Humanizing Online STEM Showcase
Jacqueline Novak, DNP, RN, CCRN
Saddleback College
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 didn't realize what I didn't know. I always say to my students you don't know what you don't know; and this couldn't be more applicable to me. I had no idea the plethora of resources available to myself and my students. There is a small feeling of discouragement knowing my class could have benefited from the resources I didn't know existed. However, I take this as a great lesson and look forward to implementing the new resources to make my course more humanized.
Where I am.
Upon completion of this course I have learned many new skills that will benefit not only my students and my course, but our program and college as a whole. I can now teach my colleague the resources I have learned and encourage them to implement them into their courses to optimize humanization of their courses. I had only used Adobe PDF and never knew there were resources beyond that, and now I can make videos! I have also found a connection to topics we have learned that I see immense value in. I've gained a deeper understanding of the importance in kindness clues and preventing social isolation by means of inclusion. It's also incredibly important to implement warm and wise feedback as we never know what our students are going through.
Where I am going.
Now that I am equipped with robust skills to humanize my course I am motivated to implement these changes. Not only is it important to connect with and engage my students, but to also help me feel more ownership to my course. I feel very passionate about what I teach and value the importance of the content I am teaching. It only makes sense to show that passion in my course, and have the students feel my love for what I teach, even in an asynchronous online format.
Liquid Syllabus
I will utilize my liquid syllabus to help connect with my students prior to my course beginning. This will help the students to feel at ease, and comfortable before beginning an arduous course. This will also give them an opportunity to get to know me more personally, and hopefully alleviate some fears prior to beginning the course.
I also want to ensure I establish an open line of communication between the students and myself as this will set the precedent to ensure we facilitate open lines of communication throughout the course.
Course Card
The course card I selected encompassed an image I felt spoke to the course, but was simple and clear. I wanted to select something that was inviting, but also explained the basis of the course. Since my course is Pharmacology, I felt simple medication bottles would be a good depiction of the course.
Homepage
This is a screencast of my homepage made to be clear and concise, but inviting and warm to all students. I strive to make things clear and organized as I know this can be a bone of contention for students, especially with an asynchronous online course.
Getting to Know You Survey
This is my Getting To Know You Survey. I feel it is important to start the course with an opportunity to better get to know my students, and for them to better get to know me. This is a way to start the course in a positive and inviting manner (and ease any nerves).
Here are two examples of questions in my survey:
"If you had to eat the same food everyday, what food would it be?"
"What is the one thing that is most likely to interfere with your success in this class?
I include the above questions because I like to make a question that is fun, but also interesting that the student also finds entertaining. I also like to know if there is something the student feels will interfere with their success in the course. This helps me monitor the students progress, and reach out when I see any deviation from their norm.
Ice Breaker
This icebreaker assignment was created not only to get to know my students better, but to allow them to see a more humanistic side of myself as well. This helps students show a different side of themselves and allows them to be more vulnerable, which can also be very challenging; but can also be rewarding. By sharing our lived experiences, this helps breaks down barriers and allows us to get to know each other better.
Beta Blocker Intro
This bumper video delves into the topic of beta blockers. This category of medication is one that all nurses commonly administer, and must have a good command of. Understanding the basic components of how to administer this drug are imperative- providing a short video to explain this will help students to understand the most important points, and feel safe when administering beta blockers in the future.
Microlecture
This microlecture covers the topic of pressure injuries, a topic essential to the foundation of nursing practice. Learning how to stage pressur injuries is a fundamental skill all nurses need to encompass. Byt the end of this microlecture, the student will be able to effectively describe how to stage pressure injuries. This microlecture will provide students with the basic skill of staging stage 1-4 pressure injuries, as well as a suspected deep tissue injury and unstageable pressure injury. This will also instill confidence in the student to be able to successfully master this skill.
This site is by Jacqueline Novak 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.
