Humanizing Online STEM Showcase
Jessica L. Sardo, Associate Professor at Mesa 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.
At the beginning of this course I was fairly confident that I was a good educator and facilitator of learning in face-to-face classes. But was unsure of how my attempts of online learning were going and it was a challenge to identify my short comings ( a bad case of I don't know what I don't know). I had taught a handful of online classes through the pandemic but as I was a course used by nursing majors we only had one semester of full and mandatory online before we were back on campus (under strict health guidelines). As such I never got to practice, reflect and improve my online courses and my online teaching style. This course I was hoping would help to flesh out some of the more nuanced portions of online teaching so I could be more prepared and provide my students the best possible iteration of my course online.
Where I am.
After being apart of the Humanizing Online STEM course I am happy to say that I certainly learned a few things. Not only about online teaching pedagogy and how I can better serve my marginalized online students, but I also learned quite a few handy technical skills which I think will overall really help flesh-out my courses and bring them to live online. I had never created online videos using adobe express before and was pleased to see how easy it was to create some fairly good looking videos. I also really like using the Flip discussion boards in addition to more traditional forms of assignments like Canvas quizzes and such. I am feeling much more confident in my ability to produce engaging and effective content for my online classes.
Where I am going.
I will likely have an online or hybrid class is coming fall. I am excited and looking forward to utilize the information and themes discussed in this course to help provide all my students with a safe space to achieve success in my online class. One of the biggest take-aways that directly correlates to the work done at our school would be the community building exercise done with the ice breaker. Our institution is dedicated to helping all our students enrolled in a STEM field find their "STEM identity" and have a sense of belongingness on campus. This work has no proliferated into our online class presence with as much success as our in-person courses. I am hopeful that the addition of such activities like the ice breaker or the wisdom walls will help to see our online students feel a sense a community just like our students who are face-to-face.
Liquid Syllabus
My liquid syllabus is the first interaction my students will have with me and our course. I will post my syllabus about one week prior to the start of the course to give students the opportunity look over things and get settled into the course.
The liquid syllabus has an introduction video to help students feel acquainted with me the instructor. My hope is that my introduction helps to foster the start of the partnership we will have as student and instructor for the semester. There is also a general description of the course, as well as a "success kit" for the first week and the expectations of the course.
By selecting the "View my Liquid Syllabus" button you will be redirected to my liquid syllabus webpage.
Course Card
I was very deliberate with the image I chose for my course card. This image is for a general chemistry class. The reason I chose this image is based off a few things:
1. It's a real photo of two scientist from an actual commercial lab and not a stock photo..
2- It's an old photo circa 1960s. I like to add a bit of the quirky retro to my science vibe.
When these two facts are put together it can send an impactful message. These are two scientists doing science, who just happen to be women. This is there job not some models doing a gig. Additionally, this photo is pushing 60 years old, these women belonged in the lab back then, and we belong in the lab now.
Homepage
Upon entering the course by clicking on the course card students first see a bright cheerful welcome banner for our General Chemistry class.
There is a picture of me smiling along with a quick bio and a description of the class. Further down the page students have the option to select a "Get Started Here" link or links to more specific portions of the site. The picture and friendly short bio are intentional to make students feel welcome and act as a "Kindness Cue" for students who may feel apprehensive or nervous about taking a chemistry class.
By selecting the video to the left of this text you can take brief tour of my canvas shell's home page.
Getting to know you Survey
In an effort to ensure that students feel like they have been seen at the start of the semester I have a short "Getting to know you" survey that I ask the students to participate in during the first week.
By doing the survey early in the semester it can be useful information in identifying students who may require additional support and/or resources as the semester progresses. It also give me my first opportunity to provide meaningful feedback to the students before any learning has occurred.
Two poignant questions asked in the survey are:
"What are your expectations for this course? Have you ever taken a chemistry course before? If not have you talked with anyone about taking chemistry? Have these experiences shaped how you feel about starting this course?"
and
"What name do you prefer to go by and how do I pronounce it properly?"
My goal with these questions is to get a feel for what students are feeling coming into the class so I can take stock of our starting point in the class as well as ensure that all students are feeling heard and being addressed as they see fit.
Upon selecting the video to the left you can watch a short video clip of me touring my getting you know you quiz.
icebreaker
One of the first assignments students encounter in their first week in the course is a humanizing and community building exercise. This video/audio discussion in hosted on Flip.
The prompt for the icebreaker is to ask students "What is a goal you are working towards, and how are your values guiding you on your journey? How does that goal align with taking Chem 200? "
To ensure that all students in the class find their "STEM identity" within our course I believe it is important for us to share what brings us to this course and what is driving us towards success.
The video to the left is an example of a video discussion/icebreaker activity used for this course.
Bumper Video
I created a bumper video for my Week 2 introduction. A bumper video is a short visually oriented-video with a instructional purpose for the class.
This video serves as the introduction to the new week's content. It was my goal to provide a visually engaging preview of what content and learning objectives would be achieved during the week 2 module. I am hopeful by providing a short video with clearly laid out learning outcomes, students will be better prepared and more receptive to the new concepts being explored throughout that week's module.
The bumper video and be watched by selecting the box to the left.
microlecture
I have been teaching chemistry for over a decade and I have become familiar with the topics that students most commonly struggle with. The topic of REDOX chemistry can be very dense and confusing for students. When we needed to come up with a microlecture I figured the topic of REDOX reactions would be very well suited for a series of microlectures to highlight and tightly define each aspect of these reactions covered in the course.
This short video highlights the first of a series of videos designed to help walk students through the confusing concept of identifying which component in a simple ionic reaction was reduced and which was oxidized. This video highlights my teaching style and the use of learning aids such as the proposed acronym. I expect that by portioning out the dense course content for this topic into small digestible videos that students struggling to master the content will be able to tackle the issue in smaller more manageable bits.
Lastly you can watch my microlecture via youtube by selecting the box to the left.
This site is by Jessica Sardo 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.