Are you Awake? Preventing Zoom-fatigue in Online Anatomy & Physiology Courses

Abstract

Anatomy and physiology lectures, traditionally held face-to-face at Florida Gulf Coast University, moved overnight to an online environment during the Covid-19 pandemic. Reflecting back on our teaching experience, a few goals to successful Zoom-based teaching emerged: make meaningful connections with the students, stay connected with students by using questions during lectures, and enjoy this new connection throughout the semester and beyond. This article discusses one strategy employed to stay connected to students during virtual, Zoom-based teaching: the use of “Are you awake?” questions. The questions were written to guide students in their review of material just learned. We felt that this method resulted in scaffolding the students’ experience, preventing unnecessary lecturing, and reducing Zoom-fatigue. By emphasizing a process of regularly “checking in” with the student, a further relationship was established between the course faculty and students as well as among the students. Anecdotal evidence of this question technique is shared, with student feedback being positive. Based on our experience, emotional presence in the online environment correlates to student success.