Abstract:

Beginning in March of 2020, teachers and students around the world worked long and hard to make the education process work for the sake of the students. Instructors and students struggled with the stresses of the worldwide pandemic, and in spite of a great number of lost lives and traumatic experiences, most teachers and students (and parents) persevered. From the lessons learned, schools moved forward becoming effective despite the chaos. Professors retooled and adapted to the emerging new normal of teaching and learning. We, the authors of this article, observed that our students were resilient and dedicated. Together we created a new space for learning. We decided to survey our students to determine if our observations were realistic, or our way to rationalize hope in trauma. The results of our 5-point Likert scale survey indicated that students had changed their views about learning. Students indicated that: 80% do not want to return to traditional face-to-face classes; 71% want to continue with synchronous online learning; 70% found that feedback from professors and their peers was more effective online; 84% want options for how they learn; 98% want some freedom to choose what they want to learn; 98% believe they should be learning in ways to meet their personal goals. We gave our students different ways to learn and many of them do not want to return to “traditional” learning. In this article we share our action research results, and we believe the ideas from our students will point us in a new and more equitable way to function with our students at the university/college.

Keywords:

Hyflex learning, student-centered learning, student options, multifaceted teaching.