I’ve stopped taking lecture halls for granted
By MOLLY THOMPSON – mmtthompson@ucdavis.edu
It’s safe to say that we all pay a lot of money to be here. Granted, that funding comes from a myriad of different sources (government loans, savings accounts, sponsored scholarships, etc.). But everyone agrees that higher education, especially at a large and well-renowned institution like UC Davis, is abhorrently expensive.
But hey, we’re paying for fascinating, high-level classes taught by prestigious, noteworthy scholars. We’re paying for access to state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, an enviable library of resources and an overall engaging education that prepares us for the professional world. So it’s at least justifiable to a certain extent, right?
I truly believe that a high-quality education is invaluable. I’m not trying to justify the actual net cost, but I do think it’s worth a lot. What’s more difficult for me to justify is the education I receive from asynchronous classes.
Most of our classes here at UC Davis take place in classrooms and lecture halls, with professors teaching in person, interacting with students and passionately lecturing to the individuals sitting in front of them. While large lectures can sometimes feel like a one-way street with few elements of conversation, conventional classes actually retain a lot of beneficial elements. This includes the opportunity for students to ask questions, the sense of accountability that accompanies an academic environment, nonverbal feedback between the lecturer and the audience and more. All of this makes traditional collegiate classes effective and worthwhile. It’s hard to preserve the value of lectures through a different format.
This is not for a lack of trying, though. The virtual, asynchronous class format that was born of the COVID-19 pandemic is an attempt to make higher education more accessible and less expensive in a variety of situations. It made sense given the severe constraints of the pandemic, but it doesn’t make sense anymore.
Asynchronous classes inherently lack some of the most valuable attributes of in-person lectures; there’s no opportunity for students to ask questions or interact with the professor. It’s a lot easier to get distracted or slack off while attending virtual lectures in your home or third space, and there’s no way for the lecturer to gauge how the audience is receiving the information they’re relaying.
All of this amalgamates to make virtual classes a lot less valuable than conventional classes. Objectively, the vast majority of students take significantly less away from asynchronous lectures than they do from in-person ones. And yet, we’re still paying the same amount of money for virtual classes that are a lot less beneficial as we are for classes with interactive, engaging and lively environments.
The issue I have isn’t with the fact that virtual classes are offered at all — it’s certainly true that some people are more comfortable and productive with asynchronous formats. Rather, what I take grievance with is the fact that certain classes are exclusively offered virtually.
I personally have a difficult time retaining the level of care and depth of understanding I consider to be valuable in asynchronous classes compared to conventional classes, so it’s frustrating to me when a class that I need to complete my major or that interests me isn’t available live.
Last year, I had to take an introductory communications class that was only offered online. I think the material could have been really interesting if it was delivered in a dynamic and interactive format, but instead I was stuck watching YouTube videos from 2013 on my own, thinking about how much money I was paying for it the entire time.
I understand that virtual classes have certain benefits, and this is not to say that they should be eradicated, but simply that they aren’t equally comparable to in-person teaching formats. It’s been proven time and time again that students perform better when they’re engaged in classes, and it’s intrinsically difficult to truly engage with a computer screen, regardless of what’s on it.
Written by: Molly Thompson — mmtthompson@ucdavis.edu
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