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 De-Anza Community College District.
Before I began this Humanizing Online Stem Academy Course, I was using canvas to post all my course material. My Canvas course structure was pretty basic with no image on course card and homepage. There were very few video linked to modules and most of the content was reading material. Physics has always been challenging for students and I strive for ways to make it more inclusive and humanizing. This course has helped me find various pedagogies to improve my online class structure. Before this course, I didn't know about the environmental and psychological factor that influences the student success in the stem courses.
Where I am.
After six weeks of learning, I have recognized the role of emotions in the learning process. I learned how to foster trust, presence, awareness, and empathy in the classroom. I have learned about Kindness cues of social inclusion- Subtle behaviors that communicate acceptance and belonging. I can tailor my class structure based on individual needs and by knowing the difference between high context and low context class cultures. I can now make videos with versatile softwares like Flip-grid , Adobe express, Youtube, and incorporate more visual and audio connection with the students.
This academy has empowered me with a sense of becoming a warm demander. I aim to use these skills for all my courses. I also love how easy making the videos on Adobe express. I am forever appreciative of this Academy, with special thanks to Kim Vincent for being there for me and through all of the warm and encouraging feedback on all of my assignments. This course Implementation will encourage collaboration and community building among students and creating opportunities for connection and learning outside of class time.This framework can be used by educators to design and implement inclusive and effective STEM learning experiences for all students.
Liquid Syllabus is an easily accessible document that can be shared with students before the start of a course in order to let students know about the instructor. I am planning to use it in my next online class. It will send the cue to my students that I care about them and will be a partner in their learning.
Even though complete syllabus is posted on canvas, but this syllabus will be a better way to tell students basics about the course. Since the Liquid syllabus has many videos that will make the course more humanizing.
By incorporating this image, I intend to convey about the leadership aspect inherent in every student highlighting their potential to excel and take charge of their learning.
Two pictures in the course cards sends a cue that shows various prospects of taking this physics course to my students. I made this course card colorful and vibrant, so it will be more inclusive and welcoming. This course card is a window that highlights a welcoming atmosphere from the very beginning.
Before this academy, my Home Page was mostly blank . Now, my Home Page serves as a kindness cue by welcoming my students. The vibrant colorful banner brings inclusiveness. This page is meant to be inviting, but not overly informative. I want the students to know that I'm happy to have them in my course and hopefully excite them about the course.
This survey will be conducted within the first week’s module which serves as a Welcome/Orientation Week. This survey has 10-11 questions and is a graded survey. The goal of this survey is to become a supportive instructor, and to help the students as they proceed through the course.
This is an ice breaker activity using Flipgrid, an asynchronous video/voice app, integrated into Canvas. The goal is to foster social connection and a sense of learning community among students in the class and with the instructor at the beginning of the term. For this activity, I've developed a list of fun prompt to share something important with the class and then they have to record and reflect on their findings.
The assignment instruction bumper video is a helpful addition to our course. It's a short and clear video in which I explain and clarify a sticky concept of free body diagrams. In mechanics, students find it very difficult to draw the free body diagrams that include forces acting on an object. This video helps them understand the concept. These diagrams will be used throughout our study of physics.
A microlecture video is a brief, visually-oriented video of 5-10 minutes that serves an instructional purpose. In this case, I introduced the concept of projectile motion. The students will analyze the concept of the projectile motion and apply it to various type of motion around us. After watching this micro-lecture, they can identify the projectile motion and understand how to solve any problem related to this concept. They are some terminology and formulas mentioned in the micro-lecture that they can use to solve any problem involving projectile motion.
