What to do when you cannot attend a live session
Participation at all challenge live sessions is mandatory. If you cannot attend a session due to sickness, family emergencies or necessary work obligations, catch up with a peer and check your challenge Slack channel for additional materials and information.
👉 Why are live sessions mandatory at Tomorrow University?
Tomorrow University is committed to designing a learning experience that enables mastery of skills and competencies. Every decision we make about our learning experience stems from this commitment: We use fully active learning to engage learners and achieve mastery of practical knowledge to solve our world's biggest problems.
We are inspired by the following quote:
“Students no longer want to sit in classrooms for four years and be lectured to over and over again. Instead, today’s college students want to engage in the world around them, from day one.” [Dr. Michael J. Sorrell, President Paul Quinn College]
In practice, this means that:
- Our live sessions leverage community interaction to promote individual motivation and accountability
- We incorporate teamwork, peer instruction, and frequent discussion within live sessions to enable fully active learning
- Live sessions provide a space for debate and critique, enabling everyone to bring their full attention to the learning content
🌟 How does this process align with ToU’s commitment to flexibility for learners?
We act as a community. Challenge Owners and peers thoroughly prepare for the sessions. They expect others to do the same. Live sessions are a core part of our learning model; they are currently limited to 3.5 hours per challenge. They are essential to foster learning and engage in meaningful debates. Flexible learning is equally important as showing up to live discussions, participating actively, and contributing meaningfully to your peers’ learning experience.
The science of active learning demonstrates that learners benefit the most from the learning experience when they are actively engaged with their peers, and dedicated Challenge Owners, in conversations that bring the learning content on the app to life while being present.
A 2019 internal study at Minerva University reported that active learning produces learning gains of at least 8% after three years, compared to a 92% loss with traditional lectures after just six months. These results are also backed by a meta-analysis of 225 studies comparing active learning versus lecture-centered course designs that found students in traditional lectures were 1.5 times more likely to fail than students in courses with active learning [Freeman et al., 2014].
Only through this exchange and connection can learners truly master the competencies ToU’s challenges have been designed to develop.
💪 What does this mean for me?
Attend the live sessions. Be present. Participate. Make the most of them, and see your presence at these sessions as a non-negotiable aspect of your learning experience.
🎯 What do I do when I cannot attend a live session?
➡️ Catch up through a cohort buddy to review key takeaways.
➡️ Access shared resources (slides, documents, and references) from your Challenge Owner in your Slack channel.
➡️ Join office hours to get additional support from Tutors.
❌ Please note that recordings are not available for live sessions.