Empathy in the Classroom: Holding the Line Versus Reducing Standards

Across various levels of higher education, students have been struggling in and out of the classroom. Concurrently, faculty are also struggling with higher courseloads, less funding for research endeavors, and increased expectations for service to their departments, institutions and academic disciplines. Given these conditions, showing empathy in the classroom is important. But how much flexibility should we as educators grant our students and ourselves? Join us for this timely, relevant, and interactive session as we explore potential boundary conditions ranging from ‘none’ to ‘endless’ exceptions to course policies and assignment guidelines while maintaining teaching and learning excellence in our classrooms.