A few weeks ago, Charlotte (fictitious first name to preserve anonymity requested) left the Montreal area to move into an apartment in Quebec, where she began a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Laval University.
The 20-year-old young woman was surprised to find that of the five lessons in her first session, only one was given in class. “It’s like we’re still in a pandemic,” she said. It is from her apartment, a stone’s throw from campus, that she does 80% of her classes. One has more than 700 students enrolled, all online.
Laval University is one of those that best positions itself as a “leader in distance education,” with “more than 150 distance programs and more than 2,000 online courses!” », We can read on its website.
“Opt for a distance learning baccalaureate at Laval University from the comfort of your home,” says the website of the Faculty of Administration Sciences of the same university.
In an interview, Cathia Bergeron, vice-rector of studies and student affairs at Laval University, indicates that this fall, “68.5% of [leurs] students have at least one face-to-face course.
In total, 31.5% of the institution’s student population is registered only remotely.
On the specific case of the baccalaureate in psychology (a program as popular as it is limited), Mme Bergeron responds that this program “is in transformation”.
She emphasizes that such large group sizes are exceptional. A single course at Laval University has more than 500 students – that in psychology, therefore – and around ten courses have more than 300 people registered, we will be told later.
“I feel like giving up”
Three of Charlotte’s classes are “asynchronous.” Students watch pre-recorded PowerPoint clips, she said. ” You make play. You print your class notes, you read the pages. There’s not a lot of interaction. »
Starting your baccalaureate remotely after having done a good part of your CEGEP from home due to the pandemic, “it’s depressing,” says Charlotte, who adds that she was far from having understood that it would be like this .
On the Laval University website, some of the psychology courses in question are marked “courses that can be offered synchronously or asynchronously remotely”, which Charlotte interpreted as being a hybrid formula.
A first remote session is not what was sold to Bianca (also a fictitious first name), her classmate. “I feel like giving up, but at the same time, it was my big dream to do this bachelor’s degree in psychology. »
I really don’t like it a lot. We have no relationship with the teachers, their capsules are filmed.
Bianca, psychology student at Laval University
“We have 24 hours to take the exams from home, answer choice exams,” she explains. From a distance like that, it’s clear that some people cheat and team up. »
However, the stakes are high: to become psychologists, students must go to the doctoral level, where there are only a handful admitted.
At UQAT, it’s a question of accessibility
At the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), 53% of students were admitted this fall to a program whose training is done remotely.
“We are not TELUQ [université 100 % à distance], we do not want to give our training completely remotely. Face-to-face teaching is extremely important,” nevertheless says Vincent Rousson, rector of UQAT.
However, distance learning is “a trend that will probably continue for several years,” explains Mr. Rousson, who adds that in this vast region that is Abitibi-Témiscamingue, it is a question of “accessibility to studies.”
“The typical portrait of a student at UQAT is a woman over 30 years old with children. That’s a lot of students returning to study part-time,” says Mr. Rousson. Only 30 to 40% of students registered at UQAT come from CEGEP, a “much higher” rate in other universities.
At the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), Jenny Desrochers, director of the communications department, indicates that there are 842 courses this fall that are distance, hybrid and comodal. “We therefore observe a stability in the offer of these courses, the majority of which were created in the context of the pandemic. »
At 1er cycle at the University of Sherbrooke, the proportion of courses offered face-to-face “is around 96%”, indicates its spokesperson Isabelle Huard.
The appetite of administrations
Madeleine Pastinelli, president of the Quebec Federation of University Professors, recalls that university funding is linked to the number of students enrolled. “The temptation to increase the number of online courses and thus attract foreign students was very strong. It’s a windfall for universities, without them always worrying about quality [des formations]. »
We are no longer in a pandemic, the lockdowns have been lifted, but the issues of distance learning are the subject of a standoff between the teachers’ union and the administration of Laval University, explains Louis-Philippe Lampron, president of the Teachers’ Union of this establishment.
Who decides which courses are offered in person or not? “We have the impression that there is a very big appetite to perpetuate distance training” on the part of the administration, replies Mr. Lampron, who emphasizes that with it, the size of the premises is no longer a limit.
But, “by an overwhelming majority, the teachers themselves are in favor of pre-pandemic campus life,” says Mr. Lampron in light of a consultation with his troops conducted a few months ago.
In his opinion, in-depth reflection needs to be done with the teachers.
For the moment, at Laval University (as at UQAM), it is up to a committee linked to each program to decide which courses are given remotely.
As for the government, it does not get involved. The decision whether or not to offer distance learning courses “belongs to the establishments, in concert with their teaching staff,” replied Simon Savignac, press secretary to Pascale Déry, Minister of Higher Education.