News
Michelle Young / News Editor Mahdi Dialden, Karissa Ketter / News Writers
September 7, 2020 news@the-peak.ca
Mahdi Dialden News Writer
Devana Petrovic Staff Writer
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Michelle Young / News Editor Mahdi Dialden, Karissa Ketter / News Writers
News
news@the-peak.ca
Mahdi Dialden News Writer
Michelle Young News Editor
News
Karissa Ketter News Writer
Nathan Tok Peak Associate
September 7, 2020
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6 Opinions
Victor Yin Peak Associate
Madeleine Chan Opinions Editor
Madeleine Chan / Opinions Editor
opinions@the-peak.ca
Opinions
Devana Petrovic Staff Writer
September 7, 2020
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xa FEATURES Written by Serena Bains
First-year students speak on beginning their university experience online Due to remote learning, first-year students face a novel jump in the difficulty of their education
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o you remember your first year at SFU, en from another country, university, or high s with all of the anxiety and excitement of starti university experience? First-year students toda entering during an — you guessed it — unprec time. Most classes will be taught remotely, wh professors will be adapting and teaching cour online — many for the first time. I reached out year students on SFU social media groups reg their thoughts on how they are handling the tr to both university and online instruction. Some have experienced a semester online, while so beginning their first semester in the fall.
There is a consensus amongst incoming first-y students that it is naïve to believe that the uni and campus-life experience can be replicated remote learning. Students can no longer meet peers, instructors, and TAs in-person, socialize peers during lecture, tutorial, or labs, or go to The camaraderie formed through helping each navigate through the unknowns of university w the same either.
Without this support system, it is inevitable th students will face significant challenges in the semester of remote learning. First-year studen have completed a semester have similar conc although their experience at SFU has shaped expectations of a lower education quality for F One student from Reddit described their expe being more challenging than anticipated.
“I'd taken online classes as part of SFU's Distance program before and those were appropriately des an online, self-paced learning environment. These ‘remote’ classes don't come close. Professors see ignored most adaptation to assignments and lectu that fits an online platform. Having any substantial work assignment on your syllabus during a global is laughable and really just a slap in the face to the who do strive to get ahead and do their work prom Kudos to the professors that have put thought into their material to online, it can't have been easy, bu necessary to meet a quality standard that students after paying the same tuition as in-person classes.
trated by Tiffany Chan
ntering school ng your ay are cedented here rses t to firstgarding ransition e of them ome will be
year iversity with t their e with their events. h other will not be
at eir first nts who cerns, their Fall 2020. erience as
e Education signed for e em to have ure delivery l group pandemic e students mptly. o adapting ut it is s deserve .”
Learning how to process lecture material and take notes was already hard enough in a student’s first year, but with online lectures, it will become substantially more difficult. Not to mention, already daunting group projects are not suited for online. Communicating and working together with strangers right out of university is not an easy task, as learning how to socialize and work with peers is an invaluable lesson that is learned from attending university in-person. These are causes of concern for first-year students because courses being adapted poorly to the online medium will hinder their introduction to university education. Furthermore, the contradiction of tuition being increased and the quality of education decreasing only heightens the disillusionment of first-year students. The decrease in the quality of education and financial insecurity are both distracting, but in summation it can make students feel like they are drowning in unfamiliar waters. Add this to at-home distractions, an increased workload, professors, classmates, and TAs not responding to emails, and it is not surprising that students, especially first-years, have seen a dip in their C/GPAs. Even the first-year students who are continuing to do well under these strenuous conditions have been experiencing the negative effects of remote learning. One student from Reddit outlined the impact remote learning is having on their mental health.
Layout by Brianna Quan
change. A student from Discord who resides far from campus described their experience with remote learning as a net positive for them. “I live over an hour (by transit) from the closest campus, so removing all that commute time is incredible. I have a part-time job on the side, so the recorded lectures allow me to freely choose my availability without worrying about making it back home before my shift starts.” For students who live far from campus or have limited access to transit the move to remote learning is especially helpful. No longer do students have to wake up before sunrise to make it to campus, or rush back to work, or home. The change is also helpful for those who work part- or full-time while completing their studies. Students can create their own schedule to learn, while not having many, if any, conflicts with work. The experience of first-year students should be taken into account when adjusting the guidelines and suggestions for how professors should approach remote instruction. First-year students had suggestions for how remote learning could be improved: initiative to make the classes more collaborative to create social connection, lessen the amount of group projects, and adapt courses to online instruction appropriately and effectively.
“I did well academically, but it was super depressing and stressful, and I feel like online class is worse for my mental health than anything else. I just miss getting out of the house and seeing other people. This feels like I’m living at work.”
Incoming first-year students are entering university at an especially unconventional time, where there is little precedent regarding how the courses one is enrolled in will be taught, marked or more importantly, experienced. First-year students who have experienced remote learning have expressed the difficulty of succeeding in a course that is not effectively adapted to its medium.
The impact of isolation in combination with attempting to adapt to a new learning environment has been detrimental to many first-year students’ mental health. The feeling of not having connection, the failures being especially poignant when you are on your own, and not being able to socialize with your peers makes courses all the more depressing and anxiety-provoking.
Although some students do prefer remote instruction, SFU must address the toll remote learning is taking on the mental health of first-year students (and the general student populace) and their ability to succeed academically. Otherwise, the quality of education and thus the academic and personal lives of students will continue to suffer.
Still, these negative experiences with remote learning are not to say that there are not any advantages to the
10 Arts
Emma Jean Staff Writer
Meera Eragoda / Arts Editor
arts@the-peak.ca
Arts
September 7, 2020
Sara Wong Peak Associate
Meera Eragoda Arts & Culture Editor
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Arts
Meera Eragoda / Arts Editor
arts@the-peak.ca
Secret Feminist Agenda
Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby
Courtesy of Hannah McGregor
This podcast is hosted by SFU associate professor of publishing, Hannah McGregor, and covers a wide range of topics from a feminist perspective. McGregor, unfortunately, is taking a hiatus and evaluating the future of the podcast, but the good news is that even if it ends up being cancelled, there are plenty of episodes in the back catalogue to listen to. Many of the episodes contain interviews with various people — including Sara Ahmed, which hopefully gender studies majors appreciate! — but some are just McGregor talking about a variety of issues from a feminist perspective such as ableism, trans rights, feminist science, and more. As she’s based in Vancouver, there is more BC content, making it a perfect complement to Sandy and Nora Talk Politics. This podcast will encourage you to be unapologetic in practicing feminism in an anti-oppressive way.
Courtesy of Liv Albert In this podcast, host Liv Albert tells you stories of various Greek and Roman myths with hilarious interjections of feminist takes on how ridiculous the characters of these myths really were. Her love for mythology really shines through, as does her ability to shake her head at the antics of various characters. If you find Greek and Roman mythology entertaining but, also want a podcast that doesn’t overlook the problematic stereotypes present within them, this one’s for you.
Humour
Paige Riding / Humour Editor
September 7, 2020 humour@the-peak.ca
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Humour
Paige Riding / Humour Editor
humour@the-peak.ca
Humour
September 7, 2020
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16 Diversions
Yuri Zhou / Business Manager
business@the-peak.ca
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