Hybrid teaching Ma Literature Today and RMA Comparative Literary Studies
Good practice classes Master Literature Today “The World, the Text, the Critic” & RMA Comparative Literary Studies “Literature Across Cultures”
Birgit Kaiser
Birgit has combined online peer-group meetings (students in small groups amongst themselves) with plenary hybrid sessions.
Teaching the MA Literature Today class “The World, the Text, the Critic” in the hybrid form in block 1, and now the RMA Comparative Literary Studies “Literature Across Cultures” in block 2 I have had good experiences with combining online peer-group meetings (students in small groups amongst themselves) with plenary hybrid sessions. Breaking class hours into smaller units of never longer than two hours (two times 45 minutes with a break in between) means that no one has to spend excessive amounts of time before the screen. The smaller peer-groups also allowed to a) stimulate discussion among students when that is not always so easy for students who join a plenary class online, b) for students to get to know each other more closely in times of online teaching. During the plenary hybrid sessions, the combination of online and offline participation works relatively well if students at home can raise their voices by using different tools: chat function in Teams, raising their hands, or simply turning on their microphones. I have also encouraged students in the classroom to pay attention to students on screen and invite them to speak should they want to raise their voices, but should that escape me. So the choreography of participating has been a group effort, which has again heightened the sense of collaborative learning in the classroom.