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.
I have continued to embrace online education, despite an initial resistance. I used to think online education was of a lesser quality than in-person instruction. How can online instruction be as effective as in-person instruction? And what does it look like? Does online instruction mean posting long lecture videos? Or providing slide contents to students? How do students engage with the material? How do they get to know each other, and me as their instructor? I had many critical questions about the value of online courses compared to in-person ones. These questions created an initial sense of skepticism.
I see providing online options as an equity issue -- some students are restricted in their ability to take in-person courses because of geography, as well as changing work and family commitments. At the same time, my views on the quality of online instruction have shifted significantly. Rather than view online education as being of lesser quality, I see a more nuanced set of strengths and limitations to both online and in-person instruction. I have learned there are a variety of practical tools and strategies that can be used to improve student engagement and learning in online modalities that I was not aware of before. I have learned about the importance of a warm instructor presence -- being a "warm demander" for my online students. The four principles of humanizing an online course -- trust, presence, awareness and empathy -- are not just abstract concepts, but can be concretely developed in the course presentation and interaction with students online. There are many practical tools and strategies than can build connection among course participants in a virtual learning space.
I feel a sense of excitement moving forward. I entered academia because I greatly value and enjoy working with students in the physical classroom. At the same time, I see tremendous possibilities in developing my own skill set as both an online and in-person educator. This Humanizing STEM faculty learning course has been a terrific launchpad to help me to continue to develop my knowledge and skills and to continue to grow as an educator.
Prior to this faculty learning community, I had not heard of a liquid syllabus. I was also unaware that many students (particularly students from underrepresented backgrounds) are more likely to view and access course materials on their cell phones, rather than a laptop or desktop. There are many advantages to using a liquid syllabus in addition to the Canvas platform to communicate course information to students -- particularly before the course begins.
I plan to build a liquid syllabus for each of my courses. I would also like to hold a workshop for my department colleagues to encourage them to do the same.
The American artist, choreographer, and social scientist (he studied Anthropology!) Ralph Lemon's (1952-) works are known for bringing in a sense of movement and flow -- an important theme of our Sociology 125 statistics course. This image of a drawing (Untitled No.10) from 2021 shows people engaging in a variety of activities and forms of movement -- from dancing to playing music. As we flow from topic to topic, and build on our previous statistical foundations, I want to encourage students to keep moving and to stay active in their own education.
My redesigned ("humanized") website incorporates several elements to create a warm and inviting online space for students in the course. A self-designed banner references the bulldog identity at Fresno State, fostering cohesion and bringing in a sense of whimsy. I also included my contact information and a photo of myself. This is followed by important course information -- delivered with minimal text. These course essentials -- including how to get started -- help to relieve anxiety by helping students focus on what is important in the course. Importantly, it provides a sense of inclusion and instructor support for students in the course.
The "Getting to Know You Survey" is administered at the beginning of my online course. It asks students 12 questions, including: "In one word, how are you feeling at the start of the course?"; and "What are your plans after graduating from Fresno State?" This survey gives me an opportunity to get to know my students, and see how I can provide individualized feedback and support to students.
The Ice-Breaker activity, "In Three Words..." has students find three family members or friends, and then has the student ask each person for a one-word description of themselves. Students will share the three words they were given with their classmates in a video or voice recording. Students will be asked to relate their three words to their success in the course. Finally, students will be asked to respond to two classmates' posts.
This activity will help students get to know each other, and encourage them to work together in our virtual classroom.
A central concept in Sociology 125 relates the importance of the "level of measurement" of a variable. The concept is important because it helps you to understand how to analyze data. In this Bumper Video, I talk about one understanding of this concept: distinguishing between qualitative and quantitative variables. It is important distinction that is further broken down in my microlecture video.
This Microlecture expands on the concept of the "levels of measurement" of a variable. Whereas the Bumper Video distinguished between qualitative and quantitative variables, this video further separates out measurement into four levels: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. The differences between them are important for understanding what statistical tools and techniques are appropriate for data analysis.
The associated course learning objective is: distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio levels of measurement, and understand the importance of the differences between them in social research.