Humanizing Online STEM Showcase
Diane Waterman, Adjunct Mathematics Instructor, Modesto Junior 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.
At the beginning of the academy I was at a place where I felt that I needed to make changes to my online course but really did not know how to go about making those changes. I am a logical and orderly thinker and felt that the organization of my course made sense, had consistent weekly procedures, included discussion posts, content videos, labs and activities as well as practice quizzes and exams. I tried to utilize all the suggestions that I learned in the beginning online teaching course, but I felt that I still did not have the student participation and interaction that I would like to see in my course.
Where I am.
I am definitely uncomfortable about the steps I know I need to take to improve the online learning experience for my students. I am doing quite a bit of reflecting and thinking about the direction I need to take. Needless to say I have always removed myself from pictures and videos because I do not like how they turn out. I made a committment to myself to embrace the audio and video tools that I learned to use in this course. I have been spending time, sometimes too much time, experimenting with flip, adobe express, screenpal and YouTube. I know that the more I use them the easier this process will be. I just have to let go of my fears and not try to be so perfect because let's facce it, no matter how many times I proofread a document and declare it publishable, there is always a date that was not changed, a missing space or misspelled word to be found. Authenticity is my new goal!
Where I am going.
My next step is to start small by perfecting my liquid syllabus, writing a welcome to the course email so that it is ready to send the week prior to the start of the semester and tp prepare my initial Getting Started module. I know that we have developed some of that content during this course and I am appreciative of the head start. After that task is completed, I want to design a layout for my content modules that will allow me to make small changes, map out the semester plan and get the first 4 weeks of the course competed before fall classes begin. If I get that done before the semester begins, I believe that I can make the changes I need to humanize my online course.
Liquid Syllabus
I will use the Liquid Syllabus to inform my student of the basic requirements needed for the first week of classes. This will prepare them to start working on that first day when everyone is excited about the new school semester. I will include the link in a welcome email that I will send out to the students on my roster approximately 1 week before the semester begins. With the graphics and links included on the page I hope that any fears about the course are lessened and that they feel that I am approachable and am committed to help them succeed.
Course Card
I chose this image for my course card for many reasons. First it is an online class and a computer or technology is an important part of completing the course work. We are studying statistics and producing graphs are an important part of the course work. I felt it was important to include an example of what we would be learning. I also liked that the image shows people grouped together as if they were working on a project together. My final reason is that it was only hands; hands representing people of different genders, nationalities, religions or immigrant status. My hope was that all would feel welcome in my class.
Homepage
I like that you can set canvas to open straight up to a weekly homepage. It makes it easy for student to get acquainted with the weekly content with the ability to add buttons and links to helpful information. The start button at the bottom of the page makes it easy to access the module that you need to be working on that week. Starting out the week with an image or a short video creates a welcoming environment for students to learn. Eventually I would like to add the buttons which is a cleaner look than a list of links, but baby steps. I also need to figure out a way to organize these pages so that i am not recreating material each semester.
Getting to Know You Survey
My homepage will be used each week to show a warm and encouraging image to introduce the weekly course work The tools we have learned throughout this course will allow those humanizing touches that make it more inviting for students to complete the work while feeling supported and a part of a learning community. The Getting to Know You Survey is just one tool that can be used to understsnd and identify those students that might need additional suport in order to be successful.
Ice Breaker
In the first week of classes I plan to use this ice breaker activity to show my online studnet that I value community and diversity. They will reflect upon 2 or 3 values that are important to them and then choose an object to share that represent one or two of their core values in life. They will share this object and explain why it represent the calues that are iportant to them by usig a Flip video or an audio post. This activity can be intimidating to some students so that it why it is important for me to be the first to share in this ice breaker activity. it is also different than the typical write 2-3 paragraphs to introduce yourself to the class. It gives everybody the opportunity to put a face and/or a voice to the names of their classmates.
Bumper Video
The course I teach is elementary statistics and this bumper video clarifies the differences between a histogram of discrete data and a histogram of continuous data. In an online class it is hard to watch over as they practice drawing histograms from data sets. I am always disappointed by how many do not understand the concept of how to sort the data and how to accturately set up and label the axes of the graph. So this Bumper Video will be used to draw attentions to the differences between discrete and continuous data but also point out the key features that they should be including when drawing the histogram.
Microlecture
This microlecture reteaches how to take a simple random sample using a random digit table and then again using technology. The beginning chapter is full of new vocabulary terms, sampling techniques, case studies and observational studies that SRS does not often get the practice that it needs. I also have a lab activity in which they compare the different types of sampling methods to determine what factors make one method a better choice over another. I always get questions about this lab, so I created this microlecture to help those students that need more of an explanation. This lecture not only demonstrates how to use both the table and the TI-84 graphing calculator to obtain the samples but also provides a neumonic to help them define the process. I hope that this microlecture makes the lab easier to understand.