At our May 25 meeting, we discussed the second half of the article, “Deep teaching in a college STEM classroom”, by Bryan M. Dewsbury, in Cultural Studies of Science Education (2020) 15: 169-191 (Dewsbury Deep Teaching). Consider the following questions:
In what way is learning is a social behavior, as proposed in the article? Here are some of our thoughts:
- This is hard to figure out than it first appears.
- Learning in person is easier for most people—meaning, there must be social aspects.
- Student success is better with interaction.
- Small group learning is generally more effective—why?
- How can we communicate more empathy to students?
- Use courseware to help students master content outside of class in order to free up in-person class time
- Obtain demographic info on the students prior to each semester (from IR)
- Give a student survey asking them about their previous experience with science classes, what will help you be successful, and/or their feelings on group work.
- Do a reflection the first day, “I believe…” They can pick a core value to shape their decisions in life. Pick one, any value they have.
- Tell the class why you are doing this.
- Give them opportunities to get know each other (e.g., small group discussions).
- Give the students meaningful projects they can contribute to and feel a part of.
- Try to get to know what they want to do. One participant shared that on the first day of class, asks the students to post a photo of what biology means to them. She gets interesting photos (ex. butterflies, babies/giving birth, themselves, photosynthesis).
- What social assets do the different kinds of students bring to class that can be leveraged?
- Leverage your own experiences as a model when teaching.
- Try to make it personal. For example, consider sending an email to students at the beginning of each module with the question, “Does anyone have any experience with this?”
- When teaching about pollination, one participant discovered that several students had relatives who were beekeepers in their home countries.
- Another shared how she has asked her Comparative Anatomy students to bring in a photo of their vertebrate pets, or a photo of a vertebrate pet they would like to have.
- Some students can contribute personal experiences when they do the topic of alcohol production (fermentation) in microbiology.
- On the topic of ethnobotany the instructor can ask the students about home remedies.
- Try to use examples/models that show diversity. For example:
- Who narrates the videos you show in class or assign?
- Highlight contributions of scientists of color. See the following websites:
- Scientist Spotlights: https://scientistspotlights.org/
- Black Microbiology: https://blackmicrobiology.org/
- Black in Marine Science: https://blackinmarinescience.org/
- Women in Natural Sciences: https://ansp.org/education/programs/wins/
- Have students make their own YouTube videos to explain content.
When we discuss research with students, show photos of students who are minorities.
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