Humanized Online Teaching Showcase
Shannon Devine, Nutrition Instructor, Butte College
This site provides examples of instructional resources created in the Humanizing Online Teaching Academy, a professional development program at Butte College, funded by the Culturally Responsive Pedagogy & Practices grant from the California Community College Chancellor's Office.
Reflections
Where I was.
I have been teaching nutrition online at Butte College for several years. I have been feeling a bit stuck over the last few years, knowing that I should be doing more to improve my class, especially in regards to connecting with students and making my materials and assignments more engaging, but not knowing where to start. When I heard about the opportunity to take this class on Humanizing Online Teaching, I thought, "this is exactly what I've been looking for!" I needed guidance on how to create engaging assignments, use new tools, and connect with students. I was excited to learn and apply this new knowledge to my courses.
Where I am.
Now that I am at the completion of this 6-week course, I have a mixture of feelings. I feel encouraged that I have more tools in my toolbox, but disouraged by how much time I worry it will take me to put them all to use. I feel good about some of the assignments I completed in this course, and I know others could be better. Overall though, I am excited that I feel more confident about making some positive changes to the look and feel of my course and the way I interact with my students.
Where I am going.
I am already planning on using the liquid syllabus in a fast-track class that I will be teaching starting next week. I also hope to use flip for an introductory discussion. I am planning to make a list of the things we did in this class that I want to use and apply to my own class. I am looking forward to looking at the classes I teach through a different lens and really trying to be more inclusive with the images, language, and materials I choose. I am already working on my kindness cues and wise feedback. ☺️
Liquid Syllabus
I plan to email my liquid syllabus to students the week before class starts. I think this is a great welcoming tool that will make students feel more comfortable and less worried about the class before it starts. I think this will help set the tone of the class and let them know that I am a real person and am very approachable and that I care about what I'm teaching and their learning experience. I will also include a link to this syllabus in the Welcome module in my class for those who add late or didn't see it.
Course Card
I chose this course card because I really like that it shows a person cooking and healthy food. I think it is a warm and inviting photo that students can relate to. In the past, my course cards have been only of food and I think adding the human element brings it to life.
Homepage
My homepage welcomes students with a bright, cheery and non-intimidating banner to show them that nutrition is fun and approachable. I like the simplicity of this page because it doesn't overwhelm them with too much text or detail, but instead gives them important information to get started with the class and provides links to more detailed information. I think the photo of me next to my contact information shows that I am available to everyone.
Getting to Know You Survey
The getting to know you survey is a kindness cue that tells students their instructor cares about their individual needs and situations. It shows students that I care who they are as students and as humans outside of class. This survey, given during the first week of class, will help me to meet each student where they are right now and help them to be successful in my class.
Wisdom Wall
The Wisdom Wall is a great activity that works in two ways. First, it gives current students an opportunity to reflect on what they have learned and then share this information and the challenges they encountered to incoming students.
Second, the Wisdom Wall helps future students understand a little bit about the class and what to expect before they dive in. I think this activity fosters a sense of community for everyone involved. It demonstrates to all students that they aren't alone, but rather in a community of peers with similar thoughts, feelings, concerns and aspirations.
Bumper Video
The purpose of this video is to introduce the Nutrition Project to students so that they have a general overview of what they'll be doing before they begin. This a an important 3-part assignment in my course that is worth a large percentage of their grade.
Students often seem overwhelmed by this project and the specific instructions are quite lengthy, so I think breaking down each part as I do in this video, will ease some stress and better approach this assignment.
Microlecture
The title of my microlecture is "Protein: What's All the Hype and How Much Do We Really Need?" Despite my longer lecture on protein, I still find students believing that they should be eating much more protein than they actually require. There is so much focus on high protein diets in our society today and students often think more is better.
The learning objectives are for students to be able to identify 3 problems with too much protein and to calculate protein needs for various individuals.
I plan to add this microlecture to my Protein module and possibly to the Nutrition Project module. I hope students will understand that although protein is very important, eating too much can put you at risk.