A part of 2.3 Lightning Talk session

Catherine Barrette, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Rotman School of Management
Katherine Hovdestad, B.Com 2022, Co-Head TA for RSM 222 course

Every year, we would observe the attendance to in-person tutorial dropping significantly as the term goes on. By the time of the mid-term, attendance would be 10% or lower. However, during the pandemic and moving the tutorial online, we noted an increase in attendance.

This prompted us to review the tutorial format and move our tutorial content to an asynchronous mode (Khan Academy style). We worked to develop over 20 asynchronous videos that would be available on demand. We also worked to balance the asynchronous content with synchronous TA drop-in hours and discussion boards to ensure that students still felt they could get personalized help if needed.

The response was overwhelmingly positive and we managed to reach 50% to 60% of the class over the term. The main benefits that were noted were:

  • Immediate feedback on performance
  • Greater flexibility for students
  • Reduced commute due to accessibility of tutorial material online
  • Ability to watch content multiple times
  • Smaller attendance at in person drop-in hours made students more comfortable to ask questions
  • Long-term cost reduction in TA budget