PirateQ 
Troy Moon, Pensacola State College
The kids are home from school, so it’s hard for some Pensacola State College students to do their classwork.
That’s why PSC will offer weekend and late night live online weekday math and computer science classes during the summer term, which begins May 11.
Some of the classes that will be offered on weeknights and weekends include College and Intermediate Algebra, Liberal Arts Mathematics, Liberal Arts Mathematics and more. In all, 11 live online classes will be offered.
“We want to accommodate students having issues with childcare,’’ said Morris Buchanan, PSC Math and Computer Science Department head. “We have a number of faculty and adjunct instructors who have stepped up to teach these classes. If this is successful, we will see about continuing this during a normal semester. It just seemed like a great opportunity to explore something we as a department have been flirting with for a couple of years.”
The Math and Computer Science Department has already offered a limited number of Saturday morning live online classes for a few years, as well as limited Friday night classes.
Michael Johnston, Institutional Research Executive Director, will teach Analytical Geometry with Calculus I from 9-10:30 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Yes, it’s late, but Johnston said surveys have shown that many PSC students need late night and weekend classes during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Many are restaurant workers who, with eateries closed to inside dining, are now doing night deliveries for various companies such as GrubHub.
“Some are doing personal shopping at Target and Publix for people,’’ Johnston added. “Waiters who were working are now doing deliveries. But they still want to keep up with their education.
Some are full-time parents who were taking classes when their own children were in school. But it’s very hard to take a virtual online class when you have toddlers around.”
Now, those students will have more diverse time options to continue their educations, Buchanan said.
“And for math, it’s important to have that live interaction,’’ Buchanan said. “You need to be able to ask a question, and not have to go back-and-forth on email just to get an answer. We’re just trying to be as convenient as possible for our students. We hope to ease student scheduling difficulties, aid in retention, and possibly even attract additional students during these times of social distancing.”
The classes
Weekend and late night classes offered by the Pensacola State College Mathematics and Computer Science Department:
MAC 1105-0110: College Algebra, Sundays from 2-5:20 p.m.
MAC 2311-1753: Analytical Geometry with Calculus, 9-10:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
MAT 0018-5703: Developmental Mathematics I, 8:30-11:50 a.m. Saturday
MAT 0028-5713: Developmental Mathematics II, 2 p.m.-5:20 p.m. Sunday
MAT 1033C-0111: Intermediate Algebra, from 8:30-11:50 a.m. Saturday
MAT 1033C-0112: Intermediate Algebra, 2-5:20 p.m. Sunday
MAT1033-1748: Intermediate Algebra, 9:30-11:05 p.m. Monday, Wednesday
MGF 1106-1752: Liberal Arts Mathematics I, 9:30-11:05 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday
STA 2023-0109: Elementary Statistics, 8:30-11:50 a.m. Saturday
CGS 1570-0094: Computer Concepts and Applications, 2-5:20 p.m. Sunday
COP 1510-0097: Programming Concepts, 8:30-11:50 a.m. Saturday