Humanizing Online STEM Showcase
Suzanne Wakim: Biology Instructor at Butte 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 took my first online class in 2002, a few years after I started teaching at the CCCs. I realized that I learn much better in the online modality. I always had to work twice as hard as others in my class to learn the content and I realized that it was because the time spent in the physical classroom was not time that was available for my learning. So, I had to do all my learning at home (after having spent all day sitting in a room learning very little). This was such an epiphany for me and I wanted to bring the option for learning online to my students. So, I developed the first online biology class at my college (after many years of convincing my colleagues that online classes were "real" classes). My focus at the time was to ensure that my class was as rigorous as our face-to-face classes.
I have been teaching online since 2009 and my focus has shifted away from trying to prove to my colleagues that online is "as good/rigorous as face-to-face". I am now more focused on the experiences of my students. I have taken a lot of trainings related to designing and teaching courses (both online and face-to-face). I am continually making changes (both large and small) to my classes. I keep a document of all the changes I want to make (or think about) as a result of these trainings. I recently completely revamped one of my courses based on all these notes and I feel like it's almost there. My "to do" document is down to 5 pages (from 13), so I feel like I'm getting closer. I think "almost there" (asymptotic to transcendence) is exactly where I want my class to be - good enough so that it feels like it's nearing perfection, but not so amazing that I've clearly become overly arrogant. For most of the past decade, I've been focused on course design and I think the design itself is pretty good. My current focus is on humanizing the course so that students feel welcomed and encouraged to learn the complex material. I have taken some trainings in this area; the Humanizing STEM Academy is helping me with this aspect of my teaching.
Where I am
This academy has encouraged me to add a few more items to my "to do" document and has helped me improve on a few things I'm already doing.
Liquid syllabus: I already had one of these but the academy helped me revise it to be much more aesthetically pleasing and student-friendly.
Course card: I had a lovely neuron as the course card. It's pretty but I don't know if students connected with the image. I now have a much more human-focused course card - which makes sense for a Human Biology class.
Homepage: The main change I made to my homepage was to replace an antiquated banner (which wasn't accessible) with one that is more modern (and also accessible - which is nice).
Getting to know you survey: One of the suggestions that stuck with me from the class is to add information from the survey to the notes column in the gradebook. This will help me remember key information about each student.
Wisdom wall: I added this to my course this semester and have already gotten positive feedback from students.
Bumper videos and : I definitely need to add more of these! I have a few in the orientation module, but need more throughout the class
Micro-lectures: Definitely need more! I got stuck on these because I wanted to make them snazzy and exciting. As a result, I didn't make any. Short, simple videos are now on my list.
Where I'm going
I was recently at a training on my campus where we were discussing strategies for helping students engage with our courses. I mentioned that I will be revising my assignments to focus more on having students explain HOW they got to the answer. Another instructor mentioned that this sounds like the "common core" approach to math - which was an epiphany for me. YES! This is exactly how I want students to approach my assignments. Another instructor mentioned that she has students self-assess the state of their learning. I have been trying to figure out how to add in more self-assessment (without adding in a whole new component to the class). These two comments helped me bring together various strands of thought and I am really excited about redesigning the assignments before the summer session.
Liquid Syllabus
I send my liquid syllabus along with a welcome letter to students a week before the class starts. The information in both is meant to be welcoming and encourage them to reach out to me with questions. I share basic information they need before the class starts - such as information about where to get the book and when the Canvas class will open. I also include information about campus resources and my contact information. I also have a video of me welcoming students to the class
One of the major aesthetic changes I made was to use collapsible sections rather than multiple pages. Students can open each section to read more about each topic.
Course Card
I had a surprisingly difficult time picking an image for the course card! The course is Human Biology - so I wanted something that shows "humans" as a general concept. I had a few options and my peers and facilitator all selected this as their favorite. The more time I spend with it, the more I like it too. Yay for teamwork!
Homepage
I use a different homepage each week with the focus of helping students keep track of where we are that week and encouraging them to reach out for help. The first week's homepage has a banner that matches the course card for visual consistency from the dashboard. Then, there is a welcoming paragraph and video. Then, is a section on how they can reach out to me for help. In future weeks, the information on how to contact me is still front-and-center (but it's shortened over the course of the semester and wrapped in with the Q&A forum so the information doesn't become stale). Next, is information on what we are doing that week (with due dates and links to the assignments in future weeks). Finally, the quick links includes links to the relevant modules (as well as study group links later in the semester).
Getting to know you survey
Questions of note in the survey:
Name they would like me to use. I would record this in the notes column of the gradebook so I can address them correctly when I provide individualized feedback on assignments or when I email them.
If the prefer video or text feedback. Video feedback can be helpful and engaging for many students; other students may prefer text. This question is particularly important in areas where students may not have reliable internet or unlimited data.
How they are feeling about the class. This can help me identify students who are anxious and may need more encouragement as well as students who are excited by the topic and may like additional learning opportunities.
Something that may interfere with their success. This can help me identify students who may have challenges that I need to look out for. And, it can help me connect students to campus resources.
What I can do to support them. I don't want to make assumptions on how I can best serve each student; so I ask.
Wisdom Wall and Icebreaker
The icebreaker asks students to share an object that is reflective of their values. This is a helpful way to foster a sense of belonging because students can see connections with other students. In previous classes, there are always at least a few crafters or sports-people that make those connections. I share my crochet object as a way to connect as something other than a scientists.
The wisdom wall is something I added this semester. In the past, I had a page in Canvas where I shared student comments. But, I don't think students read it! Now, I have it as a padlet and have already gotten feedback from students on the value. I am looking forward to more students posting and helping to build the wall of wisdom.
Bumper Video
This bumper video introduces the discussions in the course. The discussion instructions are rather long - both because I'm verbose and because these discussions ask student to do more than the usual "post and respond to 2" type of discussion. So, I provided a lot of information and resources to help student complete the activity. Unfortunately, I tipped over into the realm of tl;dr (too long; didn't read). I'm hoping this video will help students understand the purpose of the discussions (which will help the requirements make more sense).
Microlecture
This microlecture explains how to complete inheritance puzzles. This is a topic that is difficult for students. Most online videos and resources discuss how to complete a Punnet square but not the logic behind how to identify the parent's genotypes. My hope is that this video will help students complete that assignment. I plan to make a full series of these videos for the other types of inheritance puzzles.