Tyler Standifird knows a lot about flexibility. As an assistant professor of exercise science at Utah Valley University, Standifird studies the way the human body moves and what it’s capable of. But when he teaches courses online, he knows his students need a different kind of flexibility.
Tyler Standifird knows a lot about flexibility. As an assistant professor of exercise science at Utah Valley University, Standifird studies the way the human body moves and what it’s capable of. But when he teaches courses online, he knows his students need a different kind of flexibility.
“I've found that in this online environment, students are typically doing it because they're busy. They're working, they're shadowing, they're doing research, they've got families,” Standifird said. “So, what I've found is that, in order for the students to feel like they've had a good experience, they need a professor who's flexible, who can get back to them quickly.”
Standifird said he makes sure his students know they can contact him any time, through any method — email, Teams chat, whatever works for them — so they don’t lose momentum when they’re working on a problem.
“If I answer 12 hours later, there's a pretty good chance that they've lost all of their time to focus on the class, their energy for the class,” he said. “And then I think they become really frustrated thinking that as a professor, I'm kind of absent.”
When he first started teaching online, Standifird said he was disappointed by some low test scores from his students. When he asked them how he could help, he said the students repeatedly requested more interaction with him. So, he set up weekly homework help sessions over Teams, where students could bring their questions and work on them together.
The sessions were so successful that students started organizing them on their own, Standifird said. And suddenly, the test scores improved.
Standifird credited the instructional designers in UVU’s Office of Teaching and Learning with helping him find ways to deliver courses digitally and flexibly.
“The very first thing I tell new faculty members is to embrace these course designers,” he said. “They're so good at what they do. And then the second piece of it, I think, was allowing your students to see you as a person. Deliver yourself — deliver who you are and what you know about the topic, and allow those students to engage with you and connect with you.”
For more information on UVU online programs and resources, visit uvu.edu/online.
