June 5, 2020
According to a survey conducted by Statistics Canada, academic life has been disrupted for 57% of post-secondary student respondents, who face work placements and courses being delayed, postponed, or cancelled. Just over a quarter of respondents (26%) indicated that their courses were cancelled or postponed, specifically classes that involve hands-on instruction such as labs and other forms of applied learning that cannot be delivered online. Students planning to graduate in 2020 are particularly concerned, as 11% of respondents reported that they were unable to complete their degree, diploma or certificate as planned.
The SFSS applauds the work that SFU has done to keep students safe in the midst of the pandemic. While many students can complete courses online, the SFSS is concerned for students that are enrolled in lab-based courses. Lab courses include science labs (for biology, chemistry, and other
courses), computer labs (for programming, statistics, and other courses), environmental labs (for outdoor learning courses like geography), design and publishing labs (for spatial and graphic design courses and publishing courses), and engineering labs. These courses span the faculties of Science,
Health Sciences, Applied Sciences, Environment, Business, and Communication, Art & Technology, impacting a wide variety of SFU students. Lab courses offer students hands-on, experiential-based
learning and allow them to develop specific skills that are valuable and essential to a variety of careers.
In May 2020, a voluntary survey was administered to students taking or planning to take, lab courses at SFU remotely. The survey received 61 responses as of May 14th, 2020. The following report summarises those responses.
Read the full survey report and recommendations here.
Results: Of the 61 students that responded to this survey, just under half of the respondents (47.5%) are only taking one course that has or is meant to have a lab component, while 33.7% are taking between two and four courses with labs, as shown below. The survey responses indicate that most students are taking these courses because they are required courses for their degree (77.0%), and it is part of their course planning in order to graduate on time (74.7%).
Recommendations: The entire world has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While students are appreciative of SFU moving courses online, SFU undergraduates taking lab courses have reported that the quality of
their education has been impacted, and as such, recommend the following: