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.
When I started taking the Humanizing Online Academy, I had been teaching a hybrid class for several years. I had an introduction video made that I had created in a professional development class. I felt that maybe I was one step ahead becuase I had this made. I had also tried to figure out how to make a liquid syllabus on my own and had used my first-draft liquid syllabus for one semester. My desire was to develop my course into something that was more inclusive and engaged my students more.
Now that I have taken the Humanizing Online Academy, I feel I am better prepared to present my students with a class that is more inclusive and better suited for an online environment. I had not been using an icebreaker in my class, but now I have a wonderful icebreaker that helps students get to know each other and feel more connected in the online environment. I also have a better idea of what is helpful for students online. Interviewing an online student helped me to realize how important connection is in the online environment. Having an online presence is critical for many students success. I now have many tools that allow me to sprinkle in my online presence all over my course.
I am excited to further develop my online course. My goal is to break up my longer recorded lectures into microlectures that focus on certain topics. I plan on using video recording more frequently so that my students feel my presence within the class. I plan on fixing the closed captioning on many of my lectures so that it is more accesible for my students. I will continue to work on my liquid syllabus to make it more inviting for my students.
I created this liquid syllabus as a first look into my course. I hope that by watching the introduction video, students will see a welcoming professor who will be easy to approach. I also hope that by viewing this liquid syllabus my students will feel prepared to start the course. They will know what is expected of them and where to find help. My desire is that they feel welcomed, accepted and excited about starting this course.
This course card depicts a woman of color using a microscope. I chose this course card because I want to encourage all students to believe they can be scientists. Women and minoritized groups are often underrepresented in science fields. This image will hopefully project a positive feeling of inclusivity for the course.
My homepage has a banner that has cartoon characters of scientific items. I felt like it was a welcoming banner and visually appealling. I then followed the banner by having an emoji of me smiling and waving to the students. The introduction below welcomes them to class and lets them know that I am excited that they are here. I hope that by doing all these things my students will feel welcomed and accepted in my class.
My Getting to Know You Activity serves as a kindness cue of social inclusion for students. I begin by asking the students what they would like me to call them. I then ask them how they are feeling about this class and what the major barriers to their success might be. I also ask them how I can be of assistance to them. I hope that these questions allow them to know that I care about them, what they are going through, and that I am available to them when they need help.
The icebreaker that I chose had my students relfect on two to three values that are important to them. After they have reflected on the values, they are then to pick an object that represents those values and share it with the class using Flip. I believe that by sharing a little bit about themselves and what they value I am allowing the students to experience a sense of belonging by connecting with other students and their life experiences. Hopefully, they can find connection amongst their classmates and not feel isolated in the class. Click the + icon, select YouTube, click on the Video Search tab enter the Share link for your video in the box, click the search icon, select the video.
The bumper video that I chose to make is on Photosynthesis. Understanding the process of photosynthesis is one of the objectives of my course. This video briefly introduces the concept so that students have a general idea of what it is before we dive into the details of the process. By providing this brief, welcoming, visually appealing video, I hope to grab my students attention and give them a big picture idea of what photosynthesis is, where it happens and its importance.
In this microlecture I cover protein synthesis. Understanding the process of protein synthesis is one of the objectives of my course. This microlecture gives a broad overview of the two steps that occur during the protein synthesis: transcription and translation. I am hoping that by giving a short, broad, big-picture look at protein synthesis, my students won't be overwhelmed when they learn all the details. I also use this video to emphasis the importance of protein synthesis to their life so that they have a personal reason to value the information.