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Interview
Going beyond events: Symposium in the classroom
An interview with Anne Pate of Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Anne Pate is an Associate Professor in the Allied Health Science department and Director of the undergraduate Public Health Program at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. She is a passionate educator who uses project-based learning to help her students transform classroom concepts into tools that they can readily apply to address real-world questions. Having the presentations available asynchronously via Symposium has provided me with more flexibility in my schedule to allow for a more structured learning process while developing the presentations and applying the knowledge to real-world datasets.
In the following interview, Anne Pate shares her experience navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and transforming challenges into opportunities, creating long-term value for her class, program, and institution.
How did you adapt your Health Statistics course to virtual as a result of COVID-19?
The Spring 2020 semester is when the impacts of COVID-19 were initially reflected in my classes. At the start of the semester, Health Statistics was a fully in-person traditional class which met twice a week for a 50-minute lecture and two sections of a 2-hour computer lab. During the first 9 weeks of the semester, the class met in this format. After spring break (March 16-22, 2020) we reverted to an online synchronous lecture format meeting via Zoom.
For the lab component of the class, students are assigned to groups to work collaboratively, applying their statistical analysis knowledge to publicly available datasets covering a variety of different diseases. In past semesters each group would spend weeks 5-13 of the semester developing both a poster and a presentation. The posters would be printed and hung in the hallway for a couple of weeks at the end of the semester to be evaluated by classmates and other department faculty. The groups would also spend the last couple of weeks of lecture presenting their findings to their classmates in 10-15 minute presentations. At the point in the Spring 2020 semester when the lecture switched to a virtual format, the lab groups were well into their group project so I made myself available via Zoom during the scheduled lab times but the groups primarily worked independently for the 3 weeks after spring break finalizing their deliverables.
The Fall 2020 semester followed a similar schedule, we had no fall break and went fully virtual after Thanksgiving. I chose to offer my class in a fully virtual synchronous format the entirety of the Spring 2021 semester. I used Symposium all three semesters for the group projects. In the current semester (Fall 2021), we are following the original schedule (pre-COVID). The differences are that I offer Zoom as an option to attend for those who are unable to come to campus. We will also be using Symposium for the presentations.
For the lab component of the class, students are assigned to groups to work collaboratively, applying their statistical analysis knowledge to publicly available datasets covering a variety of different diseases. In past semesters each group would spend weeks 5-13 of the semester developing both a poster and a presentation. The posters would be printed and hung in the hallway for a couple of weeks at the end of the semester to be evaluated by classmates and other department faculty. The groups would also spend the last couple of weeks of lecture presenting their findings to their classmates in 10-15 minute presentations. At the point in the Spring 2020 semester when the lecture switched to a virtual format, the lab groups were well into their group project so I made myself available via Zoom during the scheduled lab times but the groups primarily worked independently for the 3 weeks after spring break finalizing their deliverables.
The Fall 2020 semester followed a similar schedule, we had no fall break and went fully virtual after Thanksgiving. I chose to offer my class in a fully virtual synchronous format the entirety of the Spring 2021 semester. I used Symposium all three semesters for the group projects. In the current semester (Fall 2021), we are following the original schedule (pre-COVID). The differences are that I offer Zoom as an option to attend for those who are unable to come to campus. We will also be using Symposium for the presentations.
How did you use Symposium to facilitate your end of semester group project presentations and how did learning outcomes change?
The details of the culminating project have evolved over the years. Prior to COVID, each of the student groups would develop a 40” x 32” poster which I printed using university grant funding. In addition, each group would develop and present a more detailed overview of their project as a verbal presentation to the entire class during the lecture period. Both the poster and presentation evaluations by their classmates were used to assign grades for these products.
When the COVID restrictions forced us to a strictly online forum, I had to pivot and identify a way for both the presentation and poster to be displayed and evaluated virtually. Symposium provided an excellent platform for the students to present both their posters and their recorded presentations, while simultaneously allowed for their classmates to view, watch, and evaluate these items asynchronously.
I have evolved the actual products over the semesters. In spring 2020, the student groups created both poster and a presentation. In Fall 2020, they only created a presentation as the posters are more challenging to view effectively in a virtual environment. The Spring 2021 semester, the student groups developed a presentation and also wrote a detailed report. In the current semester (Fall 2021) I have gone back to just a presentation, but with significantly more feedback and submissions at each stage in the development, in the hopes that the presentations will be more refined and professional than in previous semesters.
Having the presentations available asynchronously via Symposium has provided me with more flexibility in my schedule to allow for a more structured learning process while developing the presentations and applying the knowledge to real-world datasets.
When the COVID restrictions forced us to a strictly online forum, I had to pivot and identify a way for both the presentation and poster to be displayed and evaluated virtually. Symposium provided an excellent platform for the students to present both their posters and their recorded presentations, while simultaneously allowed for their classmates to view, watch, and evaluate these items asynchronously.
I have evolved the actual products over the semesters. In spring 2020, the student groups created both poster and a presentation. In Fall 2020, they only created a presentation as the posters are more challenging to view effectively in a virtual environment. The Spring 2021 semester, the student groups developed a presentation and also wrote a detailed report. In the current semester (Fall 2021) I have gone back to just a presentation, but with significantly more feedback and submissions at each stage in the development, in the hopes that the presentations will be more refined and professional than in previous semesters.
Having the presentations available asynchronously via Symposium has provided me with more flexibility in my schedule to allow for a more structured learning process while developing the presentations and applying the knowledge to real-world datasets.
As an educator, what’s your perspective on hybrid learning?
There are clearly benefits and drawbacks to any particular format of learning. My personal preference is in-person classes, however with the forced conversion to online learning I have gained an appreciation for the benefits of online resources. Many students, both in a traditional setting and an asynchronous online setting appreciate having recorded lectures and tutorials that they can watch on demand. As a result, this summer I created a private YouTube channel with playlists for each course I teach. I am constantly adding new recordings to it and have received very positive feedback from students on the availability of these resources. I also offer the option to attend classes via Zoom if they need to.
In what ways do you see virtual platforms like Symposium continuing to play an important role in the classroom?
Virtual platforms are a valuable tool even in a traditional classroom setting. They provide another option for students to participate in classroom and group activities especially during times where they are dealing with challenges in their personal life.
The newer feature in Symposium that would allow students to gather virtually into Tables I am considering using to allow students to work together on homework problems or to provide my TAs with flexibility for tutoring options. At our university most of the students work and often commute, and providing an online forum for these support services that does not require them to be physically present on campus may be an excellent resource.
Another benefit of using a virtual platform like Symposium is that provides access to all presentations simultaneously and therefore I do not have to dedicate so much of the lecture time to presentations in class. I had previously dedicated at least 2 solid weeks of lecture (10-15 min presentations per group), which I can now use to spend more time on subjects that the students are struggling with. The use of Symposium has added a flexibility to my schedule that I think will greatly benefit the students.
Interestingly, the students did not demonstrate nearly the level of anxiety in producing a recorded video as opposed to presenting in person in class. Perhaps the use of social media and all of the recorded videos makes this medium not as intimidating for this generation.
The newer feature in Symposium that would allow students to gather virtually into Tables I am considering using to allow students to work together on homework problems or to provide my TAs with flexibility for tutoring options. At our university most of the students work and often commute, and providing an online forum for these support services that does not require them to be physically present on campus may be an excellent resource.
Another benefit of using a virtual platform like Symposium is that provides access to all presentations simultaneously and therefore I do not have to dedicate so much of the lecture time to presentations in class. I had previously dedicated at least 2 solid weeks of lecture (10-15 min presentations per group), which I can now use to spend more time on subjects that the students are struggling with. The use of Symposium has added a flexibility to my schedule that I think will greatly benefit the students.
Interestingly, the students did not demonstrate nearly the level of anxiety in producing a recorded video as opposed to presenting in person in class. Perhaps the use of social media and all of the recorded videos makes this medium not as intimidating for this generation.
Given your experience using Symposium over the last year and a half now, what best practices have you found?
It is imperative that there are very clear step-by-step instructions. While this is important in a traditional in-person setting it is even more critical in a virtual environment. To be clear, this does not mean extensive paragraphs, but rather bulleted or numbered task lists. When you provide the necessary support there is no greater satisfaction as an educator than seeing your students succeed and be confident in their project outcomes. I have had the students very successfully develop YouTube videos as well as evaluate and participate in virtual events with this platform both in my class as well as at the university level for several semesters.