College Committees – Academic Computing – End of Year Report

Chair of Committee: Inkyu Kang

Committee Members: Patrick Kelly (SCI), Amos Ong (SCI), Scott McAuley (BUS), Babajide Osatuyi (BUS), Thomas Rossi (ENG), Baiou Shi (ENG), Ashley Sullivan (HSS)

Ex Officio Committee Members: Jim Serafin, Shawn Alexander, Todd Say, Pam Silver, Safinaz Elhardary (SGA Vice President)

Meeting Dates: May 5; Oct. 13, 2020; emails

  1. Charges: (Include the status/progress of each charge)

    1. Review the online learning experience from Spring 2020.
      1. Review the post-semester survey of faculty regarding their online experience this year and identify actionable items to make a more effective learning environment in the future.
      2. Review survey of students of their online experience taken by Teaching and Learning Technologies and identify actionable items.
      3. Investigate what should be included in a kit that students can purchase to help them with online access.
    2. Implement this report’s suggestions on how to bridge communication gap between available training and faculty/staff.
      1. Status/progress: The Committee conducted a wide-scale survey between May 27 and June 12, 2020, across all schools and departments to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on the teaching and communication of the faculty. A total number of 111 responded, and the survey results were analyzed to figure out ways to better support the faculty. The faculty expressed concerns about the quality of teaching and learning, and academic integrity, as well as the communication with the administration, reliable internet service and devices, and difficulty using video conferencing software.
      2. The Committee also worked with the Center for Teaching and eLearning Initiative to review the survey results of Penn State students’ experiences during the shift to remote teaching. The data included responses from 3,787 students representing 23 campuses and 16 academic categories. According to the results, a whopping 37% of students struggled to access required course content, and 31% of students had difficulty accessing the internet. We also acquired the data of the Behrend students and analyzed it.
      3. The digital divide issue is supported by our faculty survey. When asked about a major challenge for their students since the transition to remote teaching, the largest number of respondents chose access to the internet (73%), followed by access to digital devices (48.6%) and difficulty using video conferencing software (40.5%).
      4. The data show that students need access not only to educational hardware and software but also to proper guidance and training. Regarding the communication issue, many committee members agreed that the problem had been improved thanks to the increased training opportunities, and trial and error.

  2. Suggested Charge(s) For Next Year:

    1. Analyze and evaluate the online learning experience from Spring 2021.
      1. Review the survey of students of their online experience taken by TLT and identify actionable items.
      2. Discuss ways to enhance the quality of remote learning and academic integrity.
    2. If needed, consider conducting a new faculty survey to see if the old issues pointed out by the report have been resolved or improved, or if any new problems have emerged.
    3. Evaluate and make suggestions for exam proctoring, including its accuracy and privacy concerns.