Keio University

Summary of Spring Semester 2020 Online Classes

Process Before Starting

Online Class Seminars

For Faculty

2020/03/23 (Mon) 16:00~

2020/03/24 (Tue) 13:00~

2020/03/25 (Wed) 10:00~

2020/03/25 (Wed) 21:00~

2020/03/26 (Thu) 10:00~

2020/03/26 (Thu) 13:00~

2020/03/26 (Thu) 15:00~ (English)

2020/03/30 (Mon) 15:00~

2020/04/6 (Mon) 10:00~

2020/04/13 (Mon) 10:00~ (English)

2020/04/23 (Thu) 10:00~ (English)

For Students

2020/04/8 (Wed) 10:00~

2020/04/9 (Thu) 13:00~

2020/04/10 (Fri) 14:00~

2020/04/15 (Wed) 10:00~

2020/04/15 (Wed) 13:00~ (English)

2020/04/16 (Thu) 13:00~

2020/04/16 (Thu) 21:00~

2020/04/17 (Fri) 14:00~

2020/04/20 (Mon) 10:00~ (English)

2020/04/20 (Mon) 21:00~ (English)

2020/04/21 (Tue) 10:00~

2020/04/22 (Wed) 10:00~

2020/04/23 (Thu) 13:00~

2020/04/28 (Tue) 13:00~

2020/04/29 (Wed) 13:00~

2020/05/01 (Tue) 13:00~

Materials for Faculty and Students

Online Class Manuals

Information Websites

FAQ

Number of Inquiries to the Online Class Support Desk

Results of Online Classes

Overview

This document reviews the Spring Semester 2020 online classes at SFC, focusing on the results of the two surveys shown below.

First Survey

Target

Period

Number of Responses

Students

May 12 (Tue) - 18 (Mon), 2020

377 (8% response rate)  

Faculty

May 7 (Thu) - 13 (Wed), 2020

117 (32% response rate)

Second Survey

Target

Period

Number of Responses

Students

July 6 (Mon) - 12 (Sun), 2020

260 (6% response rate)

Faculty

July 6 (Mon) - 12 (Sun), 2020

93 (25% response rate)

Format and Methods of Online Classes

Format

Mainly live online classes

Methods

Zoom and Webex were used for online classes, while SFC-SFS, SFC's LMS, was used to provide access information and manage assignments.

Evaluation of Online Classes (Faculty)

  • Faculty have become more favorable toward online classes.

Evaluation of Online Classes (Students)

  • Students' impressions of online classes have not changed significantly.

  • They remain more favorable toward online classes than faculty members.

Evaluation of Online Classes (Students by Year)

Reasons for First-Year Students' Evaluations

Reasons for Low Evaluation

Most of the low-evaluation comments were complaints about the online implementation of specific subjects, pointing out that it would be impossible without face-to-face implementation.

Other Comments
  • Decreased motivation to learn and concentration

  • Too many assignments

  • Poor internet connection

  • Cannot make friends, so cannot discuss assignments, etc.  

Reasons for High Evaluation

  • Effective use of commute time

  • Blackboard/whiteboard is easy to see

  • Can learn at my own pace

  • Can review recordings later

  • Can ask questions via chat

  • Interactive, with two-way communication even online. This is not possible if all subjects are on-demand.

What are the good points of online classes? (Second Survey)

Students

Faculty

What are the difficulties? (Multiple choice) (Second Survey)

Students

Faculty

Learning Effectiveness of Each Class (Faculty)

Immediately after classes started

Just before classes ended

Overall, opinions that online classes are fine have increased, except for small-scale lectures.

Learning Effectiveness of Each Class (Students)

Immediately after classes started

Just before classes ended

For Language and Communication, the number of people who prefer online has increased.

For Fundamentals of Information Technology, the number of people who prefer online has decreased.  

Online Classes: Reasons for Low/High Evaluation

Reasons for Low Evaluation

Dissatisfaction with faculty/class methods
  • The quality of content varies depending on the instructor's ICT skills.

  • If it's just a one-way lecture, I'd prefer it to be on-demand.

Increased assignments
  • Exams were eliminated, attendance became less important, and assignments were given all at once, making it impossible to keep up.

Internet connection issues
  • Struggling with a weak home Wi-Fi connection.

  • My computer broke, which was a problem.

  • The instructor's connection is poor, and sometimes it's hard to hear.

Lack of motivation and concentration
  • It's tough to stay engaged in a class with no interaction.

Physical and mental strain
  • Eye strain / Shoulder fatigue / Back pain

  • It's mentally tough not being able to see friends.

  • The distinction between class and private life has disappeared.

Reasons for High Evaluation

Effective use of commute time
  • Using commute time for assignments and creative activities.

  • Freed from commuting, the physical burden is gone.

Environment conducive to concentrating on class
  • Can study without worrying about my surroundings.

  • Can take classes in an environment free of noise and smells.

Easy to ask questions
  • Can easily ask questions via chat.

  • Much easier to ask questions than raising my hand in person.

Classes became more interactive
  • Communication between the teacher and students via chat is enjoyable.

Blackboard/whiteboard is easy to see
  • The board is easy to see with screen sharing.

Can review with recordings
  • Can review as many times as I want with the recording.

Elements of Good Practice in Classes

Classes are interactive using features like Chat, Polls, and Hand-raising

  • In classes with active chats, students can participate enjoyably without getting bored and can concentrate. (No negative comments)

  • Classes that encourage participation through polls, quizzes, hand-raising, etc., are also highly rated. (No negative comments)

Efficient with a combination of live and on-demand

  • A 90-minute or two-period continuous class is divided into on-demand and live sessions, with students watching the on-demand part on their own before the live session. Highly rated for its flexibility, sustained concentration, and the ability to get questions answered.

  • Classes that can be attended live or watched on-demand later are also popular for their high degree of freedom.

Support inside and outside of class using external tools

  • Using Slack/Twitter/Group LINE/slido, etc., to respond to questions even outside of class.

Recordings are provided

  • Used to deepen learning and understanding.

For language subjects

  • Can practice pronunciation without worrying about others.

  • Can have one-on-one conversations with the teacher.

On-demand is better for one-way classes

  • The nuance is not 'on-demand classes are better,' but rather 'please make one-way, large-enrollment classes on-demand.'

Guest speakers came / Didn't have to show my face / Wasn't bored in hands-on classes / etc.


To summarize the above,

Students are seeking not only to understand the class content but also to interact with faculty and other students. This is a merit of live streaming that cannot be achieved with on-demand.

Making one-way classes on-demand seems to be able to resolve much of the dissatisfaction.

Could the problem of too many assignments be solved by using in-class chats and quizzes?