Virtuality as an educational alternative

At the University of Costa Rica, the teaching of phytopathology has traditionally been based on methodological strategies aimed at reinforcing teamwork, analysis and solution of case studies based on real situations, bibliographic review, observation of plant samples, and practical laboratory work. The aim is that students understand the concepts clearly and make sound management decisions. This process was developed for in-person instruction, which is how most of the Institution’s degree programs are structured.

Due to the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in which Costa Rica has been immersed since March 6, 2020, the AF-0109 Phytopathology course taught to second-year bachelor students in Agronomy had to be completely turned into a virtual course. This was an unprecedented challenge, something I never had to face in my 16-year teaching career. Ten years ago, in the second academic cycle of 2010, between August and November, I had some virtual teaching experience with one of my groups. On that occasion, with only 18 students, I tried to complement the “normal” in-person classes with the use of a weblog as a teaching tool. From that time on, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) were incorporated into university contexts as an innovative strategy. Although the experience was enriching, it was not actually very relevant for the students, since the platform was basically used as a repository of didactic material and there was no collaborative learning.

In the 2020 academic year, the experience was very different, because the only option, by institutional mandate, was virtual teaching. Under these conditions, in a particularly difficult context, the continuity and excellence of the teaching-learning process had to be guaranteed. The COVID-19 pandemic was conceived as a threat to university education, especially phytopathology, which, like the other disciplines in the field of agronomy, could not be conceived without visits to the field or laboratory practices. Thus, not only the methodological strategy of the course had to be restructured, but also the way we teachers about it; we had to unlearn in order to adapt. There was a need for platforms that, in addition to allowing access to bibliographic materials and classes, would act as the engine of the learning process in both the theoretical and the practical spheres. On this occasion, I was not only responsible for a group but for the Phytopathology Chair, with 56 students, more than ever.

Conception of the academic strategy: Distant but Together

After reflecting and trying to understand the expectations of the students under the circumstances of a pandemic, I concluded that it was not possible to use only technological ‘platforms’. We could not expect to teach plant pathology only through a computer screen; we had to get the students into direct contact with diseased plants, with their causative agents, with the inputs required to control them; in short, with reality. Because SARS-Cov-2 is as real as Fusarium, Erwinia, or the Cymbidium mosaic virus, to mention some phytopathogens.

Thus, in addition to using the Virtual Mediation platform, which is the official virtual classroom of the University, recording the classes by ZOOM, and opening a YouTube channel to post tutorials, we made ‘material boxes’ for in-person practical work. In person? Yes, in person. These ‘kits’ with supplies were sent to each of the students, regardless of their place of residence. The boxes were delivered throughout the country. Even a student that became ‘trapped’ in the United States was able to do the practical work of the ‘Phytopathology2020 course, at a distance but together’. That is what we called our academic innovation program.

The ‘boxes of materials’ contained the necessary supplies to carry out simple isolations of fungi and bacteria. They contained a dissection needle, a bacteriological loop, a test tube, culture media, and a knife. There was also a vial containing a biocontrol agent, a container with fungicide, plastic cups, sterile substrate for sowing, bean seeds, and even an immunological strip for virus detection and a paper microscope (^{Parada-Sánchez et al., 2018}). With these materials, and collecting samples of ornamental plants around their homes, of fruits and vegetables bought in the market, or of plants found in patios or gardens that, as agronomy apprentices, were of interest to them, each student was able to set up their own home laboratory and had the opportunity to carry out practical work in person using the basic techniques of the discipline.

As the semester progressed, I could feel how the students were really enjoying carrying out their own experiments. They performed them right there in their homes and the family appropriated them. I saw grandmothers following the classes because they wanted to know what the issue with their garden plants was. I noticed a father who attended “virtual” classes because he had always wanted to be an agronomist and now he diligently assisted his daughter with her practices. At that moment, I understood that the COVID-19 pandemic was not a threat to the teaching of Phytopathology, but an opportunity. An opportunity not only for my course since it allowed each student to concentrate as never before in the performing of phytopathological experiments, to understand what was happening and to show their colleagues the results obtained, but an opportunity also for their families, allowing parents and grandparents to understand what their sons were doing in college and for sons to understand the importance of their parents support, and, crucially, to care for and respect their grandparents, who were most at risk from COVID-19.

It was an unprecedented experience in my 16-year teaching career. The usual goals were achieved: there was teamwork, analysis of case studies of real situations, bibliographic reviews, observation of plant samples, and practical laboratory work, all from their homes and in the company of their families. Even though the latter does not guarantee the effectiveness of the learning process, it helps with conceptual understanding and could contribute to stimulate self-taught processes.

Conclusions

The feeling at the end of the day is of satisfaction for having managed to motivate my students, which is what I always look for. I firmly believe in what the national columnist Jacques Sagot said: “The student is not a container that must be filled, it is a fire that must be kindled.” In the circumstances of the pandemic, I also understood that this phrase is valid not only for the teaching-learning process at the university level but also for motivating authorities and associations outside the academy to join forces and obtain resources for initiatives like this. It fills me with satisfaction knowing that this unfortunate situation brings out the best of many people. That gives me hope that what we have learned with virtual classes can be improved upon with in-person work. I unlearned in order to learn that threats are opportunities.