Thriving Through Disruption: COVID-19, Online Education, and Innovation

In this chapter, the authors will explore the ways COVID-19 initiated widespread reform in how faculty approach online teaching. The researchers will focus on how they addressed the shift from emergency remote teaching to faculty empowerment, centered on best practices in online learning. The change, like many campuses around the nation, happened quickly and with limited resources. A central argument of this chapter is that the pandemic created unexpected opportunities for collaboration and innovation across the divide between face-to-face and online instructional design. In tackling this challenge, the researchers were inspired by the community of inquiry framework. The framework is a social constructivist model describing the learning environment as the intersection of three key "presences": teaching, social, and cognitive. Combining this framework with social-emotional learning theory suggests that online instructional designers consider the trinity of feeling, doing, and creating when designing and delivering faculty professional development.

Student experiences of online study groups and drop-in mathematics support during COVID-19

In this paper, we consider the changes to mathematics learning support (MLS) at Maynooth University due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the provision of novel online study groups aimed at increasing student engagement and interaction. We briefly outline the local, national and international impact of COVID-19 on MLS and then focus on the results of a student survey. Respondents who regularly used online MLS were broadly positive about their experiences. They cited, in particular, the influence of tutors and the scheduled study groups, which provided structure and motivation as well as the opportunity to work with others and ask questions in less intimidating small groups. However, some respondents highlighted factors that impacted negatively on their engagement. These included low attendance or interaction from peers, timetabling issues or busy schedules, lack of awareness of the details of the services and increased feelings of discomfort and anxiety in an online environment. We consider how this student feedback may influence our future online and in-person supports. © 2021 The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. All rights reserved