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.
At the beginning of this course, I harbored uncertainty regarding its nature. After teaching online classes for a period of three years, my teaching principles has consistently aimed at mitigating any sense of alienation among students, fostering instead an environment of care. My approach was shaped by visualizing the attributes of a nurturing yet rigorously demanding course structure. This professional development workshop stands out as the most enlightening session I've ever participated in. It has equipped me not only with insights on supporting my students meaningfully but also illuminated the challenges I encountered during my undergraduate years.
Having completed this workshop, my comprehension of online teaching has significantly deepened, enabling me to improve my own courses. The experience has increased my awareness of my high-context cultural values and the importance of striking a balance within a low-context cultural setting in my teaching approach. Furthermore, a essential lesson obtained from this workshop is the art of designing a humanizing course, one that fosters trust, presence, awareness, and empathy. These attributes create a beneficial environment where instructors can uphold standards of excellence while ensuring students feel supported.
Now that I've gained a deeper appreciation for the role of emotions in the learning process, I intend to initiate all my classes with a warm welcome, inviting students to share how their week has unfolded. In my online courses, I am committed to cultivating instructor presence by openly acknowledging my vulnerabilities through empathy and storytelling. These strategies aim to foster trust among students, creating a safe space where they feel empowered to make mistakes and engage actively in class activities. Encouraging students to seek assistance from both myself and their peers will be a priority. I firmly believe that implementing these humanizing pedagogical approaches will enable me to adopt a nurturing yet assertive stance, ultimately leading to the production of high-quality work from my students.
The Liquid Syllabus I've designed offers essential guidance for navigating the initial week of class. It not only furnishes details about my personal and professional background, along with my teaching philosophy, but also serves as a platform for fostering trust with my students from the beginning. Embedded within this syllabus are not only the course pact but also supportive resources, underscoring my commitment to my students' learning journey even before the course commences.
I chose this image because it represents a warm welcoming gender-inclusive course.
Upon clicking on the course card, students are directed to my Humanized Homepage, designed to strike a balance between being inviting and not overwhelming with information. Its purpose is to convey to students my genuine enthusiasm for their presence in the course and to potentially ignite their excitement about what lies ahead.
The "Getting to Know You" survey is distributed during the initial week of the course. It comprises a series of inquiries aimed at providing insights into each student's background, preferences, and potential challenges.
In the "Two Truths and a Lie" activity, every student reveals two facts about themselves that are true and one that is false. The objective is for the group to guess which statement is the lie. Through this engaging exercise, I foster student interaction and cultivate a strong sense of classroom unity.
A Course Bumper is a concise, visually-driven video lasting between 1 to 3 minutes, strategically integrated into your course for instructional purposes.
Microlectures are concise presentations lasting between 5 to 10 minutes, focused on a specific topic addressing a singular learning objective. This approach proves to be highly effective, allowing for course content to be tailored around each distinct learning goal.
