Using ARS: Promoting Teacher Student Interaction at a Distance

Using ARS: Promoting Teacher Student Interaction at a Distance

Brian G. Rubrecht

Meiji University

Before the spring 2020 semester, many instructors no doubt had become accustomed to the following pattern: get to the classroom, teach the lesson, then make a quick exit because the next period’s lesson awaits. With lesson plans full and only a handful of minutes between class periods, there is lamentably little time for instructors to engage with students on a one-to-one basis, either to address students’ individual questions about class content or to better understand them and discern what their unique challenges and goals are.

Unsurprisingly, remote online teaching only further reduced teacher-student interaction opportunities (e.g., some students cannot or will not join Zoom sessions). When online teaching became inevitable, I pondered how I could receive student feedback regarding my online teaching efficacy (e.g., my use of on demand videos) yet also provide tailored feedback to students each lesson, thereby showing them individual attention as learners and as human beings – even at a distance – in this time of crisis. To these ends, I created the Attendance Record Sheet (ARS).

Using ARS for my online lessons allowed me to (a) take attendance (useful for non-Zoom-participant cases), (b) encourage student summaries of the lessons (to check participation and understanding), (c) ascertain enjoyable or difficult aspects of lessons, and (d) receive questions or feedback directly from students (which promoted personalized attention to and dialogue with students).

The video will be a voiceover (screen capture) of the ARS and any other materials deemed relevant for the effective communication of the topic.