Students Struggle to Co-exist With Online Learning

By: Doha Wang
@DohaWang

Photo Credit: Dalia Abdelwahab

With yet another online semester coming to an end, students say they are battling lack of motivation and low morale to get to the finish line.

In the process launched by the Provost seeking feedback about the online learning modality, students have come forward to spell out the pros and cons of their experience. 

Whether through online surveys or the five meetings held at Bassily auditorium by the different academic schools, students talked about the struggle to find the motivation for coursework, the lack of communication with their professors, the connectivity issues that arise during online classes and more. 

Mariam Abozekry, president of the Political Science Association and Political Science Honors Program senior, said in the HUSS school-based meeting that she isn’t able to manage her time effectively while learning from home. Starting the fall semester was no problem, but many students said they were suddenly overwhelmed with assignments, papers and midterms.

Freshman student Youssef El-Tantawy came prepared with various concerns of both his own and his classmates. 

He said that there are some professors who didn’t communicate adequately with their students and failed to respond to their emails. In some cases he added, other faculty tend to pass the students on to their assistants who end up sending them back to their professors again. 

Concerns raised by Abozekry and Tantawy were welcomed by faculty and administration.

“We are here to primarily listen, and secondly respond,” said Mathew Hendershot, Associate Dean for Undergraduate studies at the Academy of Liberal Arts (ALA) school-based meeting. 

To that, Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Academy of Liberal Arts Ghada El-Shimi replied that students should use the resources that the university offers to help with their mental health like the Center for Student Well-Being (CSW). 

“I feel for you as freshmen for having your first campus experience online, especially with AUC and all it has to offer,” El-Shimi said. 

Also, as Academics Director of the Psychology Association and Psychology senior Laila Elbeheri told The Caravan, even the psychology majors have become dissatisfied with the absence of the experiential-based learning at the psychology program. 

“We’re missing out on very important experiential aspects. I do believe that some face-to-face experiential learning has to happen in order for us to be successful and if that has to be 10 feet apart, I think it’s okay. We’d love to find a way to make it work,” Elbeheri said.

The university has taken note of the importance of being on campus, especially for those courses which rely on experiential learning, such as capstone classes and others.

Next semester, students will have more opportunities to register in partial face-to-face courses with almost 400 sections on campus as mentioned in an email by the Provost.