The Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession:
1) Commitment to students and student learning
2) Professional knowledge
3) Professional practice
4) Leadership in learning communities
5) Ongoing professional learning
The Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession:
1) Care
2) Respect
3) Integrity
4) Trust
The standards of practice for the teaching profession and the ethical standards are illustrated throughout this section (cellular biology). For example, commitment to students and student learning can be illustrated from the "misconceptions" and "teaching strategies" subsections. Under these subsections, there are a variety of active teaching strategies that are student-centered. These include simulations, case studies, biochemistry memes, hands-on building macromolecule activities, and more. I believe that students need to be provided with different forms of assessments in order to demonstrate their understanding of the material--there is no one assessment that can reflect a student's learning. Therefore, I have included a number of strategies and student choice to align with the Universal Design of Learning (UDL).
If you look at the lesson plans under "lesson sequence" and an overview of the assessments in the "assessment" subsections, you will notice that there are varied forms of assessment for learning, assessment as learning, and assessment of learning. Assessment information and rubrics can be assessed from the appendix of each lesson. You will notice that the forms of assessment used from the embedded 4 lessons include different active learning strategies. At the same time, some assessments align with UDL in that it provides students with choices. For instance, there are some formative assessments where I have students present their research and finding. However, I do not limit students to how they want to present their material. Instead, some structure is provided through a list of suggestions and other ideas are open to consideration with the option of consulting with the teacher. For example, one assessment required students to present their research on organelle function. Options of presenting this information can include a rap, poem, song, skit, poster, graphic organizer, or other. As such, students are able to choose the medium to best reflect and demonstrate their understanding.
In regards to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), aspects of EDI are included throughout this section and embedded in the lesson plans. For example, in lesson number 2, students are introduced to the concept of macromolecules. However, the starting hook is a video that talks about "we are what we eat". Guiding questions will be provided to students to think about their own diets and how their diets or food choices are influenced by culture. This will then segue into a discussion to learn about different cultures. For instance, I may speak about how in Chinese culture there is a term called "yeet hay" where food is evaluated based on balance and energy. Foods that are termed "yeet hay" should be eaten in moderation as they are believed to cause acne, canker sores, and more. However, this is different from the western point of view which focuses on macronutrients.
At the same time, within the same lesson there is a section for students to extend their learning through a group research activity. The topics to be researched are related to the four macromolecules: carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. There are guiding questions for each topic that will require groups to research and learn about previous historical contributions and discoveries to aspects related to the four macromolecules, or to assess how differences in equity may have an effect on health and nutrition. For instance, in the lipid topic students may choose to research about transgender hormone therapy. Students may explore how hormones fall under lipids and not all lipids function as fat storage. By providing students with the topic of transgender hormone therapy, students can learn more about individuals in the LGBT2Q+ community. In the carbohydrate topic, students are provided with the guiding question to think about why diabetes is increasing more in urbanized areas compared to rural areas. At the same time, there has been an increasing trend and rise of rates of diabetes in developing countries (e.g., Brazil). These sorts of questions prompt students to think about issues related to equity. For instance, in their research they may find that some factors such as income, education, socioeconomic status, and other all have an affect on diet, lifestyle, medical treatment, and more. There are disparities among developing countries and developed countries, or disparities within a country based on certain social factors. Lastly, other topics prompt students to research about the historical discoveries and contributions of scientists from people of colour.
In regards to how EDI was implemented in this section as a whole, the "societal implications and application" subsection provides educators with news articles about research contributions from all over the world. For instance, the article from ThermoFisher speaks about the different research focuses in Canada, the UK, and France. At the same time, I made sure to include different perspectives of scientists to the field of cell biology. You can see that in the interview section, the articles focus on women in STEM. The first link speaks about Zena Werb. Although she is not a women of colour, the article speaks about how she has achieved the Women in Cell Biology Committee Senior Award. This can be a segue into learning about women in STEM. At the same time, I have provided a second link that provides the perspective of a scientist from a postdoctoral fellow. This illustrates aspects of EDI as it shows a diversity of perspectives from a senior scientist and a student.
Reference: Ontario College of Teachers (2016) Foundations of Professional Practice. [PDF file]. Retrieved from https://www.oct.ca/-/media/PDF/Foundations%20of%20Professional%20Practice/Foundation_e.pdf