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.
Before completing the Humanizing STEM class I had made some videos using Camstasia, Zoom and ScreenCast but had not done much in the way of humanizing. During the pandemic, I was able to learn a lot of technical skills through the professional development opportunities at my school and had used them to make content videos for my classes. Considering that before the pandemic I had never made any video for my students, that felt like a big step for me. My Canvas site and content started out as solely focused on curriculum. I really had only few kindness cues and I tended to add kindness cues later on in the semester once I knew a little more about my students instead of starting with it right off the bat. I would not have described my Canvas site or online presence as particularly welcoming or eye catching.
Through this class I have learned how to create a welcoming online presence and seen how much of an impact it can make. This is actually the first online class I've taken as a student and it has helped me understand the online student experience. A big lesson for me was the use of short introduction videos and how much more engaging it is (even though the written instructions are right there!). I also appreciated the repeated organization and check-ins during the week. These helped me understand the importance of the connective tissue of an online class and how it creates an environment.
Our classes are always a work in progress and as I develop the online portions of my class there are some important aspects that I want to add. I will be using a liquid syllabus to engage with students before the semester starts. I am continuing to grow my library of bumper videos to address some common questions and confusion. I am also going to work on putting some short, probably imperfect but authentic videos into the weekly module to let students know that I am there with them. I also think I will use a wisdom wall this next semester. I feel like these will add more community to my classes and help students feel like they belong here.
I have always struggled with ways to get information to students before the semester starts and to get information to students that are not registered yet. I think the liquid syllabus is a very accesable way to welcome all students. I like that there are lots of ways to customize it so that feels personalized.
I chose this fun, welcoming course card because it uses an iconic image to show that it's ok to be serious about science and also goofy and yourself. I think we undersell the fun and adventure of science. I also like that the image adds some embellishments, a little extra added flavor, to an image that students might have already seen.
My homepage is simple, but I think that the banner across the top is like a little smile! For right now it has the basics but I think I will add a little more like at least a link to my liquid syllabus.
I think the biggest kindness cue is the video that I embedded on my homepage. It welcomes students and gives them a tour of our building and the specific rooms they will be in. I think this is important because our building is unusual, it's a natural history museum and the layout is a bit confusing. For many students this will be the first time they have been in the building or a large lecture hall or chemistry lab room and I want them to know they are in the right place and that I will be happy to see them when they get there.
My getting to know you survey has 10 questions that allow me to learn some things about my students and also indicates to them that this class is built around them. I want to let them know early on that their needs are important and that I am interested in their success.
We all know that it makes a bigger impact when students hear information from other students instead of just from us. I think this Wisdom Wall helps students connect with other students and makes the advice given more tangible and real.
My class is oftentimes the first class students have had to prepare for a lab or use a lab manual. I field a lot of questions about what to turn in and what the different sections of the lab are for. I've also noticed that some students don't know that there is curated information in the lab manual and they spend countless hours trying to piece it together from different sources. I made this video to explain how they should be using the lab manual and give some tips and tricks to save them some time.
This microlecture covers how to identify significant figures and is something students commonly have to review, revisit or hear multiple times. The concept of significant figures and use of them can be overwhelming and frustrating for students so I am trying to break it up into microlectures. This video is the start and will be part of a small library of videos about significant figures.
