Sessions

Culturally Responsive Teaching – Session I     Bryan Dewsbury

In this session we will explore strategies for inclusive approaches in the STEM classroom. These strategies will be discussed within the context of the cognitive and non-cognitive domains within which they habit. Participants will begin to consider which strategies are useful for their unique classroom contexts.

Culturally Responsive Teaching – Session II     Bryan Dewsbury

In this session we will describe the ways in which traditional mindsets on STEM instruction perpetuate inequity. In this context, we will connect inclusive approaches to our social collective commitment to a successful democracy. We will use different activities to articulate the social challenge before us, and discuss ways in which we can position ourselves to be agents of change.

Culturally Responsive Teaching – Session III     Bryan Dewsbury

We will discuss ways to assess the redesigned classroom. Assessment examples for both cognitive and non-cognitive growth will be considered.

Creating Culturally Affirming and Meaningful Assignments in STEM Courses    Christine Harrington

During this interactive workshop, STEM faculty will discover student-endorsed and research-based approaches to creating culturally affirming and meaningful assignments.  Participants will be challenged to think beyond traditional assignments that are more likely to activate stereotype threat and amplify equity gaps and instead develop innovative assignments that validate, honor, stretch, and engage their diverse students.  Participants will explore research-based practices related to increasing assignment choice and transparency, and determine how to engage and support students in learning tasks that affirm their varied lived experiences. Participants will walk away with practical strategies on how to create or revise assignments that students in STEM disciplines will find culturally affirming and meaningful.

Do Work that Matters: How to Serve Latinx Students Through Culturally Inclusive STEM Teaching Practices      Sarah Rodriguez

During this session, Dr. Rodriguez will present information regarding the history and background of Latinx students within the K-12 and higher education systems as well as information about the current landscape for Latinx STEM students. Her presentation will provide guidance on how to serve students through culturally inclusive STEM teaching practices, including how to implement these practices for both high school and college students. The session will include both small- and large group discussion as well as case studies and examples of culturally inclusive teaching practices. After this session, participants should understand the history, background, and need for inclusive STEM practices as well as develop ideas for how to implement those practices in their own classrooms.

How Trauma-Informed Pedagogy is Culturally-Informed Pedagogy     Jeanie Tietjen

This presentation considers how the rationale and core principles for trauma-informed practices in higher education correspond profoundly to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We’ll consider selected artifacts and practices through a trauma informed rubric of higher educational practices for how they do or do not perform a gatekeeping function in higher education with an especial focus on how gatekeeping practices serve as mechanisms of exclusion. We’ll explore how brain-based awareness of the stress response in particular creates opportunities to reconsider the many factors that affect belonging and problem solving strategies critical to student success.

Identity/Belonging, Community Cultural Wealth & Retention     Mia Ong

In this interactive session, Dr. Ong will describe research on cultural and STEM identities and the roles they play in students’ sense of belonging in STEM. An asset-based framework of community cultural wealth (CCW) will support the understanding of strengths students bring to persist in STEM higher education. Participants will discuss ways in which they can provide opportunities that encourage STEM identity development and leverage CCW to retain marginalized students in STEM.

Integrating Culturally Responsive Universal Design for Learning in Practice     Courtney DeGeorge & Clarissa Codrington

In this presentation, facilitators will offer practical suggestions for expanding inclusive teaching practices. Part one of the session will focus on concrete ways to incorporate choice into assignments and rubrics through the lens of culturally responsive UDL practices. Participants will also consider ways to broaden their assignment feedback and submission options. Part two will give participants an opportunity to look at an assignment or activity from their courses and use a simple rubric to evaluate its friendliness for second language learners, then discuss ways to adapt the assignment if necessary. 

Intersectionality & Women of Color in STEM     Mia Ong

In this session, Dr. Ong will use the work of Kimberlé Crenshaw and Patricia Hill Collins to introduce the concept of intersectionality, particularly with regard to gender and race/ethnicity. She will then describe the experiences of undergraduate women of color in science and engineering using her own research from the past two decades. Participants will discuss research-based case studies deepen their understanding of ways they might support the advancement of women of color and others who have multiply marginalized identities in STEM.

Learning From Men of Color: What Works in Creating Culturally Responsive Classrooms     Newton Miller

This interactive session highlights a study in which 1300, academically successful, men of color were used to consider factors which contribute to low retention and high failure rates of at-potential learners. The findings of this study have been used to inform how the academic, advising, and student support services at our university serves at-potential students effectively and efficiently. It has also led to 16% and 14% increases in course passage and retention (respectively) within the Education Studies and Educator Preparation programs. In this session, participants will evaluate long standing practices that may be supporting or hindering students whose cultural aspects differ from the mainstream student the university serves. They will learn strategies to meet the needs of at-potential learners, and more importantly ways to implement them to create culturally responsive classroom systems without reducing the rigor or relevance of their programs.

Making the Grade: Rethinking Grade Calculations Through an Equity Lens     Meredith Watts

In this workshop we will explore and discuss scenarios where sample students will be taken through different common grade calculations. We will ask what the grades are measuring and whether it is serving these students or our students well and fairly. Potential new grading schemes or practices will be presented as food for thought and fodder for discussion. The goal of this workshop is to open attendees to changing their grading practices and to provide a new angle to explore grade calculations in courses.