Humanizing Online STEM Showcase
Young Sub Kwon, Ph.D. Full Professor, Cal Poly Humboldt
This site provides examples of instructional resources created in the Humanizing Online STEM Academy, a professional development program funded by the California Education Learning Lab and administered by the Foothill DeAnza Community College District.
Reflections
Where I was.
Exercise Physiology is not a course that can be a fully online course because of the lab portion. I have been developing virtual laboratories of exercise physiology since 2015, and I have created more than 1000 virtual lab videos, including even the virtual and augmented reality of exercise physiology laboratories; however, I taught exercise physiology always in the face-to-face class format, so I did not need to use virtual labs for my face to face course. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, I should have taught this class online. I have a better position than other professors who teach this class and do not have virtual labs. However, I have never learned how to teach an online class effectively.
Where I am.
Now that I have taken this workshop, I have a deeper understanding of online STEM classes and students. One thing I am most excited about as I transition into teaching my humanized online course is "how to deal with our students as human beings." This course made me more aware of my students' feelings toward online STEM classes. Now I have the confidence to teach an online course and even to humanize my exercise physiology online course. My exercise physiology online course is listed in CSU Fully Online (https://www.csufullyonline.com/), and only three universities provide fully online exercise physiology courses. I believe my fully online exercise physiology course will be only the humanized one among them.
Where I am going.
I will create a building community and get students to interact with each other, including me, with video or/and audio throughout this semester. I will also replace many of my existing lecture videos with ones made in Adobe Spark, to shorten and clear the material for the students. I believe my virtual lab videos can be a much better fit with ones made in Adobe Spark, so I am excited to replace my existing virtual lab videos, which will be available to the public through YouTube. I want to maintain this humanized asynchronous online course for CSU students. If my courses need to be all face-to-face classes based on our campus decision, I would like to do a flexible hybrid course for my humanized online course to maintain the availability of courses across the system.
Liquid Syllabus
A liquid syllabus is a shortened version of a course syllabus and the first form of contact with students for a humanized online course. I included my welcome video and important information regarding due dates, the week one success kit, communication essentials, and resources for the students to perceive warmth and support.
Course Card
A welcoming, inclusive “Course Card” mitigates belongingness uncertainty by sending the kindness cue, "You are welcome here." The course card provides the first visual impression of my course, which is important. I imposed an image of diverse people, which shows students that we are a team in the course.
Homepage
My humanized home page for the first week of class is simple, with little information. I provide a welcome banner, my photo, and a "Start Here" button that links out the “Getting to Know You Survey.” I frequently change FrontPage matching class topics during a semester.
Getting to Know You Survey
In week one, students need to complete a confidential survey that provides me with microdata about their individualized needs. This practice helps students realize I care about their learning and success throughout the course. It also provides me with information about which students have challenges, demands, or extra help for their courses.
Ice Breaker
A self-affirming ice breaker is designed to mitigate stereotype threat by sending the kindness cue, "My experiences are valued here." This assignment has two objectives: (1) to help my students get to know their classmates and (2) to introduce students to how to use Flipgrid. I designed a prompt for an ice breaker that connects my exercise physiology course. I asked students to share a memorable physical education teacher, a coach, or a trainer who gets them talking to each other and also connected to students and the course. I hope students can connect with other classmates by sharing their memorable experiences. I built this activity in my course using Flipgrid.
Wisdom Wall
I created my course Wisdom Wall for the end of a course by asking students to reflect on the start of the course and identify something they know now that they wish they had known then, and I also asked them to share that idea in the form of advice for my next group of students. I will share the Wisdom Wall with my next group of students in week one when my next course begins.
Bumper Video
A course bumper video is a brief, visually-oriented video that serves an instructional purpose. My bumper video was made to focus on the Wingate muscular power test, which includes the calculation of work and power, to help students see more clearly power units without any burden. The video I created is going to add so much fun for students and to their learning also.
Microlecture
A microlecture video is a short video presentation on a single, tightly defined topic. I created the microlecture where I recorded a less than 5-minute video on ATP hydrolysis. I included the drawing on the video to emphasize points, so students can easily follow.
Learning Objectives: Summarize ATP Hydrolysis as a reaction relating to muscular fatigue