In this episode of Michigan Minds, Ben van der Pluijm, Bruce R. Clark Collegiate professor of geology and professor of the environment, discusses how he plans to develop a dynamic and engaging learning environment for his students during the public health-informed semester this fall, which will feature a hybrid approach to education.
He shares how he interacted with students in his course over the summer and learned from them how they experience the courses through online platforms like Zoom.
“I think all of us agree that the wellbeing of the students, but also the faculty and staff and graduate student instructors, is a priority,” he says. “I’m excited that we are going to work towards offering the best possible educational experience for these students, but excitement also with trepidation in that I don’t know exactly how they will experience it.”
He adds that students have to accept that this isn’t the process they expected, but he hopes students will help faculty understand how the courses are working for them, and where changes might be necessary.
“This is not that straightforward, for a lot of people to change, but it’s really what works and what can be easily adjusted in the learning environments for the students,” he says.
He also explains how lab courses will be partial hands-on experiences with smaller groups of students and safety measures in place, and how the graduate students teaching the labs are committed to creating engaging experiences.
Learn more about developing engaging experiences for students in this episode of Michigan Minds.
