2022 Poster Sessions

Outcomes

Through this poster session, participants will

• Gain a better understanding of the existing power dynamics in the K-12 and Higher education classrooms. 

• Leave with a few ideas on how to restructure the power dynamics within their own classroom.

Description

With the shift away from direct instruction, constructivist learning design allows for learning experience that engages  all participants in co-constructed learning. With the teacher in a facilitator role, students are empowered to direct their own learning and create meaning out of the experiences. ​ With a restructuring of the power dynamics in the classroom, the learning environment becomes more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. This session will provide a brief understanding around the term power dynamics as it relates to the classroom. Further discussion will be around how an educator might help to change the power dynamics within the classroom.

Outcomes

Through this poster session, participants will 

• Examine a student survey at three mid-sized universities responses to the modified DELES survey.

• Explore implications of key indicators of culturally competent course components.

• Examine results of a study of faculty and instructional designers in their course design processes.

• Consider implications for just design of online digital learning spaces.

Description

In 2019, Drs. Stephanie and Scott Hamm distributed the modified Distance Education Learning Environment Survey (DELES) with permission to three mid-sized universities in Texas. The results were presented at the World Online Learning Conference in Dublin, Ireland in Fall 2019.

The study demonstrated that students of color believed the courses were well-designed but content and approach to learning was not in line with their culture or ethnic identity. They felt they were welcomed guests in courses to which they did not belong.

Our current study is following up our earlier research through exploration of the design and learning assumptions present in course design involving a larger sample size of universities and courses.  We identified course design characteristics that faculty and designers currently use and examined it against demographic data, rank order data, and open-ended responses to make informed recommendations for faculty and designers in the design of culturally competent online digital learning environments.

Outcomes

Through this poster session, participants will 

• Explore how to build students' sense of belonging by including key sections in syllabus and online learning shell (Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard etc)

• Explore an assignment designed to recognize students' cultural wealth 

Description

The goals of this project are to help underrepresented minorities feel a sense of belonging in a STEM classroom and recognize at least one example of how their cultural wealth supported them along their academic journey. This classroom engagement was conducted in three stages. Stage 1 involved creating an inclusive syllabus and CANVAS shell; I included thoughtful statements to students with disabilities, students in need of mental health support, veterans, first-generation students, students with smell sensitivities (fragrance free environment), and visual learners. The goal of Stage 1 is to increase their sense of belonging. Stage 2 involved regular mental health check-ins at every synchronous lecture and remind students of learning practices as we approach each exam. The goal of Stage 2 is also to increase their sense of belonging. Stage 3 involved leveraging their cultural wealth. Students will describe a scenario where their leveraged their cultural wealth or overcame feminine discouragement during their academic journey. The goal of Stage 3 is to increase their engineering belongingness.

Outcomes

Through this poster session, participants will 

• Identify how the characteristics of medical students impact the hidden curriculum

• Provide a framework for thinking around COVID-19 as an opportunity for greater equity in academic support services

• Leverage online technology to facilitate increased equity and access to resources

• Apply principles and observations to similar contexts

Description

Lempp and Seale (2004) shed light on competition as a 'hidden' component of the culture and curriculum of medical education, a field typically pursued by highly ambitious students. St. George’s University (SGU) has made significant attempts to shift the culture towards collaboration through formal group-based learning; yet many of the help-seeking problems in college populations such as stigma, concerns regarding confidentiality, or being perceived as attention seeking (Rowe et al., 2014) are still prevalent. The COVID-19 pandemic lent itself to experimenting with new frameworks for the delivery of learning strategies. As SGU is making the shift back to in-person learning, our unit has remained offering a hybrid model. More specifically, we have continued to offer online consultations for all students. It has since become evident that most in-person students opt to meet via online mediums. We believe this to be as a result of the increased confidentiality available through this method of delivery; students are not seen walking into the office to make/attend an appointment, eliminating the ‘labeling barrier’. Beyond that, it reduces financial and time barriers associated with traveling to campus, especially for non-traditional students who may be employed, or have familial obligations (MacDonald, 2018). By continuing this hybrid model through recording and streaming workshops, many of the same equity barriers are removed, and asynchronous content is additionally valuable for ESL students. Ultimately, this is likely to be applicable to other contexts.

Outcomes

Through this poster session, participants will 

• Explore survey findings that suggest the optimal mixture of synchronous and asynchronous online course modalities to increase equity in online learning at higher education

Description

Our survey analysis suggests that students prefer an equal split between synchronous and asynchronous components for conceptual online courses but prefer additional synchronous components for quantitative online courses. Some individual difference variables (i.e., gender and academic self-efficacy) influence the students’ preference for online course modality components. For example, being male decreased students’ preferences for synchronous portions as the signs of our regression coefficient estimates remain consistent for all models. Our results suggest that educators should be mindful that some student characteristics affect preferred learning environments, thus educators should design course delivery reflecting the implied student preferences. 

Outcomes

Through this poster session, participants will

• Discover approaches and solutions to equitable and effective learning

• Gain resources to build a plan for incorporating new teaching practices or design into their course(s)

Description

It is vital that we create classroom communities that are inclusive, equitable, and effective learning environments for our diverse student body. The UNLV Equity Institute provides a facilitated experience that supports UNLV instructors as they create activities and everyday practices that encourage the holistic development of UNLV’s diverse students.

Reducing inequities in education requires our united and deliberate effort.

To those ends, we created an online, facilitated, four-week course for instructors at UNLV that has now been completed by 220 teachers, advisors, librarians, and student affairs professionals. We'll share the outline of the course and what we've learned so far from this professional development effort. 

Outcomes

Through this poster session, participants will 

• Explore a tool for self or peer assessment of inclusive teaching practices

• Identify important frameworks for equity during live class interactions

• Develop new ideas for formative assessment of teaching in our own contexts

Description

A synchronous class experience can spark feelings of excitement, anxiety, joy, frustration, belonging, or exclusion in our students depending on how we as instructors design and facilitate these spaces. In this presentation, we explore the recommendations for best practices in the Teaching Practices Equity and Inclusion Rubric developed by the Center for Teaching and Learning at Stanford University. Though developed to include in-person modalities, we will discuss ways that this tool could be applied to self or peer assessment of online courses with a synchronous component. This tool provides a structured approach to understanding your strengths and areas to grow as a teacher.

Outcomes

Through this poster session, participants will 

• Unpack the elements of an acronym, GRACEFUL, to guide course design

Description

In this recorded presentation, I will share the principles of GRACEFUL Teaching Design that I use to foster a positive learning experience in my online, asynchronous classes. GRACEFUL starts with a Growth Mindset before identifying Resources, Agency, Community, and Expectations to provide the foundation of my course. Together, these elements provide a framework that encourages Flexibility, Usefulness, and Learning for all members of our class. I am particularly eager to share these ideas at the Peralta Online Equity Conference as they help me to design a course with equity at the center of my course, content, and assignment design. 

Outcomes

Through this poster session, participants will 

• Compare a Transparency in Learning & Teaching (TiLT) assignment to a Non-TiLT assignment

Description

This poster session will show a before and after version of a variety of assignments using the Transparency in Learning and Teaching assignment template. There will also be testimonials from faculty members on what it was like to revise their assignments to be transparent and how their students reacted.