This professor found new ways to connect with his students. He's asking why the Legislature is considering refunds

I have taught at the University of Kansas for the past 27 years. I have taught close to 10,000 students at the law school, in the history department, in freshman seminars for the honors program and in chemical engineering

So I think that I understand KU students and how they learn.

The Kansas Legislature is considering a budget that would require Regents Universities to refund half a student’s tuition for online courses. That would include all of my courses. I have not taught an in-person class during the academic year 2019-2020.

I have not done so because I am 69 years old with what physicians politely refer to as “comorbidities.” I didn't do in-person teaching because the risk of infection was unacceptably high. Many of my students chose to take classes online for the same reason.

More:College students taking online classes in Kansas could get a refund. The total cost is unknown.

To me there are two questions: (1) Did the students learn in my classes, and (2) Put more crudely, did the students get their “money’s worth” from their online experience?

I can answer the first question based on my own experience and the answer is “yes.” The university administration gave faculty clear guidance and a great deal of help to ensure that the learning experience for KU students would not be diminished.

I have taught professional responsibility at the Law School since I arrived in 1994. I have taught it more than 75 times. Normally, I lecture to the students for two hours each week because it is a two-hour class. There is rarely time for questions because of the volume of material I must cover. I encourage students to meet with me outside of class to ask questions, but few do.

This year, I recorded my two-hour lectures and made those available online. I also held live discussion sessions online each week for students to ask questions. These were well attended.

The most interesting thing to me is that, by allowing students to view lectures online at their convenience, it was actually easier for many students to do so. And more did. The class average grade in this class was higher than in same class in many earlier years taught in-person.

Did I miss personal interactions with my students? You bet I did. But the students learned the course materials and their examination results bore this out.

More:University official says refunding tuition for online classes would be ‘devastating’

On the second question, I can only venture a guess. I think that in terms of what my students learned, which is what university education is mostly about, my students got full value for their tuition dollars.

Students learn because they want to learn, no matter how instruction is delivered. And students who are not interested in learning, don’t learn. They skip classes. They play solitaire on their laptops. They send texts on their cell phones. It is just as easy for students not to learn in-person as online.

I am not arguing that online instruction is always the best method of course delivery. Part of the educational experience is personal interaction with other students and with teachers. Part of the college experience is student socialization and transition into adulthood.

That’s why, now that I am fully vaccinated, I will teach in-person next year. I miss my students, but I also think that I gave my best to those students this past year and that they learned what I taught them this year and “got their money’s worth.”

M.H. Hoeflich is the John H. & John M. Kane Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Kansas School of Law.