have found a sight different than any other spring in its illustrious history. The lunch hours saw no gathering masses, the Abele Quad hosted no Frisbee catches or group studies, and the athletic facilities featured none of the 10 Blue Devil programs that were set to compete through the early stages of summer.
On March 10 — while the students were on spring break and the scholastic calendar approached its home stretch — Duke president Vincent Price made the decision to suspend in-person classes until further notice. The coronavirus had spread throughout the eastern United States, and seven individuals in North Carolina had tested positive when Price sent out the campus-wide email. Two days later Duke, along with numerous NCAA institutions, suspended all remaining athletics activities, and students were advised to leave the campus as soon as possible.
While the global pandemic took hold and Duke's international population was forced to seek its most immediate shelter, the university had to quickly adjust to a new method of learning. Although Duke traditionally did not offer online courses, Price announced that classes would resume electronically on March 23, following an extended week of spring break. Less than a week after the announcement, the decision was made that all Spring 2020 undergraduate courses would be graded on the basis of satisfactory/unsatisfactory by default.
As students and teachers alike had to recreate a routine surrounding their "new normal," many instructors opted to utilize Zoom, a communications technology company that features large-scale video conferencing. Being able to see students online and conduct a lecture in real time became a viable replacement to hosting an on-campus class session, but it made it no less difficult to adapt for all involved. Particularly for student-athletes, whose schedules while on campus were centered around structure and having each class meticulously planned so that they could find a balance between their sport's demands and their academic commitments.
This deviation in regimen gave the academic support staff the unenviable task of assisting student-athletes through the semester from a remote location. According to the executive director of academic services, Heather Ryan, the first course of action was for student-athletes to establish the proper areas within their own homes that could be dedicated to their classwork and would offer little distractions.
"From the beginning, our two main points of emphasis were communication and routine," Ryan said. "We were trying to talk to them about finding a space at home that was a workspace and not them doing some work in their bed, some work in the living room and some work on their couch — just trying to talk to them about having a space that was workspace. We emphasized trying to keep routine, getting up in the morning, getting dressed and trying to keep that mindset of going to class."
Ryan felt that increased communication between student-athletes and academic advisors was paramount for multiple reasons during the initial two-week stretch, with one being that registration for fall classes began April 1. Although she believed that maintaining contact helped the students develop a more efficient routine, she noted that the consensus opinion was not favorable toward the situation.
"I think overwhelmingly, (student-athletes) would say it's harder," Ryan said. "They don't like it. I think in the beginning, it was something nice and shiny and they were ready to get going and so they were very enthusiastic. Then, you quickly realize that the internet can be spotty and sometimes you go in (to a Zoom session) and get kicked out and go back in. There's some of that frustration. It's easy for me to say 'Set up your own workspace,' but it's hard for you to do that when you have two siblings home and they're running around in the background. I think there was a lot that's hard for them."
One such student-athlete who saw a course undergo drastic changes is women's basketball player Jayda Adams. The junior psychology major found a theater class while exploring electives during her freshman year, and was enrolled in an Introduction to Improvisation course this spring. Prior to students being asked to remain off campus, Adams would describe the class as interactive and intimate, as the scenes each student acted out were built on the trust they shared with their counterparts. One assignment she recalls is having to solve a problem without arguing, and coming away from it appreciating how creatively challenging it could be to improvise on the spot.
After the course transitioned to video sessions, Adams admits that the reciprocal and free-wheeling nature that it promoted was no longer available, which sometimes produced an awkward result.
"I'd definitely say it's a little bit hard to record myself, because in improv class you don't really have a script and you don't really have very many rules," Adams said. "It's just kind of like 'This is what we're doing,' and you have to make up things as you go. For our standup, it's more like a script. So, you're having to memorize everything that you've kind of put together and also making sure that you're looking at the camera because the camera is the audience. You're trying to make sure that you're not looking awkward on video because people are watching you, but at the same time, nobody is watching you. So, that's kind of been a little bit of a struggle."
Adams added that "nothing beats being in front of people and I think that's the whole point of theater, is just being yourself and being open." She viewed the improv class partly as a release, or a nice change of pace after spending her previous hour fixed on her laptop while in statistics. This was a break in the day where she could enjoy the company of her classmates, rather than remain silent in a lecture hall. But after returning to her hometown of Irvine, Calif., she was spending that class period in front of a camera instead of enjoying the authentic fellowship she appreciated on campus.
While Adams adjusted to the lack of interaction, men's golfer Harrison Taee maintained that working from home actually fit into his personality. Back in the United Kingdom where he's from, Taee had to wrap up a computer science course that primarily focuses on iOS development. Although one of his projects — developing an iPhone app — involved writing code that only a group could manage, he feels that communicating remotely provided only minor obstacles.
"It does (have challenges), but as computer scientists, naturally we're introverted and we kind of work by ourselves anyway," Taee said. "It worked out fine in the group. The group was great. It was a tiny bit more challenging, but Zoom did the job."
With his group, Taee created a location-based social media app that sends alerts to your phone when one of your contacts is in the same place. "You create an event and see who's at the event," he said. "For example, if I'm in Perkins (Library), I get notified if one of my friends walks into Perkins."
Executing such an idea while communicating across different countries may appear daunting, particularly when the project began in a classroom environment. But according to Taee, the adjustments made by the class professor provided ample resources to complete the assignment.
"I think he did a great job because he made it a little bit more lenient on us," Taee said. "He actually donated a lot of class time to working with the T.A. (teacher's assistant), asking any questions if we're stuck. He facilitated that very well. I was happy with the process."
Despite their class schedules remaining intact, both Taee and Adams acknowledged a difficulty in finding motivation each day — especially a senior like Taee, who could see the proverbial end of the college tunnel while studying at home.
"It's been somewhat hard to motivate because if you've got a lot of time on your hands, it's kind of hard to just bite the bullet and do it," Taee noted. "Also, because I'm coming to the end of my education career, I kind of want to get on to the next stage now, so there's a slight lack of motivation there. At the same time, you've just got to sit down and do it. I've been doing that for 15 years in my education career, just grunting it out — I'm used to it now."
Yet even while navigating the challenges of online education, Ryan and Taee both noticed certain silver linings. Taee used the extra stretches of free time in his schedule to work out and play soccer with his neighborhood friends, adding that it presented a much needed balance after sitting in a chair during all of his daily class sessions.
Ryan believes the unprecedented nature of the situation offered an element of humanization that yields both relief and comfort for the students. "It's been different for them, but I think long-term it will be helpful to see that their professors or even our staff is human," she said. "We're in the same boat, not knowing and having some of the same difficulties. Seeing professors who have their dog barking in the background, or they have a child on their lap while they're teaching kind of puts a more human side to this for them. I think that's been good to see."
No one at Duke, whether a long-tenured professor or academic advisor, could provide definitive answers to the current world landscape. But through all of the uncertainty, in the emptiness of campus, the canceled games and the transition to a foreign way of learning, there are reminders of what Duke represents. From Irvine to the UK, students like Adams and Taee provide evidence that no matter what transpires, those who experience life at Duke will continue to grow.
Source: https://goduke.com/news/2020/5/16/athletics-duke-student-athletes-adjust-to-online-learning.aspx
On March 10 — while the students were on spring break and the scholastic calendar approached its home stretch — Duke president Vincent Price made the decision to suspend in-person classes until further notice. The coronavirus had spread throughout the eastern United States, and seven individuals in North Carolina had tested positive when Price sent out the campus-wide email. Two days later Duke, along with numerous NCAA institutions, suspended all remaining athletics activities, and students were advised to leave the campus as soon as possible.
While the global pandemic took hold and Duke's international population was forced to seek its most immediate shelter, the university had to quickly adjust to a new method of learning. Although Duke traditionally did not offer online courses, Price announced that classes would resume electronically on March 23, following an extended week of spring break. Less than a week after the announcement, the decision was made that all Spring 2020 undergraduate courses would be graded on the basis of satisfactory/unsatisfactory by default.
As students and teachers alike had to recreate a routine surrounding their "new normal," many instructors opted to utilize Zoom, a communications technology company that features large-scale video conferencing. Being able to see students online and conduct a lecture in real time became a viable replacement to hosting an on-campus class session, but it made it no less difficult to adapt for all involved. Particularly for student-athletes, whose schedules while on campus were centered around structure and having each class meticulously planned so that they could find a balance between their sport's demands and their academic commitments.
This deviation in regimen gave the academic support staff the unenviable task of assisting student-athletes through the semester from a remote location. According to the executive director of academic services, Heather Ryan, the first course of action was for student-athletes to establish the proper areas within their own homes that could be dedicated to their classwork and would offer little distractions.
"From the beginning, our two main points of emphasis were communication and routine," Ryan said. "We were trying to talk to them about finding a space at home that was a workspace and not them doing some work in their bed, some work in the living room and some work on their couch — just trying to talk to them about having a space that was workspace. We emphasized trying to keep routine, getting up in the morning, getting dressed and trying to keep that mindset of going to class."
Ryan felt that increased communication between student-athletes and academic advisors was paramount for multiple reasons during the initial two-week stretch, with one being that registration for fall classes began April 1. Although she believed that maintaining contact helped the students develop a more efficient routine, she noted that the consensus opinion was not favorable toward the situation.
"I think overwhelmingly, (student-athletes) would say it's harder," Ryan said. "They don't like it. I think in the beginning, it was something nice and shiny and they were ready to get going and so they were very enthusiastic. Then, you quickly realize that the internet can be spotty and sometimes you go in (to a Zoom session) and get kicked out and go back in. There's some of that frustration. It's easy for me to say 'Set up your own workspace,' but it's hard for you to do that when you have two siblings home and they're running around in the background. I think there was a lot that's hard for them."
One such student-athlete who saw a course undergo drastic changes is women's basketball player Jayda Adams. The junior psychology major found a theater class while exploring electives during her freshman year, and was enrolled in an Introduction to Improvisation course this spring. Prior to students being asked to remain off campus, Adams would describe the class as interactive and intimate, as the scenes each student acted out were built on the trust they shared with their counterparts. One assignment she recalls is having to solve a problem without arguing, and coming away from it appreciating how creatively challenging it could be to improvise on the spot.
After the course transitioned to video sessions, Adams admits that the reciprocal and free-wheeling nature that it promoted was no longer available, which sometimes produced an awkward result.
"I'd definitely say it's a little bit hard to record myself, because in improv class you don't really have a script and you don't really have very many rules," Adams said. "It's just kind of like 'This is what we're doing,' and you have to make up things as you go. For our standup, it's more like a script. So, you're having to memorize everything that you've kind of put together and also making sure that you're looking at the camera because the camera is the audience. You're trying to make sure that you're not looking awkward on video because people are watching you, but at the same time, nobody is watching you. So, that's kind of been a little bit of a struggle."
Adams added that "nothing beats being in front of people and I think that's the whole point of theater, is just being yourself and being open." She viewed the improv class partly as a release, or a nice change of pace after spending her previous hour fixed on her laptop while in statistics. This was a break in the day where she could enjoy the company of her classmates, rather than remain silent in a lecture hall. But after returning to her hometown of Irvine, Calif., she was spending that class period in front of a camera instead of enjoying the authentic fellowship she appreciated on campus.
While Adams adjusted to the lack of interaction, men's golfer Harrison Taee maintained that working from home actually fit into his personality. Back in the United Kingdom where he's from, Taee had to wrap up a computer science course that primarily focuses on iOS development. Although one of his projects — developing an iPhone app — involved writing code that only a group could manage, he feels that communicating remotely provided only minor obstacles.
"It does (have challenges), but as computer scientists, naturally we're introverted and we kind of work by ourselves anyway," Taee said. "It worked out fine in the group. The group was great. It was a tiny bit more challenging, but Zoom did the job."
With his group, Taee created a location-based social media app that sends alerts to your phone when one of your contacts is in the same place. "You create an event and see who's at the event," he said. "For example, if I'm in Perkins (Library), I get notified if one of my friends walks into Perkins."
Executing such an idea while communicating across different countries may appear daunting, particularly when the project began in a classroom environment. But according to Taee, the adjustments made by the class professor provided ample resources to complete the assignment.
"I think he did a great job because he made it a little bit more lenient on us," Taee said. "He actually donated a lot of class time to working with the T.A. (teacher's assistant), asking any questions if we're stuck. He facilitated that very well. I was happy with the process."
Despite their class schedules remaining intact, both Taee and Adams acknowledged a difficulty in finding motivation each day — especially a senior like Taee, who could see the proverbial end of the college tunnel while studying at home.
"It's been somewhat hard to motivate because if you've got a lot of time on your hands, it's kind of hard to just bite the bullet and do it," Taee noted. "Also, because I'm coming to the end of my education career, I kind of want to get on to the next stage now, so there's a slight lack of motivation there. At the same time, you've just got to sit down and do it. I've been doing that for 15 years in my education career, just grunting it out — I'm used to it now."
Yet even while navigating the challenges of online education, Ryan and Taee both noticed certain silver linings. Taee used the extra stretches of free time in his schedule to work out and play soccer with his neighborhood friends, adding that it presented a much needed balance after sitting in a chair during all of his daily class sessions.
Ryan believes the unprecedented nature of the situation offered an element of humanization that yields both relief and comfort for the students. "It's been different for them, but I think long-term it will be helpful to see that their professors or even our staff is human," she said. "We're in the same boat, not knowing and having some of the same difficulties. Seeing professors who have their dog barking in the background, or they have a child on their lap while they're teaching kind of puts a more human side to this for them. I think that's been good to see."
No one at Duke, whether a long-tenured professor or academic advisor, could provide definitive answers to the current world landscape. But through all of the uncertainty, in the emptiness of campus, the canceled games and the transition to a foreign way of learning, there are reminders of what Duke represents. From Irvine to the UK, students like Adams and Taee provide evidence that no matter what transpires, those who experience life at Duke will continue to grow.
Source: https://goduke.com/news/2020/5/16/athletics-duke-student-athletes-adjust-to-online-learning.aspx
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