As the dust settles from COVID, some universities have returned to face-to-face teaching, whilst others remained devoted to online learning. A grey area in the middle is some courses offering hybrid learning – where students can choose to join online.
We’ve all been there; you intend to join a meeting in person but something comes up and you join online. The experience is OK but with half the attendees in a room, and half online, it just doesn’t quite work.
Students tell us they have the same experience with hybrid classes.
Since COVID, we have asked students what their first preference for teaching is – face to face, hybrid or online. We have continually heard that students prefer face to face classes, but we all know that on some campuses this doesn’t equate to seats being filled. Students say they want it, but aren’t necessarily showing up.
“I now feel much more like I belong, which is due to the switch from online to face-to-face teaching after Covid”
They may intend to come to campus, but on the day face a long commute, need to fit in a work shift, only have 1 or 2 classes, have to go through rush hour traffic or other “micro-frustrations” that add up and sway their decision to not come. On a deeper level, they may feel anxious and not know anyone and find class intimidating. If they have the option, these nudge them towards joining online.
“For me the long commute is a cost-benefit of how much I feel like I will get done: I’m more efficient on campus but issues like crowding and lack of access to things like power points make the commute become more of an issue.”
Having the option to have everything online, including joining in hybrid, removes an important nudge to come to campus. We argue that education is therefore diluting itself, and the value of the physical campus is not fully realised.
Now this is different for postgraduate verses undergraduate. And our focus in this discussion is on undergraduate.
Why is this problematic? There are the issues around education quality, we have had students point out that the interactions in a hybrid class are very different and tutors change their questions to try and engage online participants to a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ framing. On a deeper level, it impacts belonging. We consistently see lower belonging scores in those who prefer hybrid or online learning. Well, does belonging really matter?
(Source: Campus Experience Index survey)
The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) report shows 15-24 year olds to be the loneliest cohort in the population, a shift from a few years ago when it was the elderly.
Loneliness in 15-24 year olds, from 2001 to 2021
Young people are having trouble making offline connections. We hear this all the time, students tell us something that hinders their belonging is how hard it is to make friends. University teams are feeling this with increasing pressure around student support and counselling.
“Not having fully recorded lectures helps my belonging! I find that subjects who have in person lectures create a far better sense of belonging (for me) and help create friendships. They are a great place to meet friends because the lecture content is already breaking the ice for you, and asking the lecturer questions has produced some of my favourite uni interactions. Also makes you really feel a part of the class, seeing all who are doing that subject. “
“I often feel a little alone because I have not been able to make any real friends on campus. I wish I had a real friend group that I could meet with; together to study, but also for recreational activities to feel more like a community that goes through thick and thin together.”
What we have seen in our belonging data since the pandemic is a rebound, belonging levels went from quite low to high. On one campus we saw an increase of 22% in their sense of belonging score from pre-COVID to post-COVID.
Students told us how good it is to be back, to have conversations, to build their network, to debate and learn in a classroom. They find the quality of face-to-face learning exceeds being online. We also hear that increases to the number of classes online makes it even harder to meet people, so when they do come to campus they stay for less time and have fewer interactions.
I’ve had next to no opportunity to connect with peers, and despite my best efforts, I have not been able to form friendships with others in my classes because I’ve had so little time in person to get to know them. This has made university an incredibly isolating, lonely, and depressing experience, and I feel like I’ve been paying for an in-person degree whilst studying one that is mostly online.
This is not an argument against online education – it is incredibly important – but it is an argument for re-considering hybrid – where online is an option. This does require a re-shaping of how education is delivered to still be equitable, such as changes to timetables which many universities are addressing.
“The University is the first place I felt a sense of belonging. I was too different from my peers in high school – Uni was the first time I felt surrounded by likeminded people who ‘got’ me and I ‘got’ them. I think its the passion for learning and teaching from all the people there, dedicated professors, a great university campus with various beautiful (and educational) buildings, and the dedication to diversity. As a person with a disability and from a culturally and linguistically diverse background, I always felt accepted and supported by the university. I think the amount of support for students in general also creates a sense of belonging, for example the psychological services, physical health services, etc.”
Universities invest huge amounts in campuses, the second highest annual cost behind staff wages. We argue that behind every university strategy should be a core focus on human connection, and ways that campus attendance can help elevate this.
Dr Samantha Hall is Principal Director of Campus Intuition
