Immediate changes to teaching and assessments due to COVID-19
Photography by Livvie Hall
Chloe Rossington reports on UCL’s new measures in light of the pandemic.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 across the globe has created an unprecedented situation for the Higher Education sector. At the time of writing, 1,140 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the UK, with one case having been confirmed at UCL. With the situation changing not just by the day, but by the hour, UCL have taken a course of action similar to many other universities across the country.
On Friday 13th March, UCL announced suspension of face-to-face teaching for the remainder of the academic year. All teaching will be online-only; instead of in-person seminars, labs, or lectures, online resources will be made available.
Many departments have committed to uploading lecture slides and notes to the university’s online platform, Moodle, but tutors will also endeavour to make themselves available through Moodle forums, emails, or other forms of online communication. Some tutors may also be pre-recording lectures themselves or attempting “webinars”. Many departments, however, have limited experience with these online resources, meaning that students may not have full access to what is left of the term’s teaching.
Whilst students are not banned from UCL’s campus, teaching has formally been suspended, with departments to begin online teaching from Monday 16th March. All department buildings are being cleaned more thoroughly than usual.
UCL have also announced that sit-down exams will not be held either on the UCL campus or in the ExCel centre, and will be replaced by “online alternatives.” Students have been advised to continue studying as if they were going to sit the exams, however, and there remains deep uncertainty over the nature of these alternative assessments.
UCL’s Academic Committee have also said that they are likely to reduce the amount of further formal assessment for first-year undergraduates in order to reduce the workload for departmental staff. This has not yet been confirmed, and meetings will be held next week with members of UCL’s Exam Board to set out plans.
All Study Abroad students have been recalled by UCL, and International and Exchange students have been advised to return to their home countries until further notice.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Provost Michael Arthur commented that UCL is “working closely with Public Health England and the NHS to ensure that UCL remains a safe place for our students, staff and visitors.”
“We know staff and students are worried about the impact coronavirus will have on teaching and assessments. We are putting plans in place for alternative modes of assessment and we will be able to share more details with you tomorrow once these proposals have been confirmed.”
As the crisis continues to unfold, students await more information on how UCL plans to deal with this situation.