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 started the Academy a bit nervous. I *used* to be a STEM educator, but now I am working as a Learning Designer supporting faculty of all disciplines. How could I translate the STEM-focused learning content into my multidisciplinary work today? How would I be able to complete the assignments without a traditional course to update? I already have taken (and developed) a handful of professional development experiences surrounding equity, would I learn anything new?
To answer my last question: I definitely did learn new things related to equity in the classroom. While I was already familiar with topics like warm demander pedagogy, stereotype threat, and emotions in learning, the Academy provided a helpful breakdown of the topics that gave me a fresh perspective on things. By engaging with these topics in discussion post activities and group work, I was able to see what my diverse group of peers thought about these topics. I am now armed with more tools in my instructional design toolbox.
In the future, I will help faculty on my campus humanize their courses by leading by example. When I facilitate experiences in the future, I will include humanizing elements and make sure that faculty know that if they like what they see and are interested in doing the same, I am available to help them get started. If I ever want references or resources to support the "why" of it all, I can always revisit the Humanizing Online STEM Academy learning content pages which have a wealth of sources. Also, I am now a huge fan of Adobe Express and expect to improve all my courses with short, engaging videos. Thank you Humanizing Online STEM Academy!
This liquid syllabus is meant to be a warm introduction and start the instructor-learner relationship off strong. By including transparent expectations for not just my learners but also myself, this liquid syllabus helps establish trust. By including encouraging messaging and a friendly welcome video, this liquid syllabus demonstrates care from day one.
At the very least, this course card helps learners more easily find the course amongst their busy dashboards. At the most, by featuring real people working together, this humanized Course Card invites learners to envision themselves working in a community of peers.
This homepage is meant to show learners that they are welcome in the course. With a course banner, warmly written welcome, course tour video, welcoming contact information, and module buttons, learners will be able to trust that they have what they need to succeed.
This survey will serve as a kindness cue for learners. It asks questions about their feelings going into the course, any potential barriers that they may be experiencing. These questions let folks know that they aren't seen as just a grade to be earned, but instead are seen as a whole person with individual learning habits and needs.
This wisdom wall has three purposes for three different audiences:
For those posting to the wisdom wall at the end of the course, this assignment provides a place for reflection and metacognition. When people reflect on an experience, they are retrieving information from their brains, making the information more likely to "stick."
For those reading the wisdom wall at the beginning of the course, it can be a source of belongingness, motivation, and a growth mindset. It sends the message that struggling is normal and success is possible.
For myself, the facilitator, the wisdom wall can be a source of information on learner progress. I look forward to seeing what people include in the wisdom wall and adapting my course design accordingly.
This was one of my favorite assignments in the Academy, I have been wanting to be able to make better videos so I took this opportunity and ran with it! This short video (made with Adobe Express) introduces the difference between summative and formative assessment and is meant to create a more engaging learning experience for students. Before this video was made, the learning content page was text-heavy and monotonous. Now with this video learners have options to learn from whatever media type suits them best, following best UDL practices.
Straying from my previous work in supporting faculty, this microlecture is a short video meant to help entry-level biology students think critically about amino acids and their roles in a larger protein.
This will help students with the learning objective "predict which amino acid is best suited for different regions of a larger polypeptide."
By fitting this content into a shorter video (rather than a longer lecture) students will be able to better focus on this typically difficult concept and separate it from similar topics (introduction to amino acids, translation). Also, students looking for a refresher later in the semester will be able to revisit this short video instead of having to open a longer lecture and scroll through to search for this concept.
