For the September 2021 issue, G+L editor-in-chief Theresa Ramisch spoke to the Federal Landscape Student Council about exactly why studying in times of coronavirus “really sucks”.
For the past 1.5 years, the next generation of planners has been studying from home. Now the budding landscape architects and urban planners could perhaps return to their universities this fall. If everything works out. For the September 2021 issue of Garten + Landschaft, we spoke to Anneken Fröhling and Georg Spree, chairwomen of the Federal Landscape Association (BuFaLa), about why studying in times of coronavirus “really sucks” and looked for the few advantages of the current situation together with them.
After three semesters of corona-related “home-studying”, the universities are planning to return to face-to-face courses this fall. This was confirmed by the German Rectors’ Conference on its website in mid-August. It’s about time: in coordination with the federal government and universities, the federal states largely replaced face-to-face teaching with digital formats at the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Now, for the 2021/22 winter semester, universities and federal states want to return to face-to-face teaching – provided the general conditions allow it.
In this context, Peter-André Alt, President of the German Rectors’ Conference, appealed to students and university employees to get vaccinated. Vaccination is the most important tool in the pandemic, said Alt. From the fall, all measures will focus on the 3G rule (access only for vaccinated, recovered or tested persons). This is the only way to ensure a return to face-to-face teaching. Exercises and seminars will then take place with masks and in compliance with distancing and ventilation rules, while larger lectures will continue to be held digitally. Hybrid formats are also planned, with the option to participate digitally or in person – but they should not become the norm. The prerequisite here is that the formats are “didactically sensible, technically possible and affordable”.
This is not the first time that universities have announced their intention to return to face-to-face teaching. They have already made the attempt several times – but unfortunately without success. Anneken Fröhling and Georg Spree from the Federal Landscape Student Union therefore find this announcement – similar to studying in times of corona in general – one thing above all: tiresome. Both Anneken Fröhling and Georg Spree would rather return to university today than tomorrow. However, after their return was repeatedly canceled at short notice, the two have become somewhat pessimistic. “It’s really just a shitty situation,” is how the two pragmatically summarize it in the video call with Garten + Landschaft. They feel Corona has robbed them of years of study.
Students found #onlineleere initiative
So far, students have not received much attention in the overall social coronavirus debate in Germany – at least in contrast to school pupils. A quick Google search confirms this impression: the search term “corona school” returns twice as many results as the search term “corona studies” – and in the three-digit million range. In response, students at Heidelberg University have founded the #onlineleere initiative. They are publicly criticizing the lack of communication from university administrations and calling for a return to face-to-face teaching.
Finding understanding is more difficult
At the beginning, she could still understand the focus on other population groups, says Anneken Fröhling. Students were no longer children, could look after themselves, tended to be less at risk due to their age and were also – at least initially – not particularly relevant economically in comparison. After three semesters and shortly before graduation, however, she finds it more difficult to be understanding. Georg Spree has a similar view. “When you realize that things are going on everywhere, employees in open-plan offices are only required to wear masks, but studying continues to take place mainly digitally, you automatically ask yourself why this is the case,” says the budding landscape architect.
Study confirms: Corona makes studying a stress test
Right at the beginning of the pandemic, studies drew attention to the long-term consequences of the lack of face-to-face teaching. In September 2020, the German Center for Higher Education Research and Science Studies published a study on the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic on students. The data collection revealed that 57% of the students surveyed were employed immediately before the coronavirus pandemic. However, almost 40 percent of these students were either laid off, given unpaid leave or affected by a reduction in working hours as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Although most students felt able to continue their studies without additional financial aid, the risk of dropping out had increased considerably – partly because their parents’ employment situation had also deteriorated. In June 2021, a study by the University of Trier and the Leibniz Institute of Psychology also confirmed that studying under coronavirus conditions is becoming a stress test. 60 percent of respondents are more concerned about academic success and their own prospects.
Studying in corona times has become a job
Anneken Fröhling completed her bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture at HS Beuth in Berlin during the coronavirus pandemic and then started her master’s degree at TU Berlin. She has never met her fellow students there in person. Georg Spree is studying landscape architecture at Erfurt University of Applied Sciences and is currently on an internship in Weimar. In conversation, they both report that they hoped every semester that things would return to normal. Everyday life as a student consists of being at home and attending lectures on a laptop. Studying has become more of a job: You work through your tasks and then call it a day. The big challenge here is to keep your bearings in everyday student life. Due to the distance to other students and lecturers, there is no “looking over your shoulder”. How much you have to do for what and what is important and how – the feeling for this is lost, as are the relationships.
How the Moodle learning platform is experiencing a revival
According to both, the quality of the online formats depends largely on the commitment of the teachers. Some put a lot of thought into developing new digital formats right from the start. Other lecturers hold their lectures one-to-one as usual – just in front of their own computer. These tend to be more difficult to follow and require more attention. In general, both Anneken Fröhling and Georg Spree noticed a great deal of online fatigue among all participants. Incidentally: Anneken Fröhling and Georg Spree do not have a general obligation to switch on the camera during events. Exams are also mainly held online – using the free learning platform “Moodle”, among other things – but second attempts are not counted.
Studying in corona times: Planning courses particularly affected
When asked whether planning courses such as landscape architecture or urban planning, which are defined by a lot of group and project work, among other things, suffer particularly badly from the lack of face-to-face teaching, both answer in the affirmative. Anneken Fröhling only had one correction in attendance last semester. According to the landscape architect, she misses working with sketch paper and plans – even the plotter rooms are not accessible. For Georg Spree, the lack of group work is not the worst thing. He misses the general exchange with everyone involved. According to the FH Erfurt student, it feels like you’re watching a documentary about what studying is like.
Podcast instead of lecture – pandemic as an opportunity for new learning formats?
The two see few advantages that the coronavirus pandemic has brought to studying. Georg Spree has the impression that some courses have even received more attention thanks to the digital offer – especially those at eight o’clock in the morning. What’s more, he no longer has to commute. Anneken Fröhling positively emphasizes the various digital formats that have developed in the course of digital studies. For example, she was given the task of preparing a podcast instead of a traditional presentation. If students do not return to university in the fall, she thinks it is good and important to further develop and promote new teaching formats such as these.
Essential: commitment from lecturers
One thing is certain: our students are drawn back to their universities. They want to study again. To study properly. More and more student groups are joining forces, writing open letters and standing up for their interests. However, their reality is defined above all by uncertainty and dependencies. How much learning success digital formats have, and therefore how well prepared future planners feel for the job market, is largely dependent on the technical sophistication and affinity of their lecturers and their willingness to convey knowledge via digital formats. However, the skills taught in planning courses – such as working with plans, sketch paper or model making – also suffer from the lack of face-to-face teaching. We can only hope that the long-term consequences for future generations of planners will be limited.
Print + online: G+L presents outstanding student projects
In the September 2021 issue of Garten + Landschaft, selected students from German universities present their final year projects. These were created in the past months of the pandemic. We have also made further projects available online for you here. You can find an overview of the student projects here.












