Open AccessFostering Student-Student Interactions in a First-Year Experience Course Taught Online during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Author(s) -
Ania A. Majewska,
Ethell Vereen
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of microbiology and biology education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.301
H-Index - 7
eISSN - 1935-7885
pISSN - 1935-7877
DOI - 10.1128/jmbe.v22i1.2417
Subject(s) - attendance , jigsaw , covid-19 , conversation , student engagement , pandemic , medical education , socialization , online course , class (philosophy) , mathematics education , computer science , tutor , psychology , medicine , infectious disease (medical specialty) , social psychology , disease , communication , pathology , artificial intelligence , economics , economic growth
Online college courses can lack much-needed student interactions without live synchronous sessions. The need for socialization is particularly important for first-year students and has been of particular concern during the COVID-19 pandemic, when isolation is the new norm outside the classroom. Here we provide a perspective on the use of online synchronous sessions in a first-year biology course that encouraged student-student interactions and employed the culturally responsive teaching approach.