STEM – Faculty Development Tuesday Tips Archive

STEM-Specific Teaching Guides

April 25, 2023November 22, 2023 adminLeave a comment

Sent on behalf of Tina Hanson-Lewis, lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and READI Equity Fellow.

Over the past year, your Equity Fellows have been hard at work serving as liaisons between each college and FDEV’s Hub for Research in Equity, Anti-racism, Diversity, and Inclusion (also known as the READI Hub). Based on the needs identified by each college, we developed, compiled, and/or organized resources in a manner that we hope will reduce barriers and increase access to resources. Some of these resources were in the form of new Teaching Guides. I particularly appreciate the Teaching Guides, as I find them concise, comprehensive, and extremely helpful. Each guide begins with a background information section, a list of peer-reviewed resources, and then a brief list of application ideas. The second half of the guide consists of resources in a variety of formats (text, videos, podcasts, etc.) about the topic from credible sources.

As liaison for the College of Natural Sciences (CNS), I was informed that many faculty members in CNS wanted STEM-specific guidance, since STEM course designs often differ from those in other fields. I would like to briefly introduce you to four new STEM-specific teaching guides that have been developed to meet this need.

Flipping a STEM Course – (A Low Barrier Approach). This teaching guide supplements the more general “Flipped Classes” teaching guide by providing STEM faculty with additional insights and advice on how to flip their course(s).
Assessment in the STEM classroom. As an addition to the more general teaching guides (“Formative Assessment” and “Summative Assessment“), this guide is designed to introduce STEM faculty to the concerns surrounding ‘traditional’ STEM assessments.
The Anti-Racist STEM Classroom. Along with the guide on “Creating Anti-Racist Classrooms,” this STEM-specific add-on presents resources designed to assist faculty members in identifying how and where racism appears in STEM curricula.
Inclusive Mentoring of STEM Students. In STEM we often work as mentors one on one with students or with small groups of students. Faculty may find themselves in a position where they mentor students who have different life experiences than their own. In this guide, faculty are provided with resources that will assist them in being better mentors.

These resources are provided in the hope that they will be helpful to you, even if you teach outside of the CNS. However, if you have any additional questions, concerns, or unmet needs, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Grading for a More Equitable Society

March 7, 2023November 22, 2023 adminLeave a comment

Sent on behalf of Dr. Grazyne Tresoldi, Assistant Professor in the College of Agriculture and READI Equity Fellow.

Dear colleagues,

I assume we are all familiar with the equity biases in the student evaluations of teaching but are you aware of the implications of your own unconscious (implicit, hidden) biases?

I hadn’t thought much about it until I found this study published in the British Journal of Educational Psychology. In their research, teachers graded (similar) students’ written essays but were not blind to their ethnical and socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds. Essays associated with students from lower SES received lower ratings than those associated with higher SES. However, the number of objective errors identified was the same, suggesting the teacher’s judgments were biased. After this, I stumbled over many articles addressing this topic, including in STEM – where we are trained to be highly objective and thus less subjective. Our unconscious biases can only help perpetuate the inequalities and a patriarchal society.

As a person who truly enjoys knowing students at the personal level, I have implemented a few strategies to lessen the effects of this systemic problem.

Recognize my own unconscious biases. I learned about the Implicit Association Test during the CSU Avoiding Bias in Hiring training. This free test can help you to explore your attitudes, beliefs, and biases toward marginalized groups. Becoming aware is the first step toward change!
Use of anonymous grading. Both Canvas and Blackboard offer the option to hide student names during grading. If grading hard copies, I require a student ID number instead of names.
Grading with rubrics. In addition to helping students evaluate their own work, rubrics help us to be more objective during grading. The British study above, suggested that teachers are more likely to revert to biased judgments when there is no clear evaluation rubrics.

What strategies have you implemented? I would love to hear what you do to promote more equitable grading!

Need help getting yourself started? Reach out! The READI hub is here to help you to implement EDI & antiracism teaching practices.

Student-Faculty Research Collaborative

November 30, 2021November 23, 2023 adminLeave a comment

This week’s tip is brought to you on behalf of the Student-Faculty Research Collaborative Team.

Participating in student-faculty research experiences at Chico State fosters student interests, expands their academic and professional skills, and provides them with authentic learning experiences in and outside the classroom. The Student-Faculty Research Collaborative encourages you to explore, discover, and be inspired through research and creative activities. Through this collaborative, Chico State students participate in research or independent creative projects with the support and mentorship of Chico State faculty members.

Key to promoting disciplinary socialization, undergraduate research experience (URE) has long been identified as a High-Impact Practice (HIP).14, 15 Well-structured URE programs are associated with increased retention, stronger STEM identity, and increased likelihood that students will pursue graduate degrees. in a study of multiple factors impacting STEM retention, determine that “faculty mentoring on its own is not necessarily associated with STEM persistence, but rather that its relationship with persistence is contingent on whether or not the student participated in research.” (Chang, M.J., Sharkness, J., Hurtado, S. and Newman, C.B. (2014). What Matters in College for Retaining Aspiring Scientists and Engineers from Underrepresented Racial Groups. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 51(5): 555–580.). Opportunity to engage in Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CUREs) may be especially important for URMs, low-income, and/or first generation students who are less likely to seek traditional UREs.

Interested in engaging in topics about authentic research?
Join the Student-Faculty Research Collaborative for the First Annual Fall Research Week
Tuesday, November 30th, to Friday, December 3rd, 2021
All Workshops will be held over Zoom.
Workshop Schedule: Fall Research Week

Share your experience supporting student research by adding a comment.

ChicoFlex Updates and Training Opportunities

November 2, 2021November 27, 2023 adminLeave a comment

Dear faculty,

I want to take the opportunity of this Tuesday tip to remind you of a number of resources related to ChicoFlex technology and pedagogy. First of all, I want to point you to this website, which clarifies some general questions about this mode of instruction and provides updates on the technology and the trainings available.

Winter 2022 GoFlex training
Kathy Fernandes and I, together with the Technology & Learning Program (TLP), have been hard at work to plan additional training for faculty interested in teaching ChicoFlex courses and, more broadly, in hybrid pedagogy. There is currently an open call for faculty interested in participating or mentoring in our Winter 2022 GoFlex session. This 5-day session is designed to prepare faculty who have not attended GoFlex in Summer 2021.This Winter session will also have a STEM track focusing on implementing ChicoFlex in courses offered in the Science building.

DATES: January 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 (skipping January 10^th, Monday), 2022. You can read more information in the Call for Applications. Applications are due by Wednesday, November 17^th.

If you want to learn more about GoFlex, you can visit this website, which includes faculty showcase videos.

ChicoFlex and Hyflex Fellows
Additional efforts in relation to ChicoFlex and hyflex pedagogy include the selection of six faculty that will work with Faculty Development and the Technology and Learning Program in Spring 2022 to develop an assessment plan for the ChicoFlex model and will start piloting a full hyflex mode of instruction. The key difference between ChicoFlex and hyflex is that ChicoFlex does not include the possibility for students to attend a course fully asynchronously, while full hyflex courses in the future will. You can read more about this distinction here.

Faculty Learning Community: Innovative Hyflex and Inclusive Pedagogy
Lastly, I want to announce a new faculty learning community that will be offered in Spring 2022. Dr. Jamie Gunderson will lead 20-25 faculty in a learning community that will focus on universal design for learning and will encourage faculty to create inclusive hybrid and virtual learning spaces. The call will come out on November 15^th, together with all FDEV Spring 2022 programs, so stay tuned! Share your experience on our blog if you are teaching a ChicoFlex course this semester and/or you have completed GoFlex in the Summer!

Add a comment to share your experience if you are teaching a ChicoFlex course this semester and/or you have completed GoFlex in the Summer!