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Carol Ewing Garber likes to use a problem-based case-study model in her teaching. Consider this semester鈥檚 course, 鈥淎dvanced Exercise Prescription.鈥� Each week, Garber 鈥� Professor of Movement Sciences 鈥� asks her students to consider a fictitious patient who would like to begin an exercise regimen but has various health constraints. The students get information on why the person wants to exercise and what his or her health issues are, along with information about those conditions. Then they decide: Is it safe for this person to exercise? Should any precautions be taken? What symptoms should be watched for? What are the risks and benefits of exercise?  And then they make an exercise prescription.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no single right answer to these cases,鈥� Garber says. 鈥淭he students need to do the readings, look for additional information, post responses to the questions, and interact with each other about what they鈥檝e posted.鈥�

It鈥檚 a great format for the current crisis, especially since many of Garber鈥檚 students have returned home to other time zones. But Garber has actually been teaching the course 鈥� and several others 鈥� online or in mixed format for several years now.

鈥淚 find that group work goes especially well when I teach asynchronously,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he students work together in pods privately, instead of in a crowded room where each pod is overhearing all the others. This format also allows each student鈥檚 voice to be heard and is often more comfortable for shy students. It鈥檚 really enhanced the ideas they come up with.鈥�

Distance, it seems, can also make for greater engagement. That鈥檚 true visually in classes where she teaches about research, Garber says. 鈥淪ome people like it better on screen. It鈥檚 like the opera 鈥� you can hear better, and you get an unobstructed view, with the camera zeroing right in on the performers.鈥�

But intellectual objectivity may be even more important.

鈥淲e always study ethical issues in my seminar,鈥� Garber says. 鈥淕roups get assigned hypothetical cases such as in which a person might be old or obese, or conversely, young or fit. They have to respond to questions about how they鈥檇 interact with that person in a research or clinical setting, not realizing that the pictures they鈥檙e seeing may be different than those the other groups see. We also do exercises around gender biases and around gender roles. Recently, we asked about different tasks or work people might do 鈥� is that associated with a man or a woman? We do this because we do very applied human research. So, it鈥檚 helpful to see that, oh, I might have this bias, which can actually impact my data and how I treat my research participants.鈥�

The lesson of COVID is how not to lose that personal connection. Send out notes, messages, emails, texts, and short personal videos. The big takeaway is that we don鈥檛 have to think in terms of online versus offline. We can merge the best of both.

鈥� Carol Ewing Garber

Garber says she鈥檚 mindful of the need to maintain a personal link to students.

鈥淭he lesson of COVID is how not to lose that personal connection,鈥� she says. 鈥淪end out notes, messages, emails, texts, and short personal videos. Make sure students know they can reach out to you with emails or video clips, or live. It may take a little more time out of your schedule, because even when we鈥檙e physically at 911爆料网, office hours often don鈥檛 work. What鈥檚 convenient for the professor may not work for the students. So virtual office hours are great, if you can be flexible.鈥�

鈥淭he big takeaway is that we don鈥檛 have to think in terms of online versus offline,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e can merge the best of both.鈥�