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Humanizing Your Course

Course Design Series

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

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Welcome

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Today’s Presenters

Karen Crouch�Instructional Design & Technology Consultant, ASSETT/CTL

Brad Grabham�Instructional Designer �Learning Design Group, CE

Dr. Kalpana Gupta�Professional Development Lead, Center for Teaching and Learning

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Learning Outcomes

Participants after attending this session will be able to:

Reflect on their own identities that influence course design and teaching practices
Discover ways to utilize the humanizing learning framework to build community and create inclusion

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Group Check-in

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Influence of Our Identities and Values

How does my identity/identities inform the dynamics in my classroom?
What are the ways I might reveal my identity or express “selective vulnerability” (Hammond, 2014) while ensuring students can express their identities and personal narratives?
In what ways have my personal values influenced the course content and design?
Do aspects of course design privilege some student identities over others?

Equity issues begin with us. Pause for reflection…….Share this reflection doc and feel free to go back and revisit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Oov9rzOziHIm3ONzNGg1BbIR1zzosvB345dePbkZ8wg/copy Selective Vulnerability: Show your humanness by sharing your personal challenges as a young learner or your current progress learning a new skill.The use of selective vulnerability as a trust builder helps students see the teacher as more than just an authority figure trying to get them to do class work. They see the teacher as an individual who has their own challenges. The student then sees a partner in the learning experience, a partner who has struggled on their own and will help the student with their struggles.

Deeper dive: Educational background (not everyone has been taught/learned the same way), race, gender, bias

Identify the question that is most meaningful to you……

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What does Humanizing Pedagogy Mean to you?

Compassion

Empathy

Making a connection

Interaction

Welcoming

Community

Not jumping to assumptions

also not automatic assumptions

Relationship building

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Humanizing Our Pedagogy

“...a pedagogical strategy that seeks to improve equity gaps by acknowledging the fact that learning environments are not neutral; rather, they often operate to reinforce a worldview that minoritizes some students” (Pacansky-Brock, Smedshammer, & Vincent-Layton, 2020, p. 2)

Humanized/Humanizing Learning is an approach to teaching that encourages instructors to embrace awareness, empathy, presence, and trust in their classrooms.

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Humanized Learning Dr. Torry Trust

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Awareness: Learn About your Students

Create a pre-class survey in Canvas, Google forms, or Qualtrics to learn more about your students’ access and capabilities
Email them before the first day of class or dedicate some time the first time you meet for them to complete
Use the information to guide your instructions
Conduct a wellness check every 1-2 weeks or use a mood scale
Ask students to complete a weekly reflection so you can become aware of their thinking, learning, and engagement

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Presence: Feeling a Sense of Belonging in a Classroom

“When my teachers have in-class discussion and asks questions, it makes it feel less like I am watching YouTube videos to learn, and more like I am part of a classroom where I can elaborate on my thoughts.”

Sticking around for 5 minutes after class to answer questions
Sending emails asking where I’ve been if I missed classes
Were happy to see me in office hours, office hours are flexible/built around student availability
Incorporate your answers into the lecture to any question they asked etc.
Remembering my comments/interests in between sessions.
Asking me questions.

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Communicating Belonging

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Empathy: Student Choice

By giving students choices, instructors can enhance student motivation (Adams et al., 2017). This lets students address topics that are culturally relevant to them. It also gives some agency to students over their own learning. Also part of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

Allow students to choose the topic for their project or paper (and have them run it by you in advance).
Allow students to choose the format of their final project (oral presentation, recorded podcast, or a written document).
Revisit your assessments and their alignment to your learning goals. If oral presentation skills are not part of your learning goal, requiring public speaking in a big group may not be the best assessment for every student. Instead, give students the choice to express their knowledge in a different format.
Allow students to choose one or several topics of discussion/learning in your class when possible. You could reserve some time at the end of the semester and poll your students about what they would like to learn.

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Resources for Inclusive Teaching

Inclusive Pedagogy Community of Practice (CoP)
JET Cohort Micro-credential (Info session, May 15th at 2:00 pm)
Universal Design for Learning Course Micro-credential
Digital Accessibility Office

Small Teaching: everyday lessons from the science of learning

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Trust: Flexibility and Introduction to Ungrading

https://www.jessestommel.com/ungrading-an-introduction/ Grading became a thing late 1700’s and A-F system emerged 1898…letter grades came to be widely used in 1940’s. “Research shows three reliable effects when students are graded: They tend to think less deeply, avoid taking risks, and lose interest in learning itself.” In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire argues against the banking model of education, “an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor.”

Ungrading starts with teachers just talking to students about grades. Demystifying grades (and the culture around them) gives students a sense of ownership over their own education.

Doesn’t have to be for the whole course, maybe try it with one assessment and see how it works.

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Alternative Forms of Assessment

Minimal Grading: Using scales with fewer gradations to make grading “simpler, fairer, clearer” (Elbow)
Contract Grading: Grading contracts convey expectations about what is required for each potential grade. Students work toward the grade they want to achieve, and goalposts don’t unexpectedly shift.
Authentic Assessment: Having students write for real-world audiences, focusing on intrinsic motivations, and drawing students into the design of assignments / assessments.
Process Letters: Asking students to reflect on their work and offer feedback on those reflections. Students help guide the grading of their own work
Change how you talk about assessment: Ungrading works best as part of a holistic pedagogical practice. Use words like "ask" or "invite," rather than "submit" or "required." Ask students about their expectations for their work, rather than centering yours.
Invite students to a conversation about grades: Ask students how being graded makes them feel, how it affects their motivation. As a group, read and discuss a piece like Alfie Kohn's "The Case Against Grades."
Grade less stuff, grade less often, grade more simply: Create space in your course for discovery and experimentation. Use a grading scale that feels less arbitrary and communicates more clearly to students. Ask students to do work that you don't "collect."
Ask students to reflect on their own learning: Even if you change nothing else about how you grade, ask students when and how they learn. Ask what barriers they face. Listen. Believe the answers.

Kalpana’s self directed learning contract: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bjpWbV03basRMy9Peed6a5rE0Zmccx8wYXZXQb3C7dw/edit?usp=sharing

Minimal Grading: Using scales with fewer gradations to make grading “simpler, fairer, clearer” (Elbow)
Contract Grading: Grading contracts convey expectations about what is required for each potential grade. Students work toward the grade they want to achieve, and goalposts don’t unexpectedly shift.
Authentic Assessment: Having students write for real-world audiences, focusing on intrinsic motivations, and drawing students into the design of assignments / assessments.
Process Letters: Asking students to reflect on their work and offer feedback on those reflections. Students help guide the grading of their own work
Change how you talk about assessment: Ungrading works best as part of a holistic pedagogical practice. Use words like "ask" or "invite," rather than "submit" or "required." Ask students about their expectations for their work, rather than centering yours.
Invite students to a conversation about grades: Ask students how being graded makes them feel, how it affects their motivation. As a group, read and discuss a piece like Alfie Kohn's "The Case Against Grades."
Grade less stuff, grade less often, grade more simply: Create space in your course for discovery and experimentation. Use a grading scale that feels less arbitrary and communicates more clearly to students. Ask students to do work that you don't "collect."
Ask students to reflect on their own learning: Even if you change nothing else about how you grade, ask students when and how they learn. Ask what barriers they face. Listen. Believe the answers.

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Got Questions?

ldg@colorado.edu

https://www.colorado.edu/learningdesign/

ctl@colorado.edu

https://www.colorado.edu/center/teaching-learning/consultations/individual-consultations

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Next Session

Coming this fall!

Not to be missed!

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