Dear colleagues,

All of our classes are now underway, and I want to thank all faculty and staff for their hard work and dedication to deliver the best educational experiences possible. This update includes a recap of our most recent Learn from Anywhere (LfA) Teaching Series meeting on September 10, an update on student preferences and the student study application, more on contact tracing, follow-up on some logistical issues that have been raised, and links to key resources.

Before delving into these updates, I would like to share our latest enrollment numbers. Please note that these numbers are subject to change as students have time to settle their accounts, to apply for leaves, and so on. As of today, we are delighted to welcome 371 new MPH students, another 43 in dual degree programs, 8 in the fully online Executive MPH, 19 in the Master of Science in Applied Biostatistics, 17 in the new Master of Science in Population Health Research, 12 in the Master of Science in Biostatistics (our joint program with the Graduate School), and 38 new doctoral students (14 in Biostatistics, 4 in Environmental Health, 5 in Epidemiology, 8 in Health Services Research, and 7 DrPH). To all of our new students – welcome!

LfA Teaching Series Meeting on September 10

Our last meeting included sharing of ideas and practices that are working well, as well as requests for changes to improve engagement. Specifically, faculty requested that cameras be moved to face the instructor directly, rather than capturing the front of the room and the instructor from the side. We are working with Ed Media now to see how tripods and cameras might be moved so the remote students can more clearly see the instructor’s face. The new configuration would then require the instructor to be at the podium so as not to go out of the camera shot. We can discuss these trade-offs together at our next meeting.

We have also requested the following and are awaiting responses from Ed Media as to what might be possible:  microphones for the back of larger auditoria to promote more engagement among students in class and those joining remotely, modifications of traffic flow protocols to allow students to leave from the back of a room to use the restroom or to take a break during class, and scheduling of Ed Media staff to set up for classes. We will share responses as soon as we have them.

A larger issue that we discussed at length, was how best to engage the in-class and remote students in discussions. This requires some additional steps to minimize feedback/echo in the classrooms. Specifically, the students in class need to log into Zoom, and when they speak, the classroom mic (e.g., the jabra speaker or the classroom built in audio) needs to be muted. The mic must then be unmuted when the students joining remotely speak to ensure that they can be heard clearly in the classroom. We discussed that this might be a role that a TA or moderator could play while the instructor manages the discussion by calling on students.

We are now working with the Student Senate and Education Committee to deploy a survey to students to gather data on what is and is not working well, and to seek suggestions to improve their learning  experiences. The survey will also ask what learning modalities students have been choosing and why. We will summarize and share the data as soon as they are available.

Student Preferences

Students continue to indicate their preferences to attend classes in person or remotely on a course-by-course basis using the Student Cohort app for periods of two weeks at a time. Faculty can check their students’ preferences here. Faculty have indicated that some students seem to be changing their status without updating the app – we are sending reminders to students to update the app so that faculty can plan accordingly.

Over the past week, approximately 40% of students who responded preferred to attend classes in person. On a course-by-course basis, the percentages of students preferring to attend in person ranged from 0% to 81% with higher percentages in the MPH core courses or more technical courses with hands-on components (e.g., GIS, SAS). Slightly lower percentages of students preferred to attend courses in person in the evenings or when the instructor was teaching remotely due to a workplace accommodation. Preferences may change over time, and we will continue to monitor and share data as we have it.

Student Study App

Some students who prefer to attend classes in person are unable to do so due to physical distancing requirements. In order to provide alternative spaces to join classes remotely or to study, we launched a Study Space app this week, which allows students to reserve rooms in Talbot. The web-based app is accessible here.  Available rooms in Talbot are also marked with QR codes that students can scan to take them directly to the app to make a room reservation.

Contact Tracing Protocols

Yesterday, BU Today published a piece detailing the contact tracing protocols that are being implemented. The full story is available here and includes a Q&A section with answers to questions that are being raised about specific processes and protocols, as well as links to flow charts detailing contact tracing protocols if faculty, staff, or students test positive.

Logistical Issues

Zoom recordings. Provost Morrison sent a note to the community on September 10, reminding all faculty to record class sessions as a beneficial resource for students and not to delete any Zoom recordings. The latter is because BU, like many other universities, is facing several class action lawsuits for tuition refunds as a result of shifting to remote learning in Spring 2020, and these recordings may be potentially relevant in the lawsuits.

Eating and drinking in the classrooms. From Judy Platt, Chair of BU’s Medical Advisory Group: “Faculty can step out of the room to a designated eating/drinking location for a drink break and encourage students to do the same, or use a straw to insert under their mask if needed.”

Classroom hours. BUMC classrooms are available for scheduled classes or student study daily from 7 AM to 10 PM and are closed from 10 PM to 7 AM for cleaning.

Moderators. If faculty have any questions or concerns about course moderators, they can call the IS&T LfA hotline at 617-353-3227.

Zoom. All instructors and TAs must sign into their BU Zoom Pro account BEFORE clicking any links for their meeting, or they will be entered as a guest. Faculty, staff, and students should always sign into Zoom with BU credentials to make use of full functionality and features. Zoom-related training and documentation are available on the Zoom page on the EdMedia website.

Link to Resources

We will continue to meet to share experiences and to discuss best practices with the LfA approach at SPH. Our next LfA Teaching Series session is Thursday, September 17 at 1 PM. Please join us if you are able and register here. We will record the session and post it on the LfA page for anyone unable to attend.

Please also download a copy of the LfA at SPH Guide, a dynamic document with details on how we will implement the LfA approach at SPH this fall. It contains links to resources on educational technology, pedagogical approaches, testing and tracing, and so on. This document will continue to be updated and includes, for example, our newly approved LfA at SPH classroom expectations that faculty can include in syllabi or post on Blackboard sites. It also includes the most recent guidelines on classroom recordings.

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) also continues to update their pedagogical resources, training resources, and experiences from the classroom, which are accessible here.

The BUMC Ed Media Information Technology group remains ever ready to support us. Please see their archive of training videos, including basic and advanced Zoom features. Links to their training schedule and the form to request a training appointment, available here.

We also continue to update our SPH Remote Teaching Resources on the Teaching and Advising site. Our site has resources on educational technologies, supporting students, inclusive teaching, and much more.

Please do not hesitate if you have any questions or concerns, or would like any specific training or topics discussed at an upcoming LfA Teaching Series session.

Sincerely,

Lisa

Lisa Sullivan
Associate Dean for Education
lsull@bu.edu

View all announcements