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�Dr. Michelle Pacansky-Brock

@brocansky

Slides → brocansky.com/cisco

BUILDING TRUST & CONNECTION IN THE AI ERA

Michelle Pacansky-Brock

Liquid Syllabus by Frank Gonzalez.

Slides: brocansky.com/bc

the human advantage

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�Dr. Michelle Pacansky-Brock

@brocansky

Slides → brocansky.com/cisco

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Do I matter here?

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Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

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Disproportionately impacted groups:

Low-income
Transgender & gender diverse
Hispanic
Black
Young adults, 18-24 (79% compared to 41%. 66 and older)

loneliness

Sources:

CIGNA Reports
Hajek, A., König, H. H., Blessmann, M., & Grupp, K. (2023). Loneliness and Social Isolation among Transgender and Gender Diverse People. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 11(10), 1517. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11101517

58% of U.S. adults are lonely

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Photo by Razvan Chisu on Unsplash

Photo by Rob Curran on Unsplash

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Increases job dissatisfaction
Decreases productivity at work
29% higher risk of heart disease
32% increased risk of stroke
50% increased risk of dementia with age
Increases the odds of prematurely dying by 60%

loneliness

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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“Given the significant health consequences of loneliness and isolation, we must prioritize building social connection the same way we have prioritized other critical public health issues such as tobacco, obesity, and substance use disorders. Together, we can build a country that’s healthier, more resilient, less lonely, and more connected.”

The U.S. Surgeon General

The Loneliness Epidemic

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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Photo by ROBIN WORRALL on Unsplash

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Photo by Razvan Chisu on Unsplash

Culture plays a big role here too. Rugged individualism is a deep-seated value in dominant culture in the U.S. Individualism encourages us to stand out from the crowd, to compete with one another, and do more, more, more to get ahead. Ultimately, the more intensified individualism becomes, the less we turn to each other. The less we check in with one another. The less we support the collective needs humanity. We put on our emotional armor, put our head down, and go..

When students begin a new class, whether it is on campus or online, they experience belongingness uncertainty. And this social psychological phenomenon is more severe for some students than others.

Belonging is a basic human need. Social scientists have proven it is a key element in motivation. Belonging affects a human’s ability to achieve their full potential. From research, we know that students who belong are more likely to complete a course, persist to the next year, and complete their academic goals. And we know that students who identify with non-dominant social identities are less likely to experience belonging.

[CLICK] Belonging is very different from fitting in. Fitting in is a dignity violation. When a person feels the need to fit in, they are cued to change who they are. Fitting in is a stressful, hurtful, and toxic experience. It triggers the same parts of the brain as physical pain. And when a person experiences cues to fit in when they are already experiencing belongingness uncertainty, it leads to disengagement and complete withdrawal.

Belonging, on the other hand, is being accepted for one’s true authentic self. And that is a privilege that many people don’t have because of power inequities at play in social settings.

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Fitting In vs. Belong

Belonging is not the same as fitting in.

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Fitting In vs. Belong

“Belonging is being accepted for your true authentic self.”

-Brene Brown

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Slide by Michelle Pacansky-Brock, CC-BY-NC

…”We are designed for sociability, constantly engaged in a ‘neural ballet’ that connects us brain to brain with those around us. Our reactions to others, and theirs to us, have a far-reaching biological impact, sending out cascades of hormones that regulate everything from our hearts to our immune systems, making good relationships act like vitamins--and bad relationships like poisons.”

Daniel Goleman�Author, Social Intelligence

(emphasis added)

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“Positive instructor-student

relationships are the connective

tissue between students, engagement and performance … �on campus and online.”

Photo by Christian Widell on Unsplash

Pacansky-Brock, M., Smedshammer, M., & Vincent-Layton, K. (2020). Humanizing Online Teaching to Equitize Higher Education. Current Issues in Education, 21(2).

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Photo by Jim Romero on Unsplash

micro/macroagressions

micro/macroaffirmations

no cues

Estrada, et al. (2018). The influence of affirming kindness and community on broadening participation in STEM career pathways, Social Issues Policy Review, 12(1), 258-297.

HIGHEST ALERT

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microaffirmations

Estrada, et al. (2018). The influence of affirming kindness and community on broadening participation in STEM career pathways, Social Issues Policy Review, 12(1), 258-297.

Photo by Tom Barrett on Unsplash

kindness cues of social inclusion

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Humanized Online Teaching

Photo by Tom Barrett on Unsplash

An instructional model informed by social psychology research and culturally responsive teaching scholarship
Centers instructor-student relationships built on mutual trust, respect, and high expectations
Pairs psychologically inclusive course design with warm demander pedagogy (Kleinfeld, 1975)

HumanizeOL.org

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Cultural Notions of a Professor

Yale Law School, sculptural frieze above entrance, Photo by Sarah Silverman, CC-BY.

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Two Relationships: Gatekeeper vs Coach

Photo by Andy Hall on Unsplash

Photo by Jeffrey F Lin on Unsplash

positional authority

relational authority

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Liquid Syllabus by Oladimeji Salako, Math, Bakersfield College

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“Thin Slices” of Interactions Influence First Impressions

Approachability is the most desired teaching characteristic amongst undergraduate STEM students (TALR)

Brief video clips hold potential to shape students’ first impressions and build trust.

“Thin Slices” Study (Ambady, 1993): Viewing brief (6-second) video clips with no sound before a class accurately predicted the professor’s macro-traits, based on comparison with end of term ratings

For more information: Thin Slices of Life, American Psychological Society

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

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Hello Professor,

I just had to reach out and tell you that reading through your syllabus and watching your welcome video literally brought tears to my eyes. I cannot tell you how many times I've attempted to take this English course and not completed because I have been too overwhelmed.

I am a mom to two young children and between raising them, working full time, trying to balance my marriage, and chase after my longtime dream of becoming a nurse, college has not been easy journey for me. I have been dreading this semester because I have several rigorous courses and chose your English course this semester purely based off zero cost material. You normalized not having a perfectly straight path . . .

You have given me so much hope for this course and for others I am taking and it's been a wonderful reminder to keep my goals and dreams in sight and keep pushing through when you just don't think you can do anymore. Thank you, I really look forward to learning from you this semester!

A student in a humanized asynchronous online course after viewing a liquid syllabus.

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Trust is the foundation of a positive relationship.

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Trust Building: The Human Advantage

Example 2

Example 3

Example 1

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Bita Nosratieh, Math Faculty, Foothill College

Humanizing Online STEM Academy, Cohort 6

“...we started a new quarter yesterday. So I decided to use my liquid syllabus and getting to know you survey for the first time … [feeling] very unsure about it all mind you since I feel like I’m in draft mode.

… I was so skeptical to be honest that it would make a difference .... Yet as I read the one word responses about how they are feeling about the class and other things they shared, I started to feel so many great emotions. I felt connected, I felt like I could help them more than I ever have. I feel alive!

I guess I had no idea how much I needed to humanize myself and the unexpected rewards I would get from it.”

HumanizeOL.org

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Michelle Pacansky-Brock, CC-BY

Photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash

AI

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Slide by Michelle Pacansky-Brock, CC-BY-NC

“We are not thinking machines.

We are feeling machines that think.”

Antonio Damasio

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brocansky.com/bc

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Research Questions

What is the influence of the Humanizing Online STEM Academy on faculty perceptions and online teaching behaviors?
What are the experiences of students in humanized online STEM courses?

Research Team

University of California, Irvine

Di Xu, Jenniffer Perez Lopez, Yujia Liu, Michael Hill, Xunfei Li, Maricela Bañuelos (several other graduate students and postdocs helped with the data collection as well)

bit.ly/humanizingstem

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Research: Data Collection

Full Sample �(All STEM faculty participants)

2 Waves of Instructor Surveys

Pre- vs. Post-Academy comparisons
Pre-academy survey: n=59, 75.6% response rate
Post-academy survey: n=53, 80% response rate�

Longitudinal Instructor Interviews

Three wave of interviews

Wave 1 (Pre-academy)
Wave 2 (Post-academy)
Wave 3 (Post-academy after teaching their humanized course)
Demographics: a mix by gender, race, 2-year/4-year, full-time/part-time employment, and experiences teaching fully online courses

Deep Dive Sample �(10 STEM faculty participants)

Student Surveys

Start-of-course vs. end-of-course comparisons
Start-of-course survey: n=825, average response rate of 62%
End of course survey: n=599, response rate of 45%

Student Focus-Groups/Interviews

20 students participated in focus groups and individual interviews

To answer these questions, we collected data from two samples: a full sample of all faculty who participated in the academy were invited to participate in two waves of instructor surveys (one pre academy and one post academy) with fairly high response rate. We also collected survey data from students regarding their course experiences in the humanized courses in week two of the course and then at the end of the course, which would enable us to see possible changes throughout the course. �

In addition to this full sample, we also conducted three waves of instructor interviews from a deep dive sample of 10 instructors, (one pre-Academy, one immediate post-Academy, and one post-Academy after the instructors taught their humanized course) to yield more nuanced insights that are not directly available from survey data.

For this deep dive sample of instructors, we also conducted student focus-group interviews in their humanized online courses.

Some additional information in case folks ask for it:

Instructor interview demographics:

Same 10 in all 3 waves

8 women, 2 men
7 White, 1 Latina/o/x, 1 Asian, 1 Other
4 Full-time and 6 Part-time
Both 4-year and 2-year faculty were represented

Student interview demographics:

5 men, 15 women
7 White, 8 Latina/o/x, 5 Asian

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Demographics

Faculty who were surveyed:

Predominantly female (74%) and White (61%)
All have master’s (45%) or doctoral degree (55%)
Both 2-year and 4-year
Average of 9 years of teaching experience and 4 years of online teaching experience

“Deep dive” faculty interview participants:

Roughly reflects survey sample participants

Students who responded to both waves of surveys:

66% female
50% students from minoritized racial groups (Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander)

bit.ly/humanizingstem

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Faculty

Findings

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Findings

Changes in Faculty Perceptions & Attitudes

Significant increase in:

Confidence in teaching online

Meet needs of students & create welcoming environment ↑~20%

Perceptions of the role that an instructor plays in improving student achievement
Perception of the role that an instructor plays in closing equity gaps
Awareness of the differences students bring to a class
Willingness to intentionally accommodate student differences

bit.ly/humanizingstem

The first question we asked is whether the academy changed how instructors perceive online teaching and learning.

(1) Overall, Instructors reported a significantly higher overall self-efficacy post-Academy, which was measured by eight items asking instructors’ beliefs in their capacity to achieve various teaching goals in online courses. In particular, instructors’ confidence in their ability to meet the individual needs of students and design a welcoming environment in online teaching increased most pronouncedly, by almost 20%.

(2 and 3) Academy participants also tended to believe more in their own impact on improving student achievement overall as well as on closing equity gaps.

(4 and 5) Two important themes that emerged from our analysis of the longitudinal interviews is that the Academy helped the instructors to be more cognizant of the different backgrounds students came from and make intentional efforts to accommodate such diversity

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Changes in Instructional Practices

After the Humanizing Online STEM Academy, faculty were:�

More likely (72-91%) to use the eight humanizing elements
More actively engaged in promoting:

Instructor-student social interaction
Student-student interactions
Student-content interactions

More flexible with course policies and grading
More intentional about being approachable

Findings

bit.ly/humanizingstem

We are also interested in examining whether the academy changes instructor teaching practices.

It seems that participants were very active in using the eight humanizing elements in their humanized course. The most widely mentioned reason for not using an element is that there is not sufficient time for instructors to incorporate them into their courses. This suggests that ongoing institutional support is probably needed for the Academy to have a sustaining impact.

There were many other changes beyond using the 8 humanizing elements. �(2) Overall, faculty reported being more actively engaged in promoting instructor-student social interaction, student-student interactions, and student-content interactions.

(3) Instructors also made intentional efforts to be more flexible with policies and grading�(4) and make themselves more approachable

During interviews, instructors mentioned that these changes were partly driven by a shift in their perceptions of the relationship between instructors and students

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“Prior to this class I always felt like an instructor was at this level and your students are down here at this level. And … after the [Academy], I realized we’re a team. … And the less I view it as a hierarchy, the better my outcomes are.”

STEM Faculty Participant

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Students

Findings

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STEM Student Experiences in Humanized Online Courses

Preliminary Findings

Overall, students in humanized online courses reported high levels of satisfaction with:

Sense of belonging
Instructor-student relationships
Teaching presence
Social presence
Attitudes towards online learning

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In both the Week 2 and End-of-Course surveys, students from racially minoritized groups reported higher levels of the following measures when compared to White and Asian peers:

Sense of belonging
Instructor-student relationships
Teaching presence
Cognitive presence

* Racially minoritized groups include Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander students.

Differences in Students from Racially Minoritized Groups

Preliminary Findings

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Differences in Students from Racially Minoritized Groups

Preliminary Findings

Students from racially minoritized groups also had greater increases in most constructs from Week 2 to end-of-the-course survey with significant increases in:

Sense of belonging
Student-student interactions

* Racially minoritized groups include Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander students.

When we compare student experiences reported in week 2 and at the end of the course, students from minoritized groups also experienced a greater increase in sense of belonging and student-student interactions compared with White and Asian students. We are particularly excited about the positive experiences reported by minoritized groups, considering that a large volume of studies indicate that students from minoritized groups tend to be supported less effectively by online courses. Our ongoing scale up grant will further use administrative data to explicitly examine whether the academy may help reduce the performance gaps between different groups of students.

The surveys and interviews with students also revealed a number of other things students really value. For example, students emphasized the benefits of having a clear sense of instructors’ expectations for key performance tasks and appreciated consistency of learning materials, timely feedback, and grading rubrics that provide clear guidance in terms of what constitutes a high quality response.

Students also noted the need to further strengthen student-student interactions. During the interviews, most students indicated that they had limited group projects with class peers and would appreciate more opportunities to connect with each other academically. While most of the students mentioned that the course included some social interactions with peers, such as through the introductory posts about oneself, students generally welcome opportunities that would enable course content related interactions with peers.

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Liquid Syllabus: �Suggested Pre-Course Content

Eliminate uncertainties. Model yourself as a learning partner. Build trust.�

Send before the class starts
Public, one page, accessible
Supportive, hopeful tone
Welcome note with brief, imperfect video & accurate captions
About This Course
Week 1 Success Kit
Pact
Teaching Philosophy
Inclusive images (with alt-text)
Institutional student support resources

Learn More

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By Charli Sakari, Physics, San Francisco State University

“Heat” Bumper Video

Made with Adobe Express Video (formerly Adobe Spark), which is free. �Requires downloading video & hosting elsewhere to add captions.

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By Trishana Norquist, Biology,

Southwestern College

Made with Adobe Express Video (formerly Adobe Spark), which is free. �Requires downloading video & hosting elsewhere to add captions.

“Chemical Bonds” Bumper Video

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Please reflect on your life.

Identify one memorable teacher who positively influenced you.

brocansky.com/dtlsolar23

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In your mind, identify two words

that describe that person.

brocansky.com/dtlsolar23

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Share those two words in our activity.

View Results

On a phone:

Scan QR Code with your phone’s camera
Tap the link

OR

On a laptop:

Go to: brocansky.com/dtlsolar23
Click on Memorable Educator Activity