How did Drexel Adapt Courses for Remote Teaching and Learning This Spring? | Now

Grace Zaborski, an environmental studies and sustainability major in the College of Arts and Sciences, models the “Ghostbusters” Proton Pack made for the “Theatre Production” course taught by Mandell Theater Technical Director Chris Totora.

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It goes without saying that this spring quarter is, and was, unlike anything anyone at Drexel University could have planned for at the beginning of the 2019–2020 academic year — or even the beginning of the winter quarter.

But by early March, when it became clear that the novel coronavirus had the ability to disrupt all aspects of daily life and people’s well-being, Drexel’s administration quickly reacted to the early days of the pandemic by holding final exams online, extending spring break by one week and using the extra time to prepare for 3,200 courses to be taught remotely in the spring quarter.

It’s an understatement to say that was a tremendous undertaking, but it was a tremendous undertaking. The move to remote learning affected many, many people at the University: the students (especially the graduating ones!) who signed up for courses, the faculty who had agreed to teach them and the professional staff (especially those in Drexel Information Technology, or Drexel IT) working to help and support those students and faculty. But all of these Dragons did what Dragons do best: adapt, innovate and be creative.

For the faculty, that meant exploring new ways to explain and showcase the materials, ideas and topics that would still need to be presented to students — but couldn’t be done fact-to-face. That meant doing things that were never done before … or, additionally, things that were never even thought of being done before.

DrexelNow rounded up just a small sampling of how faculty members teaching wildly different classes across the University were able to not just successfully move their courses online for this quarter, but also do so in meaningful ways that might end up being repeated or used later on.

Here’s a look at how some of the Drexel courses and programs were translated for remote teaching and learning this spring:

Bringing the Classroom to Students’ Homes

At first glance, some of the classes seemed impossible to move online, because the learning experiences were tied to the environments in which they were formerly taught: classrooms and labs, yes, but also places off campus, and even outdoors.

For years, College of Nursing & Health Professions Assistant Clinical Professor of Culinary Arts Chef Charles Ziccardi, assistant clinical professor of culinary arts, has used Drexel’s garden plot within the Summer Winter Community Garden at 33^rd and Race streets to teach