Humanizing Online STEM Showcase
Roxann Schroeder, PhD, Biology Instructor at Humboldt State University
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.
For several years I contemplated online teaching, but I was intimidated by the steep learning curve involved in the switch to online teaching. When the pandemic hit, like everyone else I only had a few days to move my classes from face-to-face to online. With support from the wonderful staff at HSU, I learned to teach online, and my students adapted well to the online format. There are so many options for online teaching that I can see will help students be more involved in their classes and that will help them succeed. However, in subsequent semesters my students did not seem as invested in the class, and many more students than usual were not succeeding. When I learned about the Humanizing Academy, I was pretty sure that a more personal approach was needed -- after all, during the first semester of online teaching I had already established a personal connection with my students! However, I was still nervous about the technology and learning lots of new tools and ways to do things online!
Where I am.
During this 6-week course I learned so much that I can hardly believe I was so nervous at the start! The learning modules were organized and we moved through the learning exercises smoothly. Although I was visiting family for much of the time, I was able to complete everything fairly easily (technology will never be my best friend!). I feel so much more confident and have so many new, interactive tools to use now. I can't wait to see how my next cohort of students feel about the new organization and humanized aspects of the class.
Where I am going.
I want to use the strategies and tools I learned and apply them to not only my Human Genetics class, but the other classes that I teach. The tools in the Humanizing Academy were designed for the first couple of weeks of the class, but I want to apply them throughout the semester. I also will be encouraging my friends and colleagues to take the Humanizing Academy if they get the chance - it is absolutely worth the time and effort!
Liquid Syllabus
A Liquid Syllabus is a short and sweet version of the course syllabus, with all the crucial information students need the first day. There is also a traditional syllabus, as required by the university, but this version is much less intimidating (and shorter!).
I will email the link to this web-based Liquid Syllabus to my students before the semester starts to welcome them to the class, introduce myself, and answer their questions about how to prepare for the first day of class. It was so easy to make that I will be making one for all my classes in the future!
Please take a look at my liquid syllabus.
Course Card
Canvas courses have a course card that welcomes students to each class when they log in. I chose this picture because it includes scientists with different backgrounds. My hope is that my students will see someone they can identify with, and it will help them realize that they CAN do science and they DO BELONG in my class.
Homepage
In the past, my course homepage contained lots of information and pictures of colorful chromosomes - because I think they are pretty. I did not consider that it was not as welcoming as the new, humanized homepage. (I did get to keep some chromosomes in the background of the welcome banner!)
The new homepage is short and sweet, with a picture of me and a brief video. Because the new webpage is more personal it will help students feel included in the class. The video has a warm welcome which will help students know that I am looking forward to meeting them.
Please watch the 1 minute video showing my humanized homepage.
Getting to Know You Survey
The "Getting to Know You" survey will be an assignment during the first week of the class, and has a series of questions that signal to the students that I am interested in getting to know them and their interests.
Among the questions I ask are how students will access the course site (phone? laptop? other?) and what topics they are hoping to learn about this semester. The answers to these (and the other questions) will help me adjust the class to the students' interests and their technology. In addition, I will be able to encourage students to contact the technology department early if they need help connecting with the class.
Please watch my 3 minute video for more of the questions in my survey.
Ice Breaker
I wanted to create an Ice Breaker assignment that helped my students get to know each other, and to get them thinking about genetic topics that they might want to research for the project they will do during the semester.
I asked students to think about a memory they have related to human genetics, whether it is something they experienced, or saw in a show or learned about in a class. Students also will respond to the memories of two of their peers to get some conversations going. I also encourage the students to go back and respond to the peers that respond to them.
Please watch my 3 minute video showing this Flip Grid assignment.
Wisdom Wall
A Wisdom Wall is a place where students can leave their suggestions about how to be successful in the class for students in the next semester.
While the advice will help future students in the class, it requires students to think about what and how they learned (metacognition), which will increase their own learning. This assignment will be due by the end of the semester, so their metacognition should help students consolidate their semester-long learning (and hopefully that will be reflected in their final exam grades).
Bumper Video
This Human Genetics class is an upper division general education class, and many students taking this class are intimidated by science classes. I created a two and a half minute video describing some strategies to study for the class. The video encourages metacognition, which means that these strategies can help students in any class!
This video will be in the week one module so students can get the information early (before they are overwhelmed with all their classes). I will also link to this video in the modules before the exams so it is easy for students to review the strategies.
Microlecture
There are several key features of DNA structure that students need to know to understand genetics. Many times students are intimidated by the chemistry, so I wanted to create a microlecture that summarizes how DNA is put together. My goal is for students to know how the structure of DNA is related to its function.
This video will be presented at the beginning of the semester, when students are learning about the molecules that make up their cells. I will link back to this topic later in the semester when discussing how DNA is copied and how RNA is made. By easily reviewing the structure of DNA when new functions are discussed during the semester, students should learn more effectively.
Please watch my 5 minute microlecture - I'm quite pleased with it, and plan to create many more in the future!