Collin Hudzik is a Ph.D. candidate in the Plant Biology program. For the last three Fall semesters, he has taught as a Lab TA for Bio 220. The COVID-19 pandemic presented unique challenges to his teaching experience the past Fall. In this brief interview, he discusses how the course adapted to the challenges posed by the pandemic and his own experience teaching in-person.
Did you feel anxious about teaching in-person? Were you provided with the opportunities to teach remotely?
Not really. There was a little anxiety at the beginning when I agreed to teach in person but I did feel that I could have a better connection with the students in person than I would be able to remotely. My course offered opportunities to teach in person or remotely only and I decided to teach in person. Teaching in person meant that I would essentially be doubling my in-class time where I was responsible for four sections, instead of 2. This came with the trade-off of doing a little less grading (even though it didn’t feel like it) which was picked up by the remote TAs.
How did the class change to accommodate COVID-19 safety practices?
There were a few changes to the design of Bio 220 and it was a bit complicated. The course was designed so that each section was split into A and B sections. One section would be the ‘in person’ component and the other would be an entirely remote section. For ‘in person’ sections, like the one I taught, I would have to simultaneously broadcast a zoom classroom for students who either chose to be entirely remote or were quarantining after a positive COVID test. Additionally, the in-person sections were reduced to no more than 10 students at a time to respect social distancing practices. While I was teaching the “in-person” section, the other section would be attending the remote section with a remote TA at the same time. They would switch between in-person and remotely every other week.
Could students choose to be remote or change their minds after the semester started?
Unless they were quarantining, not really. We wanted to avoid situations where students decided like they didn’t want to come for the in-person lab one week and rejoin the next week.
Were there any logistical issues with students who were required to quarantine?
For me, not really. Because I would broadcast my sections on Zoom, if a student had to quarantine, they would just join virtually. However, it was initially difficult to monitor Zoom questions while teaching in person, but with practice, it became much more manageable.
Were your students respectful of the COVID-19 safety practices?
Students in my section were extremely respectful of all COVID-19 safety practices–they were compliant with mask-wearing and social distancing guidelines. I didn’t have any issues whatsoever throughout the semester with my students.
Do you feel like you gained any new skills given the unique circumstances of the past semester?
As most of us can relate, I definitely upped my game on how to use Zoom. While I generally feel comfortable interacting with students in person, I found interacting with students only over zoom after the Thanksgiving break took a bit of getting used to.
Do you have anything else you’d like to share about this teaching experience?
In general, I don’t believe that graduate students are fairly compensated for their work—especially during the pandemic.
Interview by Isaac Dopp