01. FOSTERING INNOVATION AND EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AND LEARNING On-campus housing constraints meant that not all of our students could live on-campus. Social distancing requirements meant that our classrooms could not be at capacity. And concerns for safety meant that we gave students and faculty a choice for how they would deliver their classes during Academic Year 2020-2021. The majority of Lehigh’s curriculum was offered in a way that would work both for those who were on campus and also for those unable to be present in our classrooms. Some faculty opted for fully remote courses and others for a hybrid model that provided options for in-person and remote learners. To accomplish all of this, instructors were advised to adopt Lehigh’s recommended Blended Learning framework, which meant (a) creating a robust asynchronous online course backbone that includes instructional elements such as online lecture videos, learning activities, assessments, and forms of feedback; and (b) planning for interactive synchronous class meetings, either in Zoom or in the classroom, that built on the work students had done asynchronously. Faculty dedicated much of summer 2020 preparing for this approach. Lehigh’s Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning offered 35 workshops for Lehigh faculty and graduate students, highlighting lessons learned from Spring 2020, recommending best practices, answering questions, spotlighting faculty successes, and addressing emerging challenges. Over 500 faculty and teaching assistants attended; many more accessed workshop recordings and our numerous online resources. As a result of this effort, instructors were in a better position to adjust when the university announced changes based on the rise and fall of the number of positive COVID-19 cases in our community. TEACHING AND LEARNING, MID-PANDEMIC T E A C H I N G & L E A R N I N G 2020 / 21 | ANNUA L REPORT | 3
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