Some students are frustrated with their instructors for going beyond the allotted class time during online classes.
Based on UBC Course Scheduling guidelines, last updated December 2019, courses end 10 minutes early to allow students time to get to their next class. For online classes, standard times still apply. Regular sections on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays should end after 50 minutes, and those on Tuesdays and Thursdays should end after 80 minutes.
The scheduling guidelines show that students should be able to expect online courses to adhere to prior standard time conventions, including the 10-minute transition period.
The tendency for online classes to dip into the 10-minute window hasn’t gone unnoticed and many students have been left feeling restless and frustrated.
For fourth-year political science student Thomas Cooper, synchronous lectures in particular have been a source of his concern because online formats have a decreased sense of needing to end at a particular time.
“It just feels as if professors aren’t respecting the fact that students are individuals with our own schedules as well, outside of the class time that we share with them,” said Cooper.
This issue has left students like fourth-year cognitive systems major Max Ahluwalia stuck in uncomfortable situations.
“It’s kind of awkward. Do you message the prof individually saying ‘Class is over by the way,’ or do you speak up and un-mute yourself?” he said.
Ahluwalia also said that while going overtime didn’t have much of a negative impact on him, he found that some of his peers were forced to leave abruptly due to other scheduling commitments. Additionally, he felt having to leave a class running overtime meant the possibility of missing out on certain content or not having the time to ask questions.
Ten-minute breaks are important to combat what experts have dubbed “Zoom fatigue” — sitting in front of a camera for classmates and instructors all day can be tiring. This could especially be concerning for students in other time zones attending class at atypical times.
AMS VP Academic and University Affairs Georgia Yee acknowledged that classes running overtime have been disruptive to both student activities and their time management abilities.
Yee said that students can express their concerns with an AMS advocate or ombuds representative, adding that the AMS is working to make sure faculty members are still mindful of student time, despite the lack of travel time in an online setting.
“That is something we’re working on as a campaign or as educational material as well … we’re committed to continuing to work with the provost office and ... faculty.”
In a statement, Simon Bates, associate provost, teaching and learning, said students can bring their concerns to their instructors first.
“If students have concerns around online classes running over time, it’s best to first raise those concerns with their professors or instructors, or with the department head.”
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