In a semester of screens and stress, Prof. Swati Gupta’s walking lecture reminded students that learning can—and should—breathe.

Abstract from the Original News Article on “Teaching in the Time of COVID” by Georgia Parmelee, November 2020.
https://coe.gatech.edu/news/2020/11/teaching-time-covid-19#get-outside-even-during-lecture

In the beginning of October as the leaves began to change, ISyE Prof. Swati Gupta decided to give her students a break from the traditional online learning environment – desk, chair, screen – and told them to get outside. Gupta created a ‘walking lecture,’ as she talked about sociological considerations in machine learning. The students didn’t need to take notes; they just needed to listen and be able to look at their phones occasionally for a slide visual.

Living at home with her parents in Duluth, GA, Suma Gangasani took the walking lecture seriously, and spent two hours walking around her neighborhood, something she hadn’t done since the start of quarantine.

“It’s been a stressful semester for me because the only thing to focus on is work – there’s not really anything else to do during a pandemic,” said Gangasani. “And by mid-semester, Prof. Gupta could tell we were all stressed and needed to shake things up.”

Getting outside made a big difference for Gangasani during a very stressful time.

“I had forgotten that there is still this whole other world out there that includes nature,” said Gangasani. “Once I walked around, it really made me realize that, Okay, it’s not the end of the world if these assignments aren’t done perfectly. There’s still a real world, and we just need to keep the big picture in mind.”

Mixing up lecture mode is one way that Gupta keeps her students engaged. Another is interactive learning. During one class, when discussing algorithmic bias in hiring, a simulation was presented by her graduate student Jad Salem (Ph.D. in ACO, Math), where the students got to act like they were the hiring managers, reviewing various resumes and making a decision about a candidate in six seconds.

“After we made our ‘hiring decisions,’ we discussed our choices in the chat,” said Gangasani. “So, how did we choose people to hire – was it based on gender? GPA? It was a lively discussion, and Prof. Gupta commented that it was the most engagement she’d seen during the whole semester.”

Engaging activities like this set Gupta’s class apart.

“Most of my other professors lecture and then provide us with independent work,” said Gangasani. “But Prof. Gupta has us actively involved and wants to hear our thought processes and understand how we think.”

Gupta also tries to get to know her students on a more personal level. At the start of every class, there are student introductions where someone will share a slide about themselves, which could include Netflix shows they like, where they’ve vacationed, or games they play. This helps classmates get to know one another as well. Gupta then asks everyone how they are doing and opens the floor for discussion about stress, mental health or even politics.

The students are also incentivized to participate outside of class by posting to Piazza, an online discussion platform, which earns them bonus points towards their final grade. Students can post articles or movies related to class material.

“So, one of the students posted an article on how machine learning could be used to measure the pandemics impact on mental health,” said Gupta. “She talked about the importance of learning about mental health and raising awareness about how the pandemic has affected all of us. She went on to say the article was a good reminder to check up on our friends. I thought I was really thoughtful of her to say that.”

As disruptive as this semester has been, Gupta can still see some benefit to online learning.

“I think being online has its positives, because it gives people the flexibility to engage how and when they want,” said Gupta. “But, as educators, we have the responsibility to help students feel comfortable in the virtual learning environment and keep them as engaged as possible, so they can make the most of their education during the pandemic.”