Fantastic opportunity to learn about inclusive STEM teaching through the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project https://www.inclusivestemteaching.org/. This is an NSF-funded course that is available for free for anyone who wants to participate. The free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) will be hosted next from October 2 – November 21, 2023 via edX.
By participating in this course, participants will learn how to:
- Advance awareness, self-efficacy, and ability to cultivate inclusive classroom environments;
- Support development as a reflective, inclusive practitioner;
- Engage in reflection and discussion around topics of equity and inclusion across a variety of institutional contexts;
- Implement inclusive teaching methods in classes which will remove common barriers and enhance learning in STEM for all students.
The course mainly consists videos of short presentations by experts in education and inclusive learning, who represent several institutions including the University of Georgia, Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, and others. Interspersed amongst the videos are discussion boards and opportunities for self-reflection. Additional videos feature student voices reflecting on their own experiences, and some very moving vignettes featuring professional actors. Each module includes a list of references for further reading. Participants can opt-into affinity groups held online or in some cases at their home institutions (for more information about local affinity groups see https://www.inclusivestemteaching.org/). Between now and May 15, 2023 you can apply to be trained as a local faciltator – see https://www.inclusivestemteaching.org/facilitator-training/.
The course consists of five modules:
Module 1: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. This module explored Exploring Identity, Power, Privilege and Positionality, as well as hesitancies instructors might have about inclusive teaching, such as relevance to the subject matter, lack of skills, and lack of time (for a further discussion see the Barriers and Hesitancies Reflection activity).
Module 2: Instructor Identity and Experience in STEM Classrooms. This module introduces the importance of identity in social interactions, how power and privilege are linked to identity, and to what how showing humanity and vulnerability can support student outcomes.
Module 3: Student Identity. Students with marginalized identities can experience environmental omissions and insults, discrimination and harassment, historical and vicarious trauma, microaggressions, and imposter feeling. This module considers the impact of these experiences on students’ classroom experiences and learning.
Module 4: Creating an Inclusive STEM Course. This module looks at many facets of course development and how they can be optimized for inclusive teaching, including the syllabus, universal design, active learning and assessment. It’s full of clear, specific guidelines.
Module 5: Climate in the STEM Classroom. The final module looks at instructor behavior in the classroom and demonstrates examples of effective and less effective practices. Group work, when done well, can enhance students’ feelings of belonging in STEM, so several resources focus on how to set up and manage productive, inclusive group projects and discussions.
I found this course to be exceptionally informative and provide an easy way to take in a lot of useful information. The course will be repeated later this year and I highly recommend enrolling in it!
The course is free to participate in, although if you require a certificate of completion there is a small fee.
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