Fresno State public health professor Tanisha Garcia is one of several faculty members who returned for in-person teaching for the fall semester.

She described teaching virtually during the pandemic as tiresome and stressful, not only for herself but also her students after a year-and-a-half of virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I can tell you, I’m fatigued from just being on the computer nonstop… You do get that, that mental fatigue, having to balance home life, and then your work life, and then the pandemic or on top of all the other things… is just hard,” Garcia said.

As students repopulated the classrooms once more, professors returned to their offices, having to familiarize themselves with old habits and new ones in the wake of COVID-19 protocols.

Garcia was ecstatic to be at the university once again as the day-to-day life as a zoom professor quickly became mundane and repetitive the last three semesters. For Garcia, she felt a certain disconnect during virtual interactions as opposed to in-person.

“I am a social butterfly. So there’s always that [disconnect]. Yeah, you can see your students’ faces on zoom. But there’s nothing more than being in a personal setting with them seeing their reactions, you know, having conversations,” she said.

Garcia recalled how her students on the first day of class also shared a sense of social awkwardness as they too had to regain their bearings after being away for so long. Garcia noted that some students were hesitant to return to class.

“You can tell the first day of class, they’re just kind of bleary and not sure. I think as the weeks gone by, and we’ve been in class, you can see they’re a little more confident working in groups together and wearing their masks, you know, talking so it’s just overcoming some of the obstacles,” Garcia said.

For Garcia, due to social disconnects on the virtual platform, it can be somewhat difficult to observe and gauge the mood of the classroom and how receptive they are in class. Garcia utilized Google Forms to help better understand the needs of her students during the semester.

“I can tell you, during the whole time during the pandemic, students use that platform to just relieve themselves and be able to talk and thanked me for allowing them to do that. So it was acknowledging their mental stress as well as giving them a platform to just talk about it,” she said.

Similar to her students, Garcia often felt swamped working from home as it was difficult for faculty members like herself to draw a fine line between her job and her life at home. 

“Are you going to get off that computer anytime soon? Are you working? Are you teaching? What are you doing? And so I had to literally take my setup in my room, because that’s where my computer and setup is and I had to put it into different areas so then I can disconnect.”

Anthropology professor James Mullooly felt a sense of satisfaction being able to return to the university to teach his one and only in-person anthropology class.

Mullooly felt gratified that, even though he teaches one in-person class a week, the simple act of leaving his house, driving to work and grabbing a cup of coffee felt rewarding in itself as it changed up his daily schedule a bit.

“A feeling of elation, you know, to be back. You know, I mean I’ve been teaching here for going on 20 years. And so, you know, returning to, you know, patterns that I can trick myself into thinking are the old ways, you know, is fun,” said Mullooly. 

Mullooly felt that the prospect of returning to a sense of normalcy prior to the COVID-19 pandemic seemed unreachable as the pandemic shaped student, faculty and administrative perspectives on higher education.

“I think what a lot of faculty and students have realized in the past year and a half, is that there are some elements of our even college classes that can be flipped, that I do not need to sit in a room, you know, with all these other people just to do this,” said Mullooly.

Shifting courses online provided benefits such as accessibility for students in posting short videos online reviewing the syllabus or math equations that they could review, Mullooly said.

Mullooly acknowledged that even though there could be positive benefits in higher education through virtual learning, there are positive aspects in-person such as how it means to belong to Fresno State and the community around it.

“Being there physically in the present in a three dimensional space, seems to have big play, a big part, in that effect. And I think we’re pushing the limits on how far we can do things with this two dimensionality of distance learning,” said Mullooly.

Anthropology and Asian American Studies Associate Professor Jenny Banh expressed similar sentiments to the efficiency of online learning compared to traditional in person classes.

“It might [be] ironic for someone who won a best Online Class Award to say this… but I am not a fan of online teaching. For one, we had a 12% dropout and it was mainly males. For some anxiety-ridden student, maybe some online classes would be okay,” said Banh.

Similarly to Mullooly, Banh noted that in virtual learning students and professors lose out on basic socialization in terms of developing friendships, deeper learning experiences and cultural capital. 

The conditions of the pandemic combined with responsibilities outside of the classroom created a stressed student population with difficulties learning virtually

“There is generally one student in each class in crisis, but this time there were like 50% of the students in crisis, and then you had like 20% of students doing great. It was an odd mix.  What do you teach to them?” Banh said.

For minority teachers and students, Banh witnessed how the pandemic proved to be particularly difficult for Asian students. Banh recalled how in one instance one of her Asian American students fell victim to a racist encounter while working at Panda Express.

Bahn explained that interactions like these created a culturally taxing environment especially for minority groups among the student population. Alongside many professors facing difficulties teaching online, Bahn said the publication of one of her works was delayed due to virtual learning.

“[I] literally worked seven days a week last year,” said Banh.

In returning to campus, Mullooly acknowledged that there are many positive aspects in-person, such as how it means to belong to Fresno State and the community around it.

“Being there physically ”” in the present, in a three dimensional space ”” seems to have big play, a big part, in that effect. And I think we’re pushing the limits on how far we can do things with this two dimensionality of distance learning,” said Mullooly.