From learning in-person in the classroom to online in the living room or a blend of both the question of how students learn best remains open in 2025.
For some students, however, the answer is already clear. Online learning isn't just a preference it's where they thrive. That's why a team at the University of Calgary is working to demonstrate the value of keeping an online component in a course that introduces undergraduates to research design, methods, evaluation, and analysis.
Interdisciplinary research methods, Introductory Social Statistics (SOCI 315) is a course that guides students through the complexities of research ethics, the steps of designing a research study, and the classic group project.
This is a course that was always held in person, until 2020, when a pandemic lockdown changed its delivery method and required students to learn research fundamentals online while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Dr. Annette Tézli, PhD and her research team, the shift online presented an opportunity to improve on the in-person classroom experience. By leveraging the strengths of remote delivery, students could have greater flexibility to learn when it suited them, and the team could pilot a new delivery method for an important core course.
"It's common to see online learning as a low-quality alternative to the in-person experience, but that's not necessarily the case. Lecture comprehension, effective note taking, even physically sitting in the classroom we consider these features of in-person learning, but for some students, they present as barriers." says Tézli, associate professor in the Department of Sociology.
"As instructors, we're here to help learning happen and online methods are one way to even out the strain of the usual set-up."
Since 2020, student interest in online courses has risen dramatically. A typical student is juggling the demands of a part-time job, family obligations and recreational commitments. The post-pandemic student cohort has grown accustomed to the rhythm, flexibility and accommodations offered by a remote learning environment.
Supported by a Teaching and Learning Grant, Dr. Tézli and her team are making the case for how elements of SOCI315 could be effectively moved online.
The principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (EDIA) guided the teams development of a blended version of the course from the ground up. Lectures and learning materials were designed for asynchronous consumption with the expectation that students would arrive at synchronous lab sessions prepared, informed, and ready to engage in the more social aspects of learning.
J Overholser, a co-investigator for the Teaching Social Research Methods Online Project and former teaching assistant for the course views this shift as an opportunity to meet the evolving needs of students.
Asynchronous learning allows for individual styles
"Giving students the option to play a lecture video at two-times speed and review speaking notes are both examples of how technology can help us to meet them where they're at" says Overholser. "By offering learning materials asynchronously, the lab becomes a chance to focus on how to best learn together. Students create group contracts, discuss individual communication styles and creating shared definitions of what it means to contribute."
Project Research Assistant and fourth-year Faculty of Arts student Sumayra Ahmed observed how the class format affected students.
"As Peer Mentors, students would open up to use a little more about their experiences in the course, something that a focus on relationship building in labs really helped to bring forward."
Findings presented at Teaching and Learning Symposium
In November of last year, Dr. Tézli and her team presented preliminary project findings at the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Symposium in Banff. Ahmed was able to attend and present at her first conference - an experience that she calls "both rewarding and nerve-wracking".
"As an undergraduate, the opportunity to present at a conference is incredibly rare, and I'm so grateful to have been able to participate," she says. "I'm also thankful to have presented alongside Dr. Tézli and J, it made the experience much more comfortable."
Recently, the team demonstrated the impact of their work in a workshop at the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning's Teaching Days event. The team explored the opportunities, challenges and transferability of strategies employed in both the online and in-person formats of the course, resulting in a lively discussion about the evolving nature of online learning and the best practices for navigating it.
For more information about the Teaching Social Research Methods Online project, please contact Dr. Annette Tézli.
Funded by the Provost's Office, the University of Calgary Teaching and Learning Grants program supports projects that enhance student learning experiences through the integration of teaching, learning, and research. Learn about eligibility requirements and the different grant streams.
A distinctive feature of the program, the Emerging Scholar Incentive, encourages the recruitment of new scholars to develop their research and scholarship skills in the area of teaching and learning.
Applications for Teaching and Learning Grants are now open. Explore application supports and submit your application package before the January 13, 2026.
