{"id":946,"date":"2010-06-10t21:23:50","date_gmt":"2010-06-11t03:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/"},"modified":"2021-02-26t11:43:29","modified_gmt":"2021-02-26t16:43:29","slug":"crisis","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/guides-sub-pages\/crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"teaching in times of crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
originally written in 2001 by cft staff
\nrevised and updated in april 2013 by nancy chick, cft assistant director <\/em><\/td>\n		\n

print version<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

whether local, national, or international in scope, times of crisis can have a significant impact on the college classroom. the students need not be directly related or personally involved to experience anxiety or trauma. while proximity (a local event) may lead to a more obvious impact on your students, the effects can be just as difficult based on \u201cthe sheer\u00a0magnitude <\/em>and scale (national events with wide media coverage)\u201d and \u201cthe degree to which students are likely to\u00a0identify\u00a0<\/em>with the victim(s) of the tragedy and feel like \u2019vicarious victims\u2019\u201d (fellow students, fellow women, fellow members of a group targeted by a hate crime, fellow americans) (huston & dipietro, 2007, p. 219).<\/p>\n

the resulting anxieties students\u2014and teachers\u2014bring into the classroom in response to a crisis can affect student learning, as documented by psychological, cognitive, and neuroscience research.\u00a0 individual crises, such as coping with the loss of a family member or recovering from a difficult break-up with a significant other, can affect an individual class member\u2019s learning and performance. however, communal crises, such as the unexpected death of a fellow student or teacher, the shock of 9\/11, the devastation of hurricanes katrina and sandy, the tragedy of the shootings at virginia tech, or the bombing of the boston marathon, can affect everyone\u2019s well-being\u2014personal and academic.<\/p>\n

\u201cit is best to do something.\u201d<\/h2>\n

a 2007 survey by therese a. huston and michelle dipietro (2007) reveals that \u201cfrom the students\u2019 perspective, it is best to do something<\/strong>. students often complained when faculty did not mention the attacks at all, and they expressed gratitude when faculty acknowledged that something awful had occurred\u201d (p. 219).\u00a0 students report that \u201cjust about anything\u201d is helpful, \u201cregardless of whether the instructor\u2019s response required relatively little effort, such as asking for one minute of silence\u2026, or a great deal of effort and preparation, such as incorporating the event into the lesson plan or topics for the course\u201d (p. 216). the exception, the least helpful and even most problematic responses are a \u201clack of response\u201d and \u201cacknowledging that [the crisis] had occurred and saying that the class needs to go on with no mention of opportunities for review or extra help\u201d (p. 218).<\/p>\n

there are many possibilities for how to address a crisis in class, from activities that take only a moment to restructuring your entire course, and plenty in between. again, consider that students appreciate any action, no matter how small. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

taking a moment of silence<\/h4>\n

taking a moment of silence<\/strong> interrupts a course very little but gives everyone a chance to reflect as a part of a community and demonstrates the instructor\u2019s sense of humanity.<\/p>\n

minding the cognitive load<\/h4>\n

such events affect students\u2019 cognitive load, as \u201cworking memory capacity is reduced immediately following an acutely stressful experience\u201d (p. 218). this awareness may lead you to be lenient with due dates<\/strong> or adapt your syllabus for the week following the crisis to accommodate a reduced workload<\/strong>, both in terms of introducing new concepts and expecting students to exercise typical study habits.\u00a0 holding a review session<\/strong> for material covered during the crisis may also be helpful.<\/p>\n

assigning relevant activities or materials<\/h4>\n

huston and dipietro cite specific activities that helped students cope after 9\/11:\u00a0 \u201ccollege students who participated in a journal writing exercise<\/strong> or who listened to a story that addressed themes relevant<\/strong> to the terrorist attacks showed greater improvements and fewer signs of trauma\u201d (p. 209). consider how you may \u201cuse the lens of [your] discipline to examine the events surrounding the tragedy<\/strong>,\u201d such as assigning a relevant poem, connecting it to a similar historical moment, or examining the engineering concepts involved in a relevant structure (p. 219).<\/p>\n

facilitating a discussion<\/h4>\n

if you would like to talk directly with your students about the crisis<\/strong>, you might consider contacting the university counseling center (ucc)<\/a> for ideas on how to approach such a conversation. additionally, the information below may also be useful in discussing a tragedy with your students.\u00a0 there are a number of factors that can affect how a conversation about a crisis might go.\u00a0 as deborah shmueli (2003), a professor at haifa university in israel, has suggested, some things to take into consideration are as follows:<\/p>\n