Dean Michael Trick says collaboration, community is making remote learning a success
In Lusail News, March 29, 2020
Qatar Foundation and partner universities come together to continue student learning
When the Qatar government suspended in-person university classes to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) set in motion a plan to move to remote teaching. Over two days, about 60 faculty members were trained on the tools to adapt their courses to the new distance format and CMU-Q’s 400 students were attending virtual classes and learning a new way to learn.
What steps has CMU-Q taken to promote distance learning?
We’ve gone completely to a distance education model for our courses this semester. As news of the COVID-19 outbreak spread in late February and early March, we did have some warning that we might have to move online. Our faculty members had already started getting organized, and once the word came that we could not hold classes in person, we took a couple of days so the faculty could prepare. We gave them specialized training and our academic resources team and information technology department supported them in the transition. Within two days, all of our courses were converted to online versions.
How many courses did that involve?
About 125.
What kind of training did you offer the faculty members?
Our staff members in information technology and academic support created a mini-course in remote teaching. They created instructional videos and learning modules so faculty members could deliver virtual lectures, hold office hours, record their lectures and other tasks to help with their teaching. This mini-course is open—anyone can go and learn about these teaching tools.
How do you assess the response of the students?
There are two ways we can assess the students’ response. The first is, are they enjoying it? Are they eager? We talk to the students and we have frequent virtual group meetings with them. We see them embracing the change. Some of them prefer this way of learning. There is a big benefit to having recorded material that they can rewind and listen to again. And we are making sure that there are plenty of opportunities for them to interact online with faculty members and academic support staff.
The second important aspect is whether the students are learning using this format. Fortunately, the faculty has been teaching these courses for quite a long time. They know alternative ways to assess learning, and we’re watching carefully to make certain the students are truly achieving the learning objectives of eachcourse.
Does this learning environment keep up with learning objectives?
Keeping up with the learning objectives is critical: if you can’t meet learning objectives, then you’re not teaching the course. So when we planned for the move online, everything had to meet the learning objectives. There was one lab course that we decided not to move online because it would not be possible to meet learning objectives if the students were not in a physical laboratory. We are convinced that all of the other courses will meet, and possibly exceed, the learning objectives.
How will you exceed the learning objectives?
I must say that the challenge to move online has really motivated our faculty members. They have a new enthusiasm for teaching. They have worked very hard to create really engaging material for both synchronous and asynchronous classes.
What role has Qatar Foundation played?
Qatar Foundation has been extraordinarily supportive through of all of this. They gave us ample warning so we could prepare to move online, and they provided suggestions of how to make the transition. They provide the infrastructure for all of the Education City deans to interact. Qatar Foundation really has provided the scaffolding to make this all work.
Have you been working with the other Qatar Foundation partner universities?
I think we’re closer now because we are facing this really challenging environment together.
We realized pretty quickly that we couldn’t do this on our own. There’s been a lot of communication at the dean level, and also between associate deans and individual faculty and staff members. People are exchanging ideas, thoughts, resources. This has brought us together in a very profound way.
The students in the Qatar Foundation dorms have unique requirements. What has been the QF response to them?
They’ve done a really amazing job. You have to recognize that the majority of the students living in dorms are not from Qatar: most are international. For many, they would find it very difficult to continue their studies if they had to go back home. Many of them have come from places that do not have the infrastructure necessary to support online education.
Qatar Foundation has been fantastic. They doubled the bandwidth in the dorms so internet access is robust enough to support online education. QF has been extraordinarily careful about making certain everybody has enough food, and is able to keep social distance within a relatively high-density living space. And most importantly, they are providing health services on a 24-hour basis.
What do you think the added value of distance learning will be for the path of education and Qatar?
I really think that our programs are going to be stronger. Our faculty members have had to think more carefully about what goes into their courses and how it all fits together. They’ve worked very hard to create material—videos, web resource pages, and so on—and all of that will be useful in years forward.
They’ve also thought very carefully about assessment, and really concentrated on learning objectives. This situation has made everybody a better teacher. And so when the students are back in the classrooms, we will have all of these resources that will work as supplementary material. It can even allow faculty to ‘flip the classroom,’ which means the students would watch the lecture before class, and then have more in-depth, more interesting, and more insightful discussions in class. I think it will be even better than before.
Michael Trick in his home office