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Virtual High School Physiology: Hands‐On Experiences During the CoVID Pandemic
Author(s) -
Anjur Sowmya
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2021.35.s1.00469
Subject(s) - curriculum , covid-19 , pandemic , inclusion (mineral) , psychology , mathematics education , medical education , equity (law) , pedagogy , medicine , political science , virology , disease , pathology , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law , social psychology
The CoVID pandemic has forced us to rethink our curriculum and allow for many unforeseen factors. Going virtual since March has affected teaching and learning and made it almost impossible for students to perform hands‐on learning. My school is a residential school for students in grades 10‐12 and since we cannot have students congregating on campus, and possibly spreading the virus, we went virtual. We have had to revamp our curriculum and change our teaching to engage students online. The question then becomes ‐ how do we promote equity, diversity and inclusion through online learning, knowing that many of our students are involved in working, babysitting and other such activities? We are making many changes to our teaching to accommodate the financial needs of our student families. Issues such as student depression that have been brought on by being indoors during quarantine, have to be accounted for. The number of hours on zoom and the homework assigned have to be re‐evaluated. I have managed to redesign some assignments to be hands‐on during this time such as inquiry‐based projects to collect data based evidence and modeling physiology using individual hands‐on methods. Students have been able to participate in physiology learning experiences in groups and individually. It has been enlightening to reflect on our pedagogy and create a balance between reality and education in the face of the greatest pandemic that humankind has ever known.