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 have been a hybrid course teacher for many years, and teach a variety of courses including communications and terminology in the Dental Field. For those courses there are many more opportunities for students to communicate and collaborate woven into the curriculum. However, the Dental Sciences course that I teach and chose to use during this Academy is very science and biology based, and I was looking for ways to have students communicate and feel more connected since the material does not lend itself to as many sharing opportunities as my other courses. During the Covid pandemic I took several courses on being an Online Instructor and was given great suggestions on making my courses more accessible and the Canvas Courses I teach clear and organized. I also pride myself on being connected and reachable to students, and have gotten comfortable with a handful of media tools to enhance presentations. However, I felt this science course in particular needed revamping with improvements that will stimulate and engage students instead of just having them memorizing scientific facts.
During this Humanizing Academy I became aware of how deep the impact is to minoritized groups if courses are lacking in the areas of connectivity and accessibility, and the difference between low and high cultural context learners. This helped open my understanding to different types of learners, and the importance of connection and need for students to feel part of a group. This was an area I had frankly never put much emphasis on. Having the experience of taking this "Humanizing STEM Academy" as an online student who is trying to do my best, but also experiencing roadblocks, scheduling conflicts and self-doubt regarding learning new media modalities, helped me better empathize with my students. During the course I became so excited to open up my grades and hear such positive, personal feedback each time from my group leader. That personal attention became as important to me as the corrections or advice on how to improve.
I have the desire to follow the example that my group leader demonstrated during the Humanizing Academy Course, by using personal, thoughtful comments for each student when grading each assignment, finding something uniquely positive to comment on before any corrections or suggestions are mentioned. I also will be including more videos in my courses, and I am less shy about not having a perfect result to share. The Liquid Syllabus I will immediately use next semester in all my courses, since at the college that I teach, the Canvas Courses are not open until the first day of the semester. Though I have always sent out welcome emails, I feel the ability to share a Liquid Syllabus earlier gives students a warm introduction in a beautiful format that shows that I care and am willing to put in that extra time in to send them something special to help prepare them to be successful. For those students who add the course later, I can follow up their "add codes" by sharing the Liquid Syllabus through a personal email to welcome them to class and catch them up. I also am including in my course a form of a "Getting to Know you Survey" and a Q & A page that I will be calling the "Course Cafe" where students can connect and help with suggestions for each other.
I will be sending out a welcome email to all registered students with an attached Liquid Syllabus before the semester begins. This will help give students a warm introduction to the course, and allow them to get prepared ahead of time. I feel providing this to students shows them respect for their schedules and acknowledges their need for preparation time. Also, I want them to feel that all types of students are welcome since we often have a variety of students of varying ages, backgrounds and experiences that take this course.
Since biological sciences can often appear methodical and rigid, I especially wanted the overall feel of the Liquid Syllabus to be warm and friendly, and not feel too sterile. My goal was to make the Liquid Syllabus clear and organized, but also friendly and welcoming.
I originally had a diagram of a colorful skull as the photo for the Course Card, but after a few comments from the other students, I realized that was not friendly or appealing to some of the students. So I replaced it with a photo of real people actually participating in the learning process of studying anatomy. I hoped this would help students visualize themselves learning sciences together with others. I chose this photo due to it's emphasis on a relaxed, happy and collaborative learning atmosphere.
The way students enter into my Canvas Course is through the homepage, which acts as an information billboard with links to the most common areas of Canvas that students will want to access. Having the links in one place also makes it easy to access these various areas from their phones. I have incorporated a colorful, whimsical banner with a retro feel which showcases a diagram introducing the bones and muscles of the face. I am hoping that a friendly and warm impression is left on students by including a welcoming photo, colorful accents, and showing a fun side to the class.
I have placed a "Getting to Know You Survey" for students in the first "Getting Started/Introduction Module" in my Canvas Course. I chose to include all 11 questions that were part of the sample in Canvas Commons for several reasons. The first few questions give me an idea how to address them, their preferences, and how they will be accessing the Canvas Course information. I value their feedback as to what type of learning has worked best for them, and also what areas they can identify that may be challenging. There is a question included that has students declare one word about how they are initially feeling about the course. I am planning to use their feedback to make a "word bubble" that I can show in class and talk about their concerns. I'm hoping this will help connect the students, especially when they can see that others may have similar thoughts. By spending time at the beginning of the semester reaching out and trying to establish a connection with students, I feel that shows that I care ..and adds one more marble to the "jar of trust".
In this Ice Breaker assignment, students are asked to reflect on a list of values and decide which 2-3 values resonate with them. Then they are asked to spend some time free form writing about them and reflecting on why these values are important to them in their life, and then choose an object that they have around the house that represents one value. They are to make a short video sharing this object with the class and relating it to the value that they felt represented them. They can talk about their choice of value, how it relates to the object, reflect on how this value is influencing their plans and goals, or even how it has made them into the person they are today. Whatever they would like to share as long as they tie it back to the chosen value.
There are several reasons why I chose this Ice Breaker. I like that it gives students a chance to try a new way of turning in assignments right off the start, with step by step instructions on downloading the Flip App and submitting a video. Next, by focusing on sharing values, instead of reporting experiences, degrees, or accomplishments, it allows students to share something meaningful without having to compare accomplishments with other students. I also feel by having students chose an object unrelated to school, or a specific assigned subject, it will be easier for students to come up with a narrative because they are the expert in their own lives. As an instructor, learning a personal value for each student may prove important to know as the semester progresses should challenges arise and may enhance communication.
This video will be used as a "Clarifying Video" that students can review after having a long detailed lecture on Microbiology. It will be located in the Canvas Modules where I have different "ways to study the Microbiology Unit" to prepare for the exam. All of this information was shared during the Microbiology lecture and Powerpoint Presentation, but in order for students to commit the information to long term memory, I thought a succinct synopsis of the differences between Viruses and Bacteria will be helpful to have in one review.
One of the Student Learning Outcomes that students are expected to master during this course, is to able to "identify the tissues of an individual tooth, and describe unique characteristics of that tissue that add to the overall structure of a tooth". In a subsequent examination, students will be asked to label the tissues on a diagram, and I wanted them to be familiar with what that may look like. They have had this information delivered to them through a formal lecture, but have not looked at it from this particular viewpoint. I felt it also was a nice place to summarize and review the unique characteristics of each tissue as well as we label the individual tissues and structures using a diagram.
