Staying Academically Motivated during a Pandemic: Best Practices for faculty to encourage students to succeed

Remote learning, hand-sanitizer, facial coverings, and zoom meetings are quickly becoming the new normal. While face to face classes, handshakes and hugs are slowly disappearing within today's society. This new normal can pose as unsettling and even depressing, especially for many fun-loving college-aged students who thrive for the need for human interaction to survive.  

Many students worldwide are reporting that they are struggling with keeping their grades up, they lack a sense of motivation while attending synchronous sessions and ultimately feeling burned out. The pandemic has disrupted the "normal" view of education as we know it. As educators, we must adapt quickly and focus on what is essential, which is enhancing the students' synchronous experience while keeping them motivated to complete course work. It is essential to help motivate students to reach their highest potential. Before this can be done, faculty must have the drive and determination to be the best role models to enhance academic performance.  

With that said, faculty members need to encourage each other so that they may, in turn, motivate their students with new innovative ideas and strategies.  

Level of Participation 

This presentation will pose as an interactive session, including polls, questions, and design thinking strategies. Attendees will first hear various scenarios and brainstorm with other attendees on how they can motivate the specified student during this difficult time.  During a final activity, the attendees will be able to see how each one of their ideas can come together to enhance motivation within the remote setting. 

Session Goals 

The goal is for participants to gain further insight into motivational practices to assist their students in achieving academic excellence even in the pandemic.