Teaching in a distance education degree program before and during the pandemic: Reflections from teacher Charles Melnyk

Episode 9

(In English)

During the Covid pandemic, in-person teaching in the classroom has not been possible to the same extent as before. Thus, there has been an increasing and widespread need to think about quality distance and online teaching in higher education. But what about education programs that were already distance-based? What lessons have been learned during the past two years by teachers and students who were already familiar with distance teaching and learning?

In the higher education pedagogy project course, teachers can investigate pedagogical questions of interest. Often, these projects have a broader appeal, such as the report of teacher Charles Melnyk, Associate Senior Lecturer at the Department of Plant Biology at SLU. In his report, Charles explored distance education by studying a long-distance Master's program called Plant Biology for Sustainable Production, which began in the fall of 2018.

In this episode, Educational Developer Alexandra D’Urso invited Charles to discuss different considerations and reflections regarding planning for distance teaching, both before and during the pandemic. Using his project course report as inspiration for the conversation, Charles reflects about how a well-designed distance course can enhance students’ education.

Contributors

Charles Melnyk: Associate Senior Lecturer at the Department of Plant Biology, SLU

Alexandra D’Urso: Educational Developer at the Educational Development Unit, SLU

Editing: Minha Park, Educational Developer at the Educational Development Unit, SLU