Inclusive STEM Teaching at EMU

 

colorful tiles that read "STEM Inclusive STEM Teaching Project"

Overview

This learning community was based on an NSF-funded free 6-week asynchronous online class for college instructors, the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project (ISTP). It was designed to advance ability and awareness for cultivating inclusive STEM learning environments. The EMU Learning Community met from March 10 - April 21. The modules covered themes designed to help instructors construct classroom environments that support the complexities that contribute to student persistence and success.

Objectives for the Learning Community

  1. Participants will meet the learning outcomes listed in the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project syllabus.
  2. Participants will revise the syllabus for one of their courses to be more inclusive.
  3. Participants will plan in detail the way they will frame the class on Day 1 for an inclusive course
    as a whole.

The Inclusive STEM Teaching Project was designed for participants who are at the beginning or intermediate stages of their journey toward inclusive teaching and thinking more deeply about issues of identity, power, privilege, belonging, etc.

Winter 2023 Details

Read what past participants have to say about this community: 

"I feel reenergized to continue this process on my own for some time to come."

"This course is a must for anyone who wants to create inclusive learning spaces."

"I feel like I reached my goals as I wanted to understand how others are approaching DEI in their fields by listening attentively and accepting what they said whether I agreed with them or not and I feel like I did that. I really enjoyed this learning community and looked forward to our discussions on Fridays."

Each participant submitted their revised syllabus (including the before and after views, and reasoning for the changes) and their detailed plan for Day 1, having incorporated feedback from the PLC, to the facilitator team.  We will create a website where they can be viewed, to make them easily accessible to other people at EMU, and across the country.

We encouraged participants to give a short presentation and/or short written report to their respective departments after the end of the ISTP online course and EMU learning community, to spread some of what they have learned (including their revised syllabus and detailed Day 1 plans) at EMU (including through FDC programs and publications), and perhaps encourage other faculty to participate in the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project MOOC in later semesters.

You can read more about the ISTP course at their main website. To register for the online course, visit their edX site. Even if you decided not to participate in the EMU learning community, we still encourage you to participate in the ISTP course.

Facilitators

Lynn Bahena (Program Administrator, Math Pathways Support)

Andrew Ross (Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics)

Debbie Ingram (Professor and Department Head, Department of Mathematics and Statistics)