0.5 Adaptations related to the coronavirus measures

The corona crisis is challenging all of us to rethink how we teach and learn. But aside from the challenges, it also offers opportunities. In adapting this course, we kept two goals in mind: increasing the alignment between the way of teaching and the learning goals, and ensuring high-quality interaction among students and between the students and teachers while still using online communication. Based on these goals, we made the following changes:

1. During the course, you will be working in learning teams to promote interaction among students and peer support
2. The two in-person exams (4 hours each) are replaced with take-home assignments: Two group assignments, and one individual assignment.

0.5.1 Why not in-person meetings?

When the courses were scheduled, it was not yet clear what direction the university wanted to take. Every teacher could make a choice: Online-only, or hybrid education. At that time, I chose the online format, because:

1. Last year, the online version of this course was very successful
2. This elective course attracts diverse students with complex schedules; many expressed a preference for the flexibility of an online course
3. Due to the 75 student maximum on lecture halls, it is very difficult to schedule courses. Doing this course in person would mean that we have meetings on varying days at different times. That would likely create scheduling conflicts for many of you.

0.5.2 Why learning in groups?

Contact with fellow students is a key aspect of the university experience. During this time of social distancing, it is important to find new ways to stay in touch with fellow students. There are also aspects of learning in groups that can really improve your knowledge, like peer feedback. The groups are made randomly when the course starts, but you can switch with a consenting member of another group in the first week.

0.5.3 Why use take home assignments for assessment?

Assignments are a suitable form of assessment for a skills-based course like TCSM. It also takes a lot of the pressure off because you can work at your own pace. This course used to have two 4-hour exams; not exactly corona-proof. Using take-home assignments entrusts you with the responsibility to make this assignment in good faith, without instrumental assistance or plagiarism, so I kindly ask you to make good on this trust, and hand in original work to show what you’ve learned.