Ohio State professor connects with students beyond bagels amid online semester

Jessica Langer
Thu, 07 Jan 2021 19:06:55 +0000
Faces of Ohio State

For years, one of Brad Bushman’s favorite parts of his job took place out of the classroom. Bushman would chow down on bagels with students at an assortment of local cafes near his classes to take a break from teaching them and learn about their lives.?

But this fall, the tables remained empty and Bushman, a 10-year professor at Ohio State, taught his students from the comfort of his own home.

Bushman used these meetings — dubbed “Bagels with Bushman” — to form connections with students. But he said a semester compromised by COVID-19 made face-to-face interactions few and far between.

“I miss it [Bagels with Bushman] very much,” he said. “I mean, the reason I decided to become a professor is because I love students, and I really enjoy teaching.”

Bushman said he taught Communication 3442:? Violence in Society and Violence in the Media online from home this semester. His wife, Tam Bushman, has rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia — illnesses that put her at a greater risk for health complications if she contracts the coronavirus.

Even though he loves teaching, Brad Bushman said he cannot endanger his wife’s life to hold in-person classes.

The new platform was challenging, but Bushman said he enjoyed some aspects of online classes. Students who might have been scared to participate in class and ask questions now could through the chat function on Zoom.

“When I ask in [person] class, ‘Does anybody have any questions?’ it’s usually the same people who are pretty extroverted who ask the questions,” Bushman said. “In Zoom, anybody can type out.”

Additionally, Bushman said Zoom’s breakout room feature allowed students to work in groups with different students every time, something that would have been harder to accomplish if the class were in person.

But he said the platform comes with its disadvantages as well.?

Bushman said he estimated that 95 percent of his students muted themselves and shut off their cameras during class, which made it difficult for him to interact with them.

“It’s hard to gauge their level of engagement, actually, on Zoom. So, I don’t like the mute,” Bushman said.

Alongside changed levels of engagement, Bushman said he was more flexible with his grading this semester. If a student missed a quiz or an assignment, he emailed them, asking how they were doing. He also provided TED talks about handling stress and reminded his students about mental health resources.

Despite his challenges with student engagement, Bushman said his decision to teach remotely was the safest not just for his wife, but also his students.

“I think that it’s really important to be safe,” Bushman said. “So I think it’s much safer for our students and for the instructors to teach online at least this semester and probably next semester, and at least until they get a vaccine, an effective vaccine for COVID-19.”