“Some examples show that it is extremely beneficial to teach by way of a digital format”

The spring semester has just started. Can you give us an update: which parts of the study curriculum are in-person and which parts are virtual? And: What is different to the fall 2020 semester?

Luckily, we can say, that both study programmes continue - some of it in virtual format, some in-person. We are so much experienced right now, being forced to use Zoom changed all the ways we work! All lectures are now given on a virtual platform, all the tutorials are given on a virtual platform. We don’t seem to have any issues with the technical realisation any more, all perfectly works. Also, for the lab courses: We can build on our previous experience during fall semester. Again, we clustered our students in “bubbles”, in fact: in “tiny bubbles” – to reduce contacts and allow for contact tracing. In this way we can organise now lab courses, of course on much smaller scale and under consideration of all required safety measures such as lab occupancies, social distancing etc. But still, all courses can take place, some small modifications were needed but overall, the lab curriculum can be performed. In this context: a BIG thanks to all lab assistants and lecturers and also to the students, of course, they all made it possible that all works smoothly and could be continued during the spring 2021 semester.
On the other hand, the most joyful part of the studies is not possible during these times. Students who started last year and most recently only know from hearsay how busy and lively our Science Lounge looks like during normal times; all those events and gatherings and discussions that we normally have are not taking place at the moment. I feel really sorry for this, but I hope that these events will come back in summer. The same holds true for the celebration for our master students, graduation ceremony; we have just postponed it and wait and see how the situation of the pandemic develops and if we can make this celebration possible at the end of summer or in fall sometime.

The current timeline is valid until Easter holidays. Do you already know if in-person attendance will be possible as of April onwards?

One option is that we may return to in-classroom teaching after Easter, and my information from last week is that this is still the plan. I should emphasise: this is last week’s information. We don’t know how the situation develops during the coming weeks. The idea is to have lectures (at least partially) in seminar rooms or at least offer students the possibility to come to seminar rooms which allows for more in-person interactions here at D-BSSE. But, there is this big question mark, when you look at case numbers in Basel, they are increasing at the moment. So, when I look into the crystal ball I see it quite foggy to be honest, I am really not sure if this opening of classrooms will happen… We have to wait until the ETH Executive Board will make the decision: if we either continue as we do now or if we can meet again in-person in the classrooms.

What about the long-term vision for teaching: is online teaching (or a hybrid form of online & in-person teaching) being discussed as a regular form of academic education at ETH Zurich in the future?

The pandemic forced us to get used to the digital teaching. Of course, there are extensive discussions on what we can take with us (or continue and keep) for the time after the pandemic, whenever that is… There will be a lot of discussions around this topic during the months to come and most likely there will be new regulations for teaching. I think, there are some examples that show that it is extremely beneficial to teach by way of a digital format. To give an example: we have classes for which students come in just to prepare for the courses (“Auflagenkurse” in German), and for many students it would be great to access all documents and lectures online before they start with the official lectures. Also, here in Basel, we benefit a lot when everything is online and we can participate in lectures that take place in Zurich. But one should not forget that ETH Zurich is a very traditional university with in-classroom teaching. And, when you look at what we teach: here at D-BSSE – and ETH-wide– we teach biology, chemistry, physics and so on. These are all disciplines where we need in-person teaching! Teaching for these subjects builds on fundamental pillars, i.e. experimental work, excursions, and interactions. For sure we will keep this strong in-person component. I am very much looking forward to having this format back again!

The new students already knew what to expect when they started this spring during the pandemic. How should they mentally prepare for their start?

We are better prepared, but at the same time we are quite a bit exhausted, this is true for most of us: for students as well as for us lecturers. We are all eager to see real people again and not faces on our monitors. I should draw your attention to a recent survey among ETH Bachelor and Master students. The results of this survey were published recently in the ETH News. The survey was conducted at the end of the last fall semester and the results show that the situation for students becomes more difficult the longer the pandemic lasts. For example, there was this question about concentration, i.e., how well students could concentrate on their studies or work, and only 11% of the students responded that they can concentrate better or good compared to a normal semester. At the same time, many students have a lot of problems with concentration! Also in other fields like motivation, stress, tiredness you can see that the pandemic lasts long and that it is getting more and more difficult in the long-term. In general, students felt well supported, this is good. But they really miss their colleagues and peers. Looking at this survey outcome I would like to give a few simple recommendations to students: the most important is that students find a good workplace where they are not distracted, and, in particular, that they switch off their mobile phones and put it far away, similar to how they would do it in a normal seminar room. Of course, the virtual room is different, but it is quite important that you are focussed. Then, when the lecture is scheduled, my advice is to really attend the live lecture, don’t use recordings later on, just be there, be present, be active during the course of the lecture - as you would do in an in-person classroom situation. Don’t plan to watch all recordings later on! Instead, follow the lecture the moment it is scheduled. When it comes to meeting your colleagues and friends: you can meet one or two for lunch maybe, talk to others, in particular when you feel strong, find out how you can help others! Also, in normal times you would talk to your colleagues during the lectures or in the breaks. You would see then, how much your peers understand from the content of the lecture, was it difficult - for all or just for me? Now, in the virtual classroom, this “peer-referencing” is difficult, you can hardly see where you are standing. I really advise you to talk with others about the lectures and their content. Finally, I should mention that, if you as a student need help, there are different places you can consult and seek help. In the Department and at ETH Zurich, there are specific offices set-up to provide help if you have whatever sort of problem, don’t be shy and ask these experts, they are actually there to help you! Last but not least, stay healthy, mentally and physically, look after your work-life balance and take breaks.

…and go for a “Dackelwalk” as offered by our Department Head... Thank you very much, Petra, stay safe!