Watch party lectures: synchronous delivery of asynchronous material

Abstract

The challenge When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, the majority of university activities on campus were suspended across the world, and teaching pivoted online (Nordmann et al., 2020). The challenge was to provide students who were enrolled and expecting a face-to-face, on-campus learning experience with a similar university experience that would encourage them to engage with learning and to develop a sense of belonging (Peacock et al., 2020). As year leads for first-and second-year Psychology at our university, our cohorts were particularly large with approximately 600 first-year students and 250 second-year students. Each week students attend three to five lectures and one practical lab session, and previously all teaching was delivered in person on campus. In the process of planning our move online, we realised the need to develop an approach that offered both asynchronous and synchronous elements. Synchronous sessions are vital, not only for community building, but there is also a positive association between scheduled teaching of lectures and practicals and academic achievement (Torenbeek et al., 2012). However, with students studying from home in different countries, under a variety of circumstances, and with differential access to internet, study space and technology, it was important to offer all essential teaching material asynchronously too (Nordmann et al., 2020).