The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts will provide an online option this fall for its students and their families who are not ready to fully participate in the residential experience because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
ASMSA moved to remote instruction for all students in mid-March as the coronavirus pandemic began to evolve in Arkansas. Students completed the spring 2020 semester via remote instruction, primarily through asynchronous learning with weekly meetings between students and instructors taking place via video.
Fall 2020 online courses will be a blend of synchronous and asynchronous learning with multiple sessions per week conducted live via Zoom. Course options will be available across disciplines but will be limited in number. Over the past month, faculty have been translating more than a dozen ASMSA classes into an online format for both this new opportunity as well as should the school need to pivot to remote learning again in the fall.
The decision to offer the online option was made in response to student needs expressed to the school’s administration via a survey of returning and incoming students and parents as well as other communication methods.
“ASMSA has always been committed to providing appropriately challenging learning opportunities that are responsive to students’ needs,” said ASMSA Director Corey Alderdice. “The unique challenges of the current pandemic require ASMSA to respond in new ways that maintain our commitment to equity in access for talented and motivated students.”
Students who choose online courses for the fall semester will have the option to join the on-campus residential experience in either January 2021 or August 2021, depending on their preference and on circumstances related to COVID-19.
ASMSA has been a leader in digital learning dating back to the 1990s. Initially, the Office of Distance Education provided various courses for schools throughout Arkansas and the nation through synchronous-learning classes. Today, ASMSA’s Coding Arkansas’ Future and STEM Pathways programs provide digital instruction in computer science and advanced biology topics as well as access to the expertise of the school’s faculty to students and educators across the state.
“Though ASMSA is often defined by our on-campus community and residential experience, the school has provided leadership in the state’s distance learning efforts since 1999. Our instructors are working hard to adapt our inquiry-based courses into this new format,” Alderdice said.
A decision on when and how to bring students back to campus for the residential experience has not been announced. A guiding document for students and employees for the fall semester is planned to be released on July 8.
If students do return to campus in August, additional courses, particularly in languages, may be available for online students through a hybrid-flexible model with students participating in classes both online and on campus at the same time. All courses within ASMSA’s curriculum will be designed to make any future transitions to remote instruction if required more seamless.
"Our campus leadership team and planning group remains in close contact with the University of Arkansas System leadership, state officials, public health experts and peer institutions across the nation on the best course of action for the fall semester. We will adapt our plans as needed to ensure the safety of all members of our community of learning,” Alderdice said.