Wrong Turn on the Internet Highway
This screenshot was taken by a student while my students were waiting for me to show up in class on Monday. I was somehow in a different Zoom room waiting for them, while they were all together. It took me a while to figure out how to join them, and while they were waiting, they learned how to set different backgrounds to their photos.
I have found the transition to be relatively seamless, in part because the students in my class have been so flexible (one signs in at 7 a.m. and one at 10 p.m.!). So far, I've enjoyed using the breakout rooms, which offer more opportunities for discussion, and am looking forward to seeing how students take the helm next week when we continue with our class presentations. It's definitely reassuring to see their smiling faces on the screen. I'd missed them over the two week break!
— Deb Reisinger, Associate Professor of the Practice of Romance Studies and Associate Director of Markets and Management Studies
Data at a Distance
When Duke's labs were closed (with the exception of those doing essential clinical and COVID-19 research), researchers in a wide variety of fields lost access to their samples, field work and in-person experiments. But they've found ways to continue teaching, data analysis and writing grants from impromptu home offices — with some very interesting new officemates.
Defending from a Distance
As campus closed, there were dozens of Ph.D. students who were preparing to defend their dissertations. Though their plans were momentarily thrown into disarray, students and their advisors quickly figured out how to organize and run remote dissertation and thesis defenses. With each success — like Amanda Grittner in Economics — students and faculty generously share their learnings so that other defenses go even more smoothly. We have since celebrated newly minted Ph.D.s from Psychology & Neuroscience, English, Mathematics, History, Sociology and more.
Recreating a Physics Classroom on Zoom
My approach was to try to keep the class experience as consistent as possible. I have a lot of experience working on Zoom meetings in my research collaborations, so it wasn’t much of a change for my daily work mode.
I got an iPad so I can easily share it as a virtual whiteboard on Zoom, so the students are watching me write out derivations and the class material can come out live through discussion still. This is as close to an in-person lecture discussion at the chalkboard as I can make it.
— Michael A. Troxel, Assistant Professor of Physics
Adapting on the Fly
Countless people across the university went above and beyond to take on new tasks, gain new skills, and pitch in wherever needed. Joan Durso, the Coordinator of Undergraduate Training, Research, and Development for the Statistical Sciences department, is one example. “She has been incredible,” Department Chair Jerome Reiter said. “She has dedicated an enormous amount of time and energy to keeping Duke going. She truly is an inspiration.”
