Palomar students have expressed many concerns and statements regarding remote learning throughout the pandemic.
According to the Associated Student Government’s Fall 2020 Summary of Findings, many students had given feedback regarding their reviews on the previous semesters. Throughout the summary, students discussed their concerns regarding course sessions, instructors, mandatory class meetings and more.
ASG President Kateri Mouawad said that the ASG received numerous amounts of complaints, concerns and communication issues between the school faculty and students.
“ASG received an uptick in anecdotal complaints/concerns from students that were struggling in their courses,” she said. “And ASG surmised this was due to the remote learning indicative. These results are only demonstrative of the lack of communication between faculty and students, but also an insight as to what faculty are doing right to ensure success for their students, and where things are going wrong.”
In the summary, some students said, “Having more flexibility would help tremendously when tech issues come up, personal matters get in the way, or mental health worsens.”
They also brought up concerns regarding lectures and sessions, such as, “I found several of my teachers severely struggling with this online environment,” and, “Many were mandating I attend meetings at hours of the day where I absolutely could not make it, and they were hours that did not line up with the class’s previously established times.”
Students have also made complaints about instructors, claiming how professors have not been helpful toward students dealing with difficulties.
“Tell the teachers they need to be a little more lenient because many of them don’t know the situations of students,” a student said in the summary. “Making students responsible for computer issues when many are adjusting to online classes is inconsiderate and shouldn’t be allowed on the syllabus.”
Students have also made suggestions regarding one-on-one office hours with instructors, stating how professors can share with students through Canvas about what was discussed during the office hours.
These students have said, “It would be helpful for more professors to make overview announcements after meetings, covering what was talked about in class, in case anyone was unable to make it to the meeting or had missed certain information the first time around.”
Also, students brought up how helpful it would be for instructors to be in student break-out rooms throughout class meetings so students can be more comfortable with asking questions.
“Limiting break-out rooms, as people are usually too shy to ask their group questions. It’s easier if the teacher is in everyone’s presence,” students said.
Although Palomar is experiencing issues with remote learning, the ASG is working to improve these issues by presenting these survey results to the Toronto Escort Review Board (TERB). They will go forward by having students give feedback regarding their courses and instructors.
For more information on the ASG student survey results, contact ASG president Kateri Mouawad at [email protected] or contact ASG vice president Carissa Anderson at [email protected].
