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Thursday, November 11, 2021 at 09:42

Madrid university students, satisfied with the teaching adaptation in the pandemic

Madrid university students, satisfied with the teaching adaptation in the pandemic Madrid university students, satisfied with the teaching adaptation in the pandemic

The Madri+D Foundation's Report on Good Teaching Practices in the COVID-19 Period has just been published, which analyzes, in an extensive document, how the different universities in the region have adapted to remote teaching due to the pandemic .

Raul Garcia Hemonnet

Almost 90% of Madrid university students have been satisfied or very satisfied or very satisfied with the teaching adaptation carried out by the universities of the Community of Madrid, during the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 academic years. It is one of the main conclusions of the Report on Good Teaching Practices in the COVID-19 Period.

The report also highlights “the outstanding effort of the entire university community that has managed to overcome the circumstances, quickly adapting to the restrictions. It is convenient to recognize their work and their effort and remember that the maintenance of adaptations in the medium or long term will require the necessary institutional support and modifications of study plans, where appropriate”.

To prepare the report, a representative of each university has been involved, in the case of the URJC, the person in charge has been the professor of Fundamentals of Architecture and Design and Comprehensive Image Management and Academic Coordinator of the Teaching Innovation Program of the CIED (Center for Teaching Innovation and Digital Education) of the URJC, Irene Ros.

For Ros, "the coordination between all the participants has been a very satisfactory job and I have learned a lot about many things, despite being online and coming from very different fields of knowledge."

The URJC teacher also wanted to break down how the students and faculty of the Rey Juan Carlos University have coped with this exceptional situation, generated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Satisfied with the adaptation

According to Professor Ros, "the students, in general, were quite happy with the teaching work and recognized a great effort by the teaching staff to adapt to the situation." The students have valued, among other aspects, the channels of communication with their teachers, through WhatsApp groups or question and answer channels. In addition, Ros points out, what emerges from the interviews carried out is that "they have had many tutorials and, some, such as Tourism, Experimental Sciences and Engineering have been able to use simulators in their practical sessions”.

Irene Ros has also highlighted the degree of satisfaction with the institutional information provided, as well as, she adds, "with the practical evaluation and collaborative work".

As in all situations, there are always areas where things can be done better. These areas include: the availability of work spaces (online and face-to-face) and the streamlining of question and answer channels to find information quickly. Likewise, the interviewed students point out the need to improve the functionalities of the URJC APP, as well as adjust the workload, “especially in times of hybrid or 100% non-face-to-face teaching”, points out Irene Ros, who adds that the students, "showed their predilection for Project-Based Learning, teamwork and evaluation systems in accordance with these methodologies." Something that has been a constant in the responses of the student body has been the preference for 100% attendance, which, for weeks, has already been a reality at the URJC.

Teaching overexertion and improvement of the teacher-student relationship

Teachers, in general, and degree coordinators in particular, have highlighted the overexertion of the URJC faculty in having to adapt face-to-face methodologies to remote teaching in record time. Almost overnight, many URJC teachers had to include concepts such as flipped learning (which involves a lot of preparation work before class), Project-Based Learning or collaborative learning.

During these two courses conditioned by the health situation, the teachers "saw that they could collaborate with other grades and have greater teaching coordination, it was an opportunity for them to realize it," says Irene Ros, who adds that "by having more continuous contact with the student, through the different communication channels put in place”, there has been an improvement in the relationship between teachers and students.

The teachers, likewise, have highlighted the institutional support received and the quick reaction of the URJC, “the provision of resources and tools that was quite good and quick. At the time of initial confinement, adaptation was more complicated, but we got through it.” Irene Ros indicates that she also points out the enhancement, by the teaching staff, of the Teaching Support Infographics developed by the CIED, "because at a glance you followed the steps and were able to adapt to the new situation", they have also highlighted the webinars and seminars organized by the Center.

Teachers have highlighted the use of different computer tools, some already known and others more innovative such as wooclap or h5p, among others.

Regarding the margins for improvement, teachers highlight the allocation of more resources for the development of computer apps and training on their use. The uniformity of criteria in online teaching in all schools and faculties and the recognition of the time spent in the preparation and adaptation of teaching.