Student-Faculty Interaction: A Key to Better Learning

"At a basic level, all learning results from interactions, whether they be with aspects of the environment, with information, with other people or through some combination of these." Andrew Milne, Educause Review, 13-31, Jan/Feb 2007

The interactions that we, as faculty members, have with our students can be instrumental in students' decisions to engage more deeply with the course material. As noted by Chickering and Gamson (1987), a connection with a faculty member not only helps increase student motivation, it also plays an important role in helping students persist in the face of challenges. And it's not only interacting in class that makes a difference—interactions outside the classroom have a powerful motivating effect on student engagement and learning. These interactions might be any of the following:

• a visit to office hours to discuss the course;
• a conversation about career plans;
• working with faculty members on a research project;
• working with faculty members on student-life activities, or on committees;
• or more.

Of course, on a commuter campus it can be difficult to have an unplanned conversation with a student, and sometimes your office hours are scheduled when your students have other classes. What to do?

Today, I'd like to introduce you to a new tool available at NYIT, which enables you to talk with your students face-to-face, even at a distance. Zoom.us is an on-demand web conferencing tool, much like Skype, but simpler to use. Zoom supports HD video- and audio-conferencing for up to 25 people at a time, screen-sharing with optional annotations, and recording.

The only person who needs an account is the person who originates the meeting. The program generates an email that includes all the information other participants will need to join the meeting. People invited to a meeting simply click a link in the invitation. It's accessible from Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices, and there's even a teleconference number for participants who don't have access to a computer or mobile device.

While meeting, you can share an application or your entire desktop, annotate the document being shared (think "revise an article prior to submission"), and record part or all of a meeting (think "exam review session") and put it online so students who cannot be there in person can access the information. Some faculty and staff at NYIT have already tried the application; here's a sampling of their reactions:

"Zoom was great. I used it for my online Anatomy course for live reviews prior to the exams. Both instructors were able to participate (the other professor lives in North Carolina), and approximately 20 students participated at one time. I think it helped the students feel that they had a connection with us as the format allowed for give and take not only between professor and student, but also student to student. We recorded the sessions and posted them on YouTube for those students who could not make the live session. Feedback from the students was very positive." Rose Gallagher, School of Health Professions