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.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, I had taken a few online-oriented courses before taking this particular course. In those courses, I learned a few features that were also introduced in this course. For example, I have already been using a welcome video, a learner profile survey, and an icebreaker activity. I had heard of Flip before, but I had not used it. The previous courses I took had mentioned Flip, but it was not a requirement to use it. I also had not used Adobe Express either. I have used Google Sites briefly before, but not to the extent this course used it. I had also not created a liquid syllabus or a course banner before.
In terms of humanizing, I think the courses I took previously and the COVID-19 pandemic helped me be a more flexible and approachable instructor. However, I was not aware of some of the literature base supporting these approaches.
I have found it helpful to learn to use new tools as part of this course, in particular, Flip and Adobe Express. It was also helpful to get greater familiarity with Canva and Google Sites.
I valued that the assignments as part of this course were designed to incorporate what was developed into one of my existing courses. It was also helpful to have the assignments embedded within a Canvas Shell so I really have no excuse for not integrating them into my existing Canvas course shell.
I see the value of developing bumper videos for several of my courses using Adobe Express. I find each semester that a number of students may not read the text-based instructions I provide and that a short video (alongside the text) may help overcome some of these gaps.
I am still debating many aspects of the liquid syllabus, as I believe it became too long as part of this course. I think my issue is that I cover most of this material in my first lecture and I also record the lecture. There are also questions about whether a course is in-person, hybrid, online, etc.
I am also still debating the use of Flip. I primarily did not enjoy using it as part of this course. Many students are working or have family responsibilities and may have limited access to a quiet space to record a video or voice recording and may have anxiety about recording a video in terms of appearance. I talked to one of my undergraduate research students and he said he had to use Flip three times in a course and he said he found it to be a chore. In many ways, I believe my experience was the same. I appreciate I may have a bias towards text, but I think it also requires much less work compared to video which is an important factor for students with family responsibilities and/or work commitments. I will probably try a few assignments with a text option and Flip options (voice or video) and see how things pan out. I am open to trying!
This liquid syllabus will be helpful in welcoming my students to the course. There is a warm banner at the top of the page and there is also a short welcoming message alongside a video that humanizes me as an instructor. I believe there is enough information in the welcoming video for students to find something to talk to me about beyond just science content. Also, I provide numerous details about the course that should be helpful for students looking to get a 'quick' sense of what the course will be like so that they can establish appropriate expectations. First and foremost, I hope that students will recognize I am someone they will not have any issue communicating with and in turn, that I am here to help them to be successful in the course.
This course card was selected because the course I am teaching is for primarily future elementary school teachers. I believe this image creates a welcoming course card because kids find great joy in bubbles. There is also lots of science to be learned in terms of how bubbles form and the shapes that bubbles take. I believe students will also appreciate seeing the name of the course over the image, as it should give the impression of an instructor that is intentional about the course card.
My homepage serves as a kindness cue of social inclusion for students as there is a warm and friendly course banner that resonates with students' future career (teaching), there are links to helpful information such as the weekly modules and quick links such as a Q&A board, and I also provide my contact details alongside a humanized picture of me at the Grand Canyon.
This Getting To Know You survey serves as a kindness cue of social inclusion for students because there are a number of questions that allow students to feel heard in terms of their needs. Students can share things like how much time they expect to work outside of class time, their preferred method of communication, their preference for working on weekdays or workdays, etc. There is also an open-ended question where I ask students about any other information they want to share that will help me support them to be more successful in the course.
The ice breaker assignment encourages students to select 2-3 words from a list of words that resonate with them (love of animals, kindness, etc.). Students then explain in a two-minute video via a voice or video recording why those words resonate with them. This assignment should foster a sense of belonging by connecting students via both potentially shared and different experiences. In previous icebreakers in my courses, I find that students enjoy learning if another student has had a particularly unique experience or has a unique talent. Such insight gives students additional motivation to get to know each other.
A challenging concept for students in this course is to distinguish what is meant by a science concept misconception versus a student science concept difficulty. I ask students to share science concept misconceptions, but often, several students share a science concept difficulty instead. I share examples of what I mean by science concept misconceptions in the bumper video that I believe will help students learn by seeing examples. I share examples in class, but having a video can support students to revisit the idea in their own time as much as they like.
A learning objective in my course is focused on the identification, reading, and application of the Next Generation Science Standards. The video will be integrated into the instructions for my assignments where I request students to include details related to the standards. Becoming familiar with the standards is challenging as there are a lot of standards. The video will improve students' learning, especially by showing them how to find the standards online and helping them understand that they can hover over the standards for more details.
This site is by Dermot Donnelly-Hermosillo and is shared with a Creative Commons-Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 license. Creation of this content was made possible with funding from the California Education Learning Lab.
