If there's any silver lining in the forced switch to alternative learning methods for instructors and students at UNBC as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's the fact that they've been through it before.
On Dec. 2, when students returned to class after a three-week faculty strike ended, university professors were forced to utilize online teaching tools to make up for lost time and find different ways to assess students for their final grades. Classes in the fall term were extended two weeks and final exams were canceled, with a deadline looming for students who had booked flights to return home for the Christmas break.
Desperate times called for different measures and the university made it through a difficult and stressful time. Flash-forward three months and UNBC is back into crisis mode, only this time there there's been more time to plan. Having gone through it before, UNBC is perhaps better prepared than other universities in the country for what lies ahead at the end of the semester.
"The biggest difference, and the one that to me is most crucial, is we haven't lost the time," said Dan Ryan, UNBC's vice-president academic and provost. "There's the full amount of time for students to actually access their learning... and really get to know and learn the material with the guidance of their faculty members.
"That was very different from the strike, when there was a very compressed time within which they had to do it. Here we still have the full length of the semester and we still have the full length of the exam period. The other difference is the students can still get guidance from the faculty members and during the strike they did not have that opportunity."
Face-to-face instruction at UNBC ended last Wednesday in response to a new provincial health regulation to restrict crowd sizes to try to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
Ryan said a large number of faculty members are familiar with online teaching methods and it will be left up to the instructors and department heads to decide on what teaching method best fits their needs. They will have the expertise of the on-campus Centre for Teaching and Learning Technology to guide them as they decide on how to best utilize the various teaching tools.
"The vast majority will probably choose an online approach and there's other things they could have done," said Ryan. "Each instructor is in the best position to help understand what's the best way to deliver the content for that particular course."
From now until the term ends on April 10, UNBC professors will be using the Collaborate software to link with students through internet connections. Distance delivery can provide live interactive lecture sessions to students or the lectures can be recorded for on-demand access online for the students. Some faculties won't provide lectures at all and will instead assign students more reading assignments."
The UNBC exam period from April 14-24 remains unchanged. What will change is how students will be assessed during the final testing period. In many cases, those final exams will count for less of percentage of the final course grade than they did before the COVID-19 crisis took hold.
"The exam schedule remains the same but we've canceled face-to-face (exams) for tying to ensure that we're maximizing social distancing," said Ryan. "Some faculties will consider to continue with an exam, using the same exam schedule, but move that exam online or give them a take-home exam."
In same cases, the exams will be replaced by more assignments or a term paper that encapsulates the course material. Some assessments will be based on open-book exams which will rely on technology to ensure the integrity of the test.
"The exams in that case are designed so you can't Google the answer," said Ryan. "You have to understand the material to answer that. The other one could be an online one where it is timed and you only have so many seconds or minutes to answer a question."
Ryan said it's too early to state whether UNBC will be offering a spring (May) semester or what that will look like. Students utilize the spring term as a headstart on their fall programs. While some Canadian universities have canceled the spring semester, Ryan said he needs to consult more with the departments before making an announcement.
"It's a tough situation and I've been very pleased with the way faculty and staff have stepped up, it's gone smoother than I would have expected," said Ryan.
