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 this class, I had only a few years of experience teaching online Math courses at Cal Poly Pomona, where I worked as a part-time lecturer. However, I had yet to explore ways to infuse humanizing elements into my online courses to foster a strong connection and community. During COVID-19, I participated in the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) training to better my online teaching, and the training helped me survive online teaching during the pandemic lockdown. But I knew I could do more to refine my online teaching practices. I enrolled in this Humanizing STEM Academy, hoping to facilitate student interactions and promote a sense of belonging and engagement in my future online classes.
After taking the course, I am proficient in using digital tools and platforms to deliver math instruction. I have explored various online collaboration tools, such as designing a warm and welcoming Liquid Syllabus and creating Flip Grid videos, and using Adobe Express to help promote active learning and engagement among students. Also, these tools and platforms help my students visualize concepts, reinforce understanding and provide opportunities for interactive exploration. After completing this Academy, I strive to employ strategies to foster a sense of connection and community among students in all my courses, both in person and online. This has been done through the Icebreaker I created (see below), a personalized getting-to-know-you survey, and creating collaboration and peer interaction spaces.
In the next 6-12 months, I see myself using what I've learned to improve all my online and in-person courses. I consider myself a student-centered instructor, and "humanizing " fits into my teaching philosophy. I've professionally embraced the changes to the math curriculum in the last few years because of AB1705. I will continue to use the Humanizing practices to establish a welcoming learning community, show more of my instructor's presence and personalize learning by recognizing and respecting the individuality of my students. In addition, I will enroll in future humanizing STEM Academy as humanizing online STEM courses is an ongoing process. Lastly, reflect on my Humanzing Practices and make adjustments accordingly to create an inclusive and student-centered learning community.
The liquid syllabus is a dynamic, friendly, and engaging way to introduce students to the class. The elements in the Syllabus include a welcome video from me, course policies, and students-teacher expectations, week one success kit, my teaching philosophy, and other support for students The goal of the Liquid Syllabus is to help the student orient themselves even before the course begins.
Once my students log on to Canvas, the first thing they see is the Course Card. I chose this image because Statistics is more than just a nice, happy cut and dry answer like other math courses. A lot of the time, it's a bit debatable.
The humanizing course homepage allows me and my students to build a strong community by showcasing my dog, Rando, holding the required text for the course and a warm, welcoming message from me about why I am passionate about student success. Also, the homepage showcases supportive buttons for students to navigate the course shell easily.
The "Getting to Know You Survey" is a graded assignment. Students fill out the survey to the best of their ability. The survey helps me connect with each of my students. The survey has five parts, each consisting of 2-3 questions. Below are some of the in the survey questions:
What name would you like me to use when addressing you alongside with the Pronunciation?
Some questions about online readiness including how comfortable you feel with online learning.
What's is the best way I can communicate with you
Is there anything you'd like to share or ask me at this point?
This is an affirming ice breaker activity designed for both myself and the students to get to know each other. We find things that matters to us, and share using a tool called Flip By students sharing a video comments or audio comments of a positive experiences or aspects of themselves, students can find common ground, connect with their peers, and feel more comfortable engaging in subsequent activities. Also, this ice breaker serve to build "TRUST" between me and students.
This bumper video will provide a short clip application of one of many statistical tools, the Z-score. It serves as a brief and impactful clip that captures the connection and generate interest in my students to Z-scores as they compare the statistical tools to what they see daily. Also, the bumper video helps students eliminate the notion that the Z-score is the same as the standard deviation and heightens their curiosity.
The micro lecture delivers students a concise and focused introduction to Types of Data. It provides small-chuck learning experiences, enhances engagement and retention, and supports students in achieving their learning objectives. The micro-lectures video delivers targeted information as students grasp a data set's structure layout and distinguish between qualitative and quantitative variables.
This site is by Oladimeji (DJ) Salako and is shared with a Creative Commons-Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 license. Creation of this content was made possible with funding from the California Education Learning Lab.
