Now that Fall 2021 semester has wound down, it’s time for some perspective. I allocated several days (including today) for doing nothing but thinking.
I teach a class named Processes of Objected Oriented Software (COP 4331). I have been teaching this class for six years. When we went virtual I noticed a gradual downturn in performance. This is not true for all students, but maybe about 25 percent of them. But since this class relies on group/team projects, those 25 percent have a pronounced effect. Many more students missed team meetings, and failed to do their assignments.
Now that we are back in class it is a bit better, but I still notice a residual effect. For Spring 2022 I have implemented so attempts at improving the teamwork that is required. I sure hope it works. I would like to get back to the fairly high performance levels of the pre-Covid times.
It is fair to note that Processes feeds senior design. As such I have noticed a decline in the performance of senior design teams, too. I am hoping that the improvements in Processes will improve senior design. I am also going to spend more time keeping in touch with senior design teams. Here again, as with Processes, I would like to get back to pre-Covid performance levels.