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 attended a short session with Michelle Pacansky-Brock a few years ago where I learned how to create a liquid syllabus. I was truly inspired by this experience, and immediately started using the liquid syllabus format for my courses. I also have already made several microlectures, bumper videos, and other techniques to humanize my courses before participating in the Humanizing STEM Academy. I also had been recording and captioning all my lectures since the start of the pandemic using Camtasia and Canvas Studio. I had no prior knowledge of adobe express, and I didn't often utilize youtube. I also did not use an icebreaker activity, have a getting to know you survey in my classes, nor did I have a video explaining more about me and my life to my students. I sometimes collected "words of wisdom" from my in-persons students and shared them, but it was not a consistent part of all of my classes each semester. Even though I was aware of my equity gaps in my STEM courses before this, I didn't have a clear path to closing them.
This experience has been so valuable. I am now much more aware of the barriers that stand in the way of STEM students belonging to marginalized groups. The academy taught me that there are biases in the way that STEM subjects are traditionally taught and that they are not inclusive of many cultures. To account for these biases one of the best things an instructor can do is incorporate cues of kindness and acceptance into their course to warm the course climate, which will help combat the imposter syndrome and the lack of belonging that gets in the way of actual learning. I now have eight elements that are designed to do just that, summarized below, that I will utilize in all of my courses going forward.
The academy was a fantastic way to validate that my previous efforts to humanize my course are not only a good idea, but necessary to be inclusive for all of my STEM students. The experience was also a great motivation to keep improving and humanizing. As I begin to implement what I have learned from the academy into my courses, I hope to see some positive feedback in many forms; improvements in students' grades, performance, and a drop in their anxiety. I am also hoping to see a reduction in equity gaps of students in marginalized groups. I predict that these improvements will be successful, and going forward I will only continue to improve my methods, hear students' voices, and continue to break down the wall between student and instructor.
I usually share my liquid syllabus with my students a few days before the semester begins. The first thing they will see is my introduction video, where I explain a few of my hobbies and passions outside of the classroom. In the video I explain how excited I am to meet them and learn about what they are interested in. I hope this establishes right away that I am human and approachable, and genuinely interested in their success in the class.
The rest of my syllabus contains a lot of information that will help my students prepare for success in week one. Putting this together and sharing it with them before the semester begins demonstrates how much time I am willing to commit to help prepare them, and set them up for success in the course.
I chose this image for my course card because it is simple, and fun. It depicts some microbe cartoons which are trying to look menacing, but actually appear friendly. It is a perfect parallel for how microbes are in real life; not all are bad, although they get a bad wrap. I also like to include movement and color in my course card so it stands out, so so this is actually a gif, or short video, in which the microbes are dancing. The message I am trying to convey is: don't be intimidated!
My microbiology home page serves as place to find essential knowledge for how to be successful in the course, especially at the start of the semester. I have a fun and friendly banner at the top, and a navigation video that suggests the best ways to navigating the course. Under the video I have a bulleted list with course links to the lecture unit home page, lab homepage, the announcements where I frequently post vital information, and grades. In case a student doesn't watch the video, they can find everything in this bulleted list.
At the bottom of my home page I include a friendly picture of myself and a link to how to email me, when I am available for drop in office hours, and the zoom link for them. I also state to email me if you can't make my drop in time, so we can arrange another time. I am hoping that students see this and know that I am here to help them, and they have multiple ways to reach out and get help from me when they need it. I am also hoping that the way I portray my willingness to help is a cue of kindness and inclusion.
This survey is the second to last assignment in the introductory module of my course, alongside a syllabus quiz and the self-affirming icebreaker. In this survey I ask many questions that will help me better serve my students. The questions include what to call them if they have a different name or nickname, how to pronounce it correctly, use their correct pronouns, etc... as well as details about their life and background that can give me an idea of what kind of struggles they may already be facing at the start of the semester. I had not included an assignment like this in my classes before, and I am excited to see the results.
I hope this survey will help me better empathize with my students, and present me as a warm, and caring individual whom they feel comfortable in the presence of, who will be sensitive to their cultural, sociology-economical, or other differences, and create a safe environment for them to learn in.
I like the idea of starting out the semester having students think about why they are interested in biology, and what experiences they have had that made in them want to take the class. I created this icebreaker as a way for them to do that, and share with that experience with everyone.
I left it open-ended so each student could be as shallow or deep as they felt comfortable, and could hint at their culture and unique background if they wanted to. I hope students will connect with their similarities and start to form a foundation for a community with this first activity.
Before participating in Humanizing STEM, I used to collect "words of wisdom to future microbiology students", on note cards on our last day of lab. Students could write what they wanted to share with future students anonymously. I would read them to the next semester class, and the reception that I got was laughter (some were funny), smiles, and an overall a sense of hope and aspiration. I did not, however, have any kind of online version of this. My online hybrid sections missed out on this opportunity. During the Humanizing STEM Academy, I created this clear and easy to use online version that uses flip-grid, includes clear instructions and examples, and that can be used in all my sections, online or in-person.
Students will not only benefit from listening to words of wisdom at the start of the semester, but also from creating their own words of wisdom. When it becomes time for them to submit their words of wisdom, they will get to reflect on all of the growth they experienced over the course of the semester.
This video is a quick recap right in the middle of the semester, reminding students of how far they have already made it in the course, and what they have ahead of them still. It will be embedded at the top of my Unit 3 Overview page in Canvas. Unit 3 of my microbiology course tends to be the most difficult unit, because it has denser chapters, with a lot more to understand conceptually, and they will be tasked to think critically during it.
I want this video to serve as a calming reminder that they are headed into a difficult unit, and they should plan their journey, using what knowledge and skills they have already have built, to be successful. I hope it serves as way to mentally prepare, while giving some reassurance that they can get through it, and reminds them that I am here to help.
During the first unit of the semester, students will learn about structures of Fungi and the lifecycle of molds. I often see students struggle with these two concepts, and wanted to make an extra video that focuses specifically on them. This video will be placed at the bottom of the module for Fungi, following the regular Fungi lecture videos students are required to watch, and will serve as an additional perspective of these two specific concepts.
I made the diagrams for the lifecycle by hand to simplify and streamline the ideas, and provide a simpler model of the concepts to aid understanding. I expect that this additional explanation of these two commonly confused topics will greatly improve students learning experience in the Fungi unit.
