Broadly, these strategies are to not require camera use, explicitly encourage usage while establishing norms, address potential distractions, engage students with active learning, and understand your students’ challenges through surveys.

This information was used to develop strategies to encourage-without requiring-camera use while promoting equity and inclusion. Additionally, some students revealed to us that social norms also play a role in camera use. Other reasons included being concerned about other people and the physical location being seen in the background and having a weak internet connection, all of which our exploratory analyses suggest may disproportionately influence underrepresented minorities. We confirmed several predicted reasons including the most frequently reported: being concerned about personal appearance. We surveyed students to better understand why they did not turn on their cameras. However, by the end of the semester, several of our instructors and students reported lower than desired camera use that diminished the educational experience. Out of consideration for students, we established a policy that video camera use during class was optional, but encouraged. After transitioning to emergency remote instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our introductory biology course shifted all in-person laboratory sections into synchronous class meetings held via the Zoom videoconferencing program.

While adapting this form of teaching, instructors familiar with traditional face-to-face methods are now met with a new set of challenges, including students not turning on their cameras during synchronous class meetings held via videoconferencing. Enrollment in courses taught remotely in higher education has been on the rise, with a recent surge in response to a global pandemic.

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