Just as COVID19 has impacted everyone across the United States and certainly the hospitality industry, it has certainly impacted the classrooms in Justin Hall and throughout the Kansas State campus. Seemingly overnight, the hospitality management faculty were faced with transitioning their on-campus classrooms to the online environment and students were sent back home to complete the semester.
For new faculty members Ms. Ericka Bauer and Dr. Yue Teng Vaughan, it was an especially challenging process. Teng Vaughan, who teaches accounting and financial-based courses noted the sudden switch created some unique challenges. “In-person interaction and problem solving are really crucial for knowledge delivery,” Teng Vaughan said. Bauer, instructor of the Lacy’s Fresh Fare and Catering Lab, had the added challenge of transitioning a lab-based course into an online environment. She noted, “it was a challenging time for me, as a new instructor, but with the guidance from fellow K-State faculty the students still received quality instruction on the topics in the course. Bauer noted that her assignments included preparing and submitting videos and written documents about the dish they prepared in their home kitchen. Both noted that they were confident that while different, the learning continued, and students were able to achieve the designated learning outcomes.
For HM student services coordinator and advisor, Vanetta Geiger, the COVID shutdown came at a particularly bad time of the semester, just as students were gearing up to enroll in fall 2020 class. Geiger noted, “It was amazing to see how students moved from walking into my office during the day with questions about classes and day-to-day issues, to post-COVID, only a week later, eagerly anticipating the Zoom advising meetings because they missed the face-to-face interaction.
Teng Vaughan credited the support she received from the great students in HM as a major reason she was successful. “With two young children at home, I had to pre-record my lectures instead of providing synchronous sessions. My students were very engaging and turned in their homework and activities on time. I encouraged students to have a 1:1 Zoom call with me whenever they had questions.” She noted that there were some afternoons where she had back-to-back Zoom calls all afternoon with her students, and while it was difficult, she was excited the students continued to learn. Bauer added that for her lab course, “it was difficult not to be by their side in the kitchen, to show them techniques, an alternate way to prepare the item, or to guide them when they had difficulty.However, I was proud to see how well our students did in executing their skills in their home environment without a hands-on instructor.”
In the end, Geiger added, “Face-to-face interaction is hospitality. That is what hospitality people do. I had missed seeing them and they had missed me, but they took it in stride and I’m so proud of how the HM students have adapted!”