Humanizing Online STEM Showcase
Amber Reece, PhD., Instructor of Biology at California State University, Fresno
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.
I began teaching biology online when COVID-19 forced schools to close. However, I had already taken several courses aimed at online teaching that were offered at my institution. The majority of these courses focused on best practices for organization of content and accessibility in our learning system, Canvas. I thought that most students in online classes appreciated being able to work at their own pace and did not feel a need to connect with me. I had an introduction activity using the discussion board in Canvas, but it felt like a one-off interaction.
Where I am.
This course has helped me in two main ways:
1) I have learned that I am a low context learner who prefers individualistic work. I had never heard these terms before and it really helped me see how my teaching methods have been most accommodating to others like me. I now have a better understanding of how cultural preference can influence students' learning and can begin to be more inclusive in my content design.
2) I have learned a new tool, Adobe Express, which is a game changer in creating high quality short videos with scripts and minimal effort. Recording short segments in Adobe Express is so much easier than giving a lecture in a tool such as Zoom. I found that Adobe Express really helps with the distillation and pacing of the content I present to the students.
Where I am going.
I plan to add humanized bumper videos at the beginning of each unit to provide some greater context for the content that will be covered to help the students see how it connects to their major and/ or daily life. Also, I am going to make a plan for having some kind of interactive assignment every two to three weeks throughout the semester to create more of a sense of community in the class. I am still not sure how I will grade these assignments in my enrollment classes, but I will keep brainstorming!
Liquid Syllabus
I plan to send out my liquid syllabus to the students a week before the three week Intersession course begins. The liquid syllabus begins with an introduction to me and an overview of the course.
My hope is that the information in the liquid syllabus will help students feel prepared and be prepared for the beginning of the course.
Course Card
The course card is the first image that students will see that represents my class. Therefore, I chose an image that I hope will dispel the commonly help misconception of science being dominated by "old white men" in lab coats. Instead, my image shows a diverse group of students in white lab coats!
Homepage
I enjoyed working in Canva to create the banner for the homepage in my Canvas course. I think it is much more welcoming to the students than the module layout that I would typically use. Since creating the first humanized home page, I have been adding them to my other courses, even those taught face-to-face!
Getting to Know You Survey
I had created a similar survey to this in a prior training at Fresno State, but this version has more open-ended questions. I really like the option of having students record and audio file for their responses, especially the pronunciation of their name. This survey has ten questions which will provide me with a lot of information about each student, but I am worried about how I can quickly go through their responses in my large enrollment classes.
Ice Breaker
I created my ice breaker with the Flip tool which can be embedded in Canvas. In the activity I ask students to reflect on their personal values and then share an object that is meaningful to them. In the activity I shared my love of nature and showed a piece of granite that I collected on one of my family's frequent camping trips. After creating their own short video, the students will comment on two other videos, and hopefully begin to feel some sense of community and connection with their peers.
Wisdom Wall
My wisdom wall activity occurs after the first test of the semester. I ask the students to reflect on their preparation methods for the test and then provide some advice to future students. Students in the next semesters will view this advice before taking the first test and hopefully feel less anxiety about it.
Bumper Video
I created this presentation in Adobe Express which was a new tool for me. In the video I provide some tips and reminders for the students to complete an assignment reading and understanding nutrition labels. I often receive emails with questions about this assignment because students forget to take into account simple things such as serving size in their calculations. I hope this video will help the students feel supported during their assignment.
Microlecture
This short lecture on the steps of an immune response aligns with learning objectives from the third unit of the semester, infection and the immune system.
Learning objectives: (1) Describe the role of each of the three divisions of your immune system (innate external, innate internal, and adaptive) in an immune response and (2) Understand the role of certain immune cells such as macrophages, natural killer cells, helper T-cells, and B-cells in an immune response.
This unit is by far the most difficult of the semester and students often struggle with the terminology involved in this process. I hope that the short video will allow students to chunk their learning for this lengthy unit and not feel overwhelmed.