One Professor’s Homework? Make a Friend

Martha Mulally, a biotechnology professor in Canada, urges each of her students to make a friend in the course. She noticed that students seemed disengaged and lonely, not knowing how to interact with each other after years of virtual instruction during the pandemic.

So, she insists they work together outside of class in groups of their choice: not just because it’s good for them, but also because it’s good for their learning.

“The reality is that science is a team sport,” Mulally says.

Beckie Supiano profiles some of the unlikely, and heartwarming, friendships students have made in her report for the Chronicle of Higher Education. (August 2023)
…