Humanizing Online STEM Showcase
Saeed Jafarzadeh, Adjunct Lecturer, Bakersfield College
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.
Reflections
Where I was.
I was not totally unaware of lack of humanizing elements in my courses. But I was somewhat unaware of how to address that. I did several trainings since the start of the pandemic. They were great help and I learned a lot. However, none of them were focused on this specific issue.
Where I am.
After this training, I feel very confident in my skills. At the minimum, I learned about several tools that I was completely unaware of. These tools will enable me in enhancing the learning modules I already built. I also have many ideas now on how to present a subject, and how to approach students in my class.
Where I am going.
While the learning process in this training program has been great, the next step is of utmost importance. I have to implement some of the ideas I got throughout the course. I also want to further experiment with some of the new software I learned in this training. I found some of them very interesting.
Liquid Syllabus
This is a snapshot of my liquid syllabus. You can access the syllabus using the link below the snapshot. I plan to use the template I created for several courses I will offer in future. I believe it will be a great tool, even for in-person courses. It gives students access to resources online, that they might not seek otherwise.
Course Card
On the left side of this text, you can find my course card for Programming Fundamentals course. I liked this picture for two reasons. First of all, it reminds me the programming, and the infamous first program often learned to code named "Hello World". Moreover, despite the rigid concept of programming, the smiley face on the cover looks very kind and inviting.
Homepage
I had two fundamental concept in building this homepage. First to make it simple. I achieved that with avoiding many links, and keep it to a single link that directs students to more complex materials. The second concept has been making the homepage inviting. I tried to find a picture of myself, to give the inviting feeling to the student and imply a friendly environment for the course and tell the student with this picture that I will be accessible.
Getting to Know You Survey
This survey will help me understand the students better. For this specific course, what I really wanted to know is their interest in computers. I learned programming from early ages and I'm interested to know the origins of other people's interest in this subject. I believe that will also help me better understand my students and better teach them the subject matter.
Ice Breaker
This is an important activity since it breaks the traditional mentality of students. They get to see my response to the prompt and hopefully that helps them feel more comfortable with the course. I was most interested in their origin aspirations with computing and programming, and that's exactly what I wanted to be my Ice Breaker.
Wisdom Wall
Wisdom wall has been a new concept to me. I have not much experience with it. But I like the idea. I plan to implement it in my first course and I'm curious to see what I will get. We have student feedback in almost all courses, but this is different. We are asking the students to offer their suggestion around the course to their peers who will take the course in future. Very interesting!
Bumper Video
A bumper video was perhaps the most interesting concept I learned in this training. I loved the idea and it helps a lot because of the courses I teach. In addition, the tool that was suggested in this program seems very fun. The resulting video is short, vibrant, and informative. Again, the best thing I learned in this program.
Microlecture
I had done similar videos in the past. I believe they are efficient and very useful. They serve a different purpose compared to the bumper videos. But I like bumper videos better, in general.