Victor Azuaje, professor of Hispanic Studies at Mount Saint Mary College, will continue this semester's Investigating Research on Campus (iROC) series with "Hybrid Teaching is Not a Limbo nor a Multiverse: Engaging Students by Building a Hybrid Teaching Identity" on Thursday, March 24 at 4 p.m.
The talk will take place in person and virtually via Zoom at the college. It's free and open to the public.
The talk will be held on campus a 330 Powell Ave., Newburgh, N.Y. in the Dominican Center, room 218. Please do not come to campus if you are feeling ill.
You must register to attend the virtual presentation. Register at www.msmc.edu/TeachingiROC
For most American teaching institutions, including colleges, COVID-19 brought with it an influx of online and hybrid teaching modalities. For some it was a limbo, "a no-man's-land equipped with 14-inch monitors and built-in microphones," explained Azuaje. For others it was a multiverse, two or three separate instructional worlds linked by rotations in the schedule and increased emails from students.
Years before the pandemic, educational researchers had noted that an online instructor and a face-to-face instructor were different creatures, said Azuaje.
The pandemic seemed to prove this true, in Azuaje's eyes. And so, "If you are a face-to-face instructor, create your teaching identity. If you are an online instructor, create your unique identity. If you are a [mixed modality] instructor, break yourself in two – and if you're a [mixed modality] student, start reading Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."
Since many colleges and universities continue to use mixed-modality models, "we need to find an alternative to the unproductive limbo or multiverse metaphors," said Azuaje. Professors must find "a unified hybrid teaching identity," he added.
The goal of the college's iROC is to provide a forum for Mount faculty, staff, and students to showcase their research endeavors with the college and local communities. Presentations include research proposals, initial data collection, and completed research projects.
Mount Saint Mary College, ranked a Top-Tier University by U.S. News & World Report, offers bachelor's and master's degree programs for careers in healthcare, business, education, social services, communications, media, and the liberal arts.