4 minute read
Overseas education
Overseas education Professors reflect on time zone differences between teachers and students
BY MCKENZIE CONNELL
Math and biology professors looked back on past remote semesters and shared their hope they are learning enough to assist their students with any struggles they might encounter.
Joyce Smart of the Faculty of Math & Computing was called as a teaching missionary in 2018 for the BYU–Hawaii math program with her husband, Larry Smart. July 2020 was the end of their two-year mission, but both have continued teaching into the Fall 2020 Semester.
“The math department can’t get missionaries to be able to come ... so we emailed the math department chair, Scott Hyde, and said we would be happy to continue teaching remotely from our home in Utah,” Joyce Smart said.
Currently, the time difference is three hours between Hawaii Standard Time and Mountain Standard Time, she added. 46 KE ALAKA’I
The math program offers online tools such as the Math Learning Center, which can offer an immediate response to students in need of tutoring, Joyce Smart said, but the extent of resources is nothing compared to what is usually available on campus.
“The Testing Center is just a fabulous resource for instructors. It’s wonderful, and they do such a great job there.” Smart said they often use the library and added the library will check out TI-84 calculators, which can make a great difference to students. She said the school is advising all professors to have compassion and over-communicate with their students.
Teacher-student interaction
Having students sitting in a classroom physically is a completely different experience than communicating through email and video calls, said Joyce Smart.
“If you had somebody you could ask immediately, you could just get past [those roadblocks], and you’re good. But without that resource of immediate response, that’s hard for students, and they have enough stress already,” she said.
Colby Weeks, a professor in the Faculty of Sciences who has been teaching for 10 years at the university, said he agreed.
He recently attended a workshop at the Center for Learning and Teaching, which helped educate professors on the different things needed in a course. Upon reflection, he said he realized there was still something missing in his classes.
“They talked about student-teacher interaction and also student-student interaction, and while I’ve advised students to participate in study groups, I don’t know how much that is happening,” he said.
Interaction between teachers and students is important and assists in his teaching, he added. “When they’re sitting there in front of you, you can see when they’re bored, distracted. [Asynchronous learning] makes it quite a challenge to get a feel for all the students.
“If they don’t say anything, I just assume everyone is doing okay,” he said. He added he does not do any Zoom meetings but utilizes asynchronous resources such as Pearson, an online learning platform, to educate his students. “I don’t feel like anything’s been easy lately,” he said, but for students with busy schedules and faster learning paces, remote learning could be a great opportunity for them.”
Jade Jenkins, a freshman from Kentucky majoring in marketing, said she feels this semester requires more self-motivation and self-discipline. “It’s really hard for a lot of people. … It’s hard for me, and I’ve always excelled in my grades, so I can’t imagine [what it is like] for somebody who already struggled to have self-motivation,” she said.
Jenkins moved to Utah because of the time difference, she explained. In Kentucky, she was dealing with a five-hour difference. The consistency of midnight due dates added some comfort for her, she said.
“Even if they use a third-party system like Pearson, it’s due at the same time in Hawaii Time,” she said, which makes it fairer for everyone. However, even though it is fairer, it is still hard, she said.
This difficulty is one professors do their best to remedy, Joyce Smart said, adding she will pull late nights communicating with students all over the globe helping them meet deadlines.
During Spring Semester, Joyce Smart said she had a student in the Philippines who couldn’t take the exam because of a recent hurricane. She said she and the student were able to resolve the issue, and the student was eventually able to take the test.
Jenkins said she has also heard stories of difficulties from overseas students in many of her classes. “I’ve talked to people in [my class], and they’re living in Asia right now, so they’re hopping [onto the Zoom] at 2 a.m.,” she said.
While Zoom is not required for all her classes, she added Zoom meetings include a lot of crucial information.
Weeks shared advice for students who are experiencing difficulties with remote learning. “I would just say to the students, hang in there. If you feel like you’re lost or struggling, a lot of us professors are too,” he said.
