A personal account of teaching chemistry courses in the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Elmer-Rico E. Mojica Department, of Chemistry and Physical Sciences, Pace University, One Pace Plaza, New York, NY, United States of America, 10038 and Department of Chemistry, York College, 94-20 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. Jamaica, NY, United States of America 11451
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26534/kimika.v31i2.1-10
Keywords: COVID-19, remote learning, laboratory classes, synchronous, asynchronous

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of life around the world. Colleges and universities were forced to close and shift to remote/distant/online learning.  This event resulted in classes being delivered online, prompting faculty in different chemistry departments to ponder on several questions. How can we maintain the same engagement we have in a face-to-face environment once we go online? Are we ready for this mode of teaching? How are we going to do the laboratory class? This same set of questions posed a challenge to me when the institutions I am teaching decided to shift on remote/distance learning. In this paper, I share my experiences on how we transition to this new teaching mode. Among these experiences include the preparations in classes (both lecture and laboratory) and the resources that I used. I will also discuss the preparation I made for my students and the reactions I got from them as we went on transition and by the end of the semester. I hope that this paper will be helpful to the readers (college and high school faculty) as they prepare for flexible learning once classes resume in the Philippines.

Published
2020-08-05
How to Cite
Mojica, E.-R. E. (2020). A personal account of teaching chemistry courses in the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. KIMIKA, 31(2), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.26534/kimika.v31i2.1-10
Issue
Vol. 31 No. 2 (2020)
Section
Perspective

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).