University Center for Teaching and Learning

Academic Principles

1. Pitt educational standards must remain high, for both in-person and remote learners.
2. Academic continuity is preserved when in-person instruction is not possible.
3. Assessment of educational quality is done at the unit level.

1. This model builds on work done by faculty in Spring 2020 and can be tailored to fit the pedagogical environment and needs of the academic unit.
2. Faculty and students must be prepared to move between in-person and online modes, as conditions can change at any time.
3. Some students and faculty will not be able—for a number of reasons—to attend or to teach in person for part or all of the semester. (Faculty should discuss their individual needs with their chairs, deans, or regional campus presidents.)
4. All class sessions, whether live, blended, synchronous, or asynchronous should reflect total teaching/learning time and course objectives.
5. Under scenarios where campus is closed to in-person classes:
   • All classes that are offered remotely should incorporate a mix of synchronous and asynchronous activities.
   • All synchronous meetings will be available via videoconference and be will recorded where appropriate.
6. Under scenarios where campus is open to classes:
   • Some classes can be taught on campus, based on space availability.
   • Class meetings will need to be modified to meet social distancing requirements (cohorts of students attending in-person on alternate days, room capacities reduced to accommodate health and safety regulations).
   • All synchronous meetings will be available via videoconference and recorded.
   • Students can attend on-campus class meetings, participate remotely, or rotate between the two. Some students may receive specific in-person attendance schedules.
   • Remote students can participate in synchronous class meetings live, though due to time zone differences may watch a video later.
   • Lab/clinical/studio/internship – models will vary.

• Synchronous online: students participate in learning activities together in real-time online or remotely.
• Asynchronous online: students participate in learning activities individually at their own pace online.
• Blended (synchronous) learning: students participate in learning activities together in real-time with some students participating face-to-face and others remotely.
• Rotating student cohorts: groups of students rotate between participating in class face-to-face and synchronously online.
• Formative assessment: low-stakes assessment designed primarily to help students improve.
• Summative assessment: high-stakes assessments designed primarily to evaluate students.

Fundamental Features of the Flex@Pitt Instructional Model

• Accommodates in-person and remote instructors and students.
• Allows instructors to provide a combination of synchronous and asynchronous online learning experiences along with in-person blended class sessions, as appropriate and relevant.
• If classes are able to meet in-person, students who can’t be there (because of classroom capacity, health risk status, or geography) can also participate (blended synchronous participation) via videoconferencing.
• Class sessions are recorded.
• All classes offer opportunities for in-class experience, when possible.
• All classes have online components.
• All classes have a mix of synchronous and asynchronous activities.
• All classes use the Canvas learning management system (LMS).

Probable Realities for the Fall

• Not all students will be able to return to campus.
• Some instructors may be unable to teach in-person.
• Classroom capacities will be reduced. Typically, new capacities will be one-third of pre-COVID capacities.
• Scheduled class time will be modified to accommodate social distancing processes and classroom cleaning.
• Some courses will not have a physical classroom in which to hold de-densified, in-person class meetings.
• In some courses, it may not be permissible for all students to meet in-person, in the classroom at the same time, and cohorts of students may need to rotate in-class attendance.

The shift to emergency remote teaching in Spring 2020 represented an emergency response to a quickly evolving crisis. Although much remains uncertain, our goal is for Fall 2020 to be more strategic and intentional. Designing your Fall 2020 course with a flexible model of teaching in mind will allow you to adapt to unpredictable logistical issues or sudden changes in public health mandates.

Using a flexible design approach, you can begin to determine the appropriate balance of face-to-face, blended, asynchronous online, and synchronous online elements for your course. Examine your syllabus and identify those activities, elements and experiences that best align with a face-to-face, blended, asynchronous online, or synchronous online delivery format.

• As possible, hold live, face-to-face sessions. Note, in the Guarded operational posture, most instruction will be in person, except for some large lecture courses. In the Elevated and High operational postures, opportunities for face-to-face class meetings will be more limited.
• Provide asynchronous and synchronous online activities/content  to support, augment and extend the live, in class sessions. These online methods are the pedagogical tools relevant when face-to-face meetings are not possible. If in-person classes are suspended, the online components of the course will help maintain instructional continuity and make a transition to full remote teaching smoother.
• Become familiar and comfortable with the educational technology that will support the Flex@Pitt Instructional Model: Canvas, Zoom, and Panopto.
• Note: The University will be making further announcements regarding available in-class technology.  Explore the resources, training, and support that is available at the University Center for Teaching and Learning.
• Important Information About Recording Your Class
  In order to facilitate the free exchange of ideas during lectures, if a faculty member intends to record their lecture with student participation, they must advise the students, via e-mail and at the beginning of the lecture, that the lecture, including their participation, is being recorded. Students should not be required to participate in the recorded conversation and should be encourage to ask questions off-line. Further, the recorded lecture may be used by the faculty member and the registered students only for internal class purposes and only during the term  in which the course is being offered. Faculty who have questions should contact faculty@pitt.edu. Consult the University policies for additional information on copyright.

Examples of Ways to Implement Flex@Pitt

This model can be implemented using many different approaches, as appropriate to the operational posture in which the university is currently operating. For each approach, the Teaching Center recommends posting course content, videos of class sessions, and creating assessments using the Canvas LMS.

Examples of implementation strategies include:

Full In-Class Approach: Teach in-person and remote students at the same time. Most students will be present in the physical classroom and some will participate in the class remotely (because of geography, health status, or other relevant consideration), using video conferencing technology (e.g., Zoom). Videos of class sessions should be posted for online asynchronous viewing. In a variant of this approach, the Rotating Cohort Approach, because of social distancing limitations, not all enrolled students will be allowed in the classroom at the same time. Smaller cohorts of students will attend in-class sessions on rotating days, while other cohorts of students participate remotely in the live class session. In both approaches, supporting the meaningful participation and engagement of remote students will be important. In-class opportunities will be most relevant when the university is in the Guarded operational postures.

Flipped Hybrid Approach. Create a “flipped classroom” in which the instructor provides all students with asynchronous learning activities (e.g., a short video lectures, reading assignments, discussion prompts, case studies, problem sets, quizzes, etc.) to complete prior to synchronous sessions. This reduces the amount of time students participate in synchronous class sessions. In this approach, the amount of in-class meeting time can be limited and focused on hands-on instruction and facilitated student practice.

Fully Online Approach:  Some large enrollment lecture courses may be offered fully online. If your course is approved for fully online delivery, no class meetings are required. Offer a balance of asynchronous and synchronous activities to meaningfully engage students, provide a sense of community, and help establish connections between you and your students. A slight modification, the Majority Online Approach, might involve having students assemble in-person at the beginning of the semester, to meet each other and establish initial interpersonal connections, at mid-semester for a check-in, and at the end of the semester for final presentations or assessments. The key point is that with a very small number of exceptions, all instructional activity takes place online. A fully online format will be the primary mode of delivery if the university is operating in the Elevated or High operational postures.

Separate Sections Approach:  Offer two separate sections of the course: one for those in-person and one for those taking the course remotely. This approach may be appropriate for courses with mid-sized enrollments in which there are a significant number of remote students. In this approach, with a few exceptions, most instructional materials like readings, lectures, and assignments would remain the same for each “section,” but one group of students would complete coursework face-to-face and the other would complete work online.

Download the PDF of the Flex@Pitt Approaches Chart.

Engage, Communicate and Motivate.

• Convey your investment in student success.
• Express empathy and your awareness that we are not operating under usual conditions, and that success is possible.
• Establish “instructor presence.” Make sure that the students know that you are there for them during the educational process through regular communication and feedback.
• Develop a communication plan for conveying important course information to students using a consistent structure and medium. Consider communication methods that will reach both face-to-face and remote students. For example, you might post an announcement in your Canvas course shell every Monday.
• Communicate your course delivery plan to students on your syllabus and in your Canvas course shell. Discuss expectations for student participation in various modes of delivery during the first week of the semester, including logistics and safety guidelines for face-to-face class sessions.
• Communicate plans for the semester (including “contingency plans”) at the beginning of the semester. As much as possible, have these plans outlined in your syllabus.
• Communicate clear expectations for deadlines, format, exemptions, etc., but also your willingness to consider situations which may require flexibility on your part.
• Build flexibility into your plan for the semester. Students may experience disruptions to their academic experience for various reasons. Consider how you will support them and respond to those disruptions. Including student support resources on your syllabus and in your course shell, allowing flexible assignment deadlines or limited number of grace periods, or inviting students to request extensions may be helpful to students dealing with challenges throughout the semester.
• Build in opportunities to cultivate class community, particularly early in the semester. Use activities that allow students to reflect and draw on their experiences, select readings or topics that are most interesting to them, and prompt them to interact and discuss with their classmates. Conveying respect and interest in your students also helps build a healthy class community.
• Use regular informal check-ins to establish a feedback loop with your students. By conducting surveys biweekly or once a month to ask students about their progress in the course, their well-being, and their perception of learning activities and teaching, you can
• Make adjustments during the course to improve students’ learning experiences.

The FAQ section is updated regularly to document and address current questions and concerns from faculty and staff.  Visit the Flex@Pitt FAQs for updated information.