Eyes on Equity

PRINCIPLE 2: "Effective online teachers apply equitable methods to promote student access and success while acknowledging institutional obstacles."

Minority Role Model

At Merced College, very few of the faculty are African Americans. In Child Development particularly, very few instructors are men. I hope as an African American man, teaching Child Development, I am present as a diverse role model, particularly to encourage underrepresented student groups.

Participation in Professional Development Activities

To enhance my understanding of equity issues in education, I participate in ongoing professional development events. For example:

In 2015, I completed 15 hours of training in Teaching Men of Color in the Community Colleges, led by Dr. Luke Wood at the Center for Organizational Responsibility and Advancement.
I am scheduled to participate in a webinar, Addressing Unconscious Bias to Create an Inclusive Campus Community, presented by Dr. J. Luke Wood, Co-Director, Community College Equity Assessment Lab (CCEAL), San Diego State University, on October 30, 2018.
I completed a three-part training series with Dr. Khalid White, visiting professor of Ethnic Studies at San Jose City College.
- Session 1 (10/5/18): Equity & Inclusion
- Session 2 (3/8/19): Students of Color
- Session 3 (5/3/19): Equity & Inclusion

This seminar series was very enlightening. I am so happy to have met Dr. White; and I appreciate his support and encouragement.

Portraying Diversity in Courses

In my Child Development courses, I present diverse examples of Early Childhood Education (ECE) professionals. For example, I am pleased about my ECE Professionals Interview Series, created for my class, Principles and Practices of Teaching Young Children. I interviewed several colleagues to advise my students about their emerging careers. Here is a sample of the interviews. Please note the diversity of speakers:

Diverse Images in Multimedia Syllabus

For my @ONE certificate class in Equity and Responsiveness, I revised my course syllabus to make it more student-friendly and engaging. I revised the language and tone, and included images to represent cultural and gender diversity. I created a multimedia syllabus on Populr.

Tools to Support Equity for Diverse Learners

We know that our student population at the community colleges arrives with a broad spectrum of skill levels and academic needs. To promote equity for diverse learners, I developed a strategy for post-assessment remediation, combining Canvas Mastery Paths with EdPuzzle. See details at the OEI Showcase.

Finding EdPuzzle to be a versatile and student-friendly teaching resources, I have explored it in detail. Along the way, I have earned eight EdPuzzle badges to date.

Gamification: A Student-Friendly Approach

Recently, I have explored "gamification" as an equity strategy. Many students find game-like activities and video to be engaging and fun ways to experience course content. For example, I have offered a series of bonus-point opportunities for students who break a code or unscramble a message to reveal a statement relevant to current weekly material. I post video solutions each week, after the quiz. Here is a sampling of solutions videos:

Reflection:

Ongoing participation in professional development activities related to equity and diversity expands my knowledge and appreciation of the issues that affect diverse learners. I am constantly trying and applying new teaching approaches, with a mind toward better support of diverse learners.

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