Tag Archives: Culturally Responsive Teaching

DEI Learning

Promoting Equity and Belonging in Online STEM: Strategies for Culturally Responsive Practices

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The inclusion of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in education fosters diversity and provides opportunities for students from various cultural backgrounds to engage in a comprehensive and enriching educational experience.

Culturally responsive teaching is a pedagogical approach that utilizes the cultural backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives of diverse students to enhance and personalize their learning experiences (Culturally Responsive STEM Committee, 2021). It goes beyond merely recognizing cultural differences; it actively incorporates these differences into the teaching process to create a classroom environment where all students feel valued, respected, and empowered to participate meaningfully. 

Adopting this approach entails tailoring teaching methods to align with students’ cultural experiences, thereby enhancing the relatability and engagement of the learning content (Thompson & Perez, 2021). Educators are tasked with actively seeking and integrating diverse perspectives into their teaching strategies, fostering an environment where students feel acknowledged and valued. As the educational journey unfolds, continual reflection and adaptation become crucial, ensuring responsiveness to the ever-changing cultural dynamics within the learning environment. 

Promoting Cultural Responsiveness in Online STEM Education

Educators who are committed to fostering an inclusive classroom that celebrates and respects students’ diverse backgrounds can empower all learners to thrive in a transformative academic environment.  Here are some strategies that educators can use to help them do so:  

Make Everyone Feel Welcome: Create a friendly online space where students from divergent backgrounds feel comfortable and respected.  For example, discussion boards where students share their cultural perspectives could foster a positive environment, ensuring everyone feels valued and respected. 

Use Diverse Examples and Culturally Relevant Resources: Include diverse types of resources and examples in your lessons to make sure everyone can relate to the material.   For example, in a history lesson, include narratives in recordings from various regions or cultures, ensuring that the material is relatable and accessible to students from diverse backgrounds. This approach could enhance the learning experience, making it more relevant and engaging for a diverse student body. 

Organize Community Engagement: Connecting students to STEM communities, organizations, and role models from diverse backgrounds is crucial. This could help students to feel a sense of belonging and may encourage them to pursue STEM fields. Educators can actively facilitate these connections by introducing guest speakers presentations, establishing access to field trips (both in-person and virtually), or promoting student participation in relevant organizations on campus. 

Establish Equity and Access: Educators should work to ensure that all students have equal access to educational opportunities. This may involve addressing disparities in access to technology, providing additional support for students with varying language abilities, and accommodating different learning styles and abilities. 

Use Inclusive Language and Explore Different Cultures: Use language that respects and acknowledges unfamiliar cultural perspectives and backgrounds. Avoid assumptions or stereotypes.  

Try learning about diverse cultures while being sensitive to them in your teaching.  For instance, in a lesson on scientific advancements, incorporate case studies highlighting collaborative efforts from scientists across the globe, emphasizing the global nature of STEM research. This approach could underscore cultural sensitivity in STEM learning, illustrating the interconnectedness of scientific achievements across diverse communities and creating an inclusive educational experience. 

Group of graduates, gathering joyfully.

Personalize Student Learning: Understand that each student learns differently and tailor the teaching to their needs.  Acknowledge the individual learning styles of each student and customize your teaching methods accordingly. Ensure fairness by allowing students the freedom to choose how they demonstrate their understanding. For instance, on a science assignment, provide options such as conducting an experiment, building a model, or delivering a brief presentation to display their comprehension. This approach could help to acknowledge diverse learning styles and strengths, creating an inclusive assessment environment. 

Encourage Group Work: Encourage students to work with classmates from divergent backgrounds.   For example, on a group assignment, deliberately pair students from diverse cultural or ethnic backgrounds to encourage a dynamic exchange of ideas. This collaborative method not only develops teamwork skills but could also provides students with valuable insights from various perspectives, creating a more inclusive and culturally diverse learning environment. 

Include Different Perspectives: Diverse cultures bring unique perspectives to STEM, so try showing how unfamiliar cultures think about different STEM topics.   Indigenous cultures often blend science with spirituality, Eastern philosophies emphasize balance, African cultures value community collaboration, Arab/Islamic cultures integrate faith and science, Latin American indigenous communities prioritize nature, and Nordic societies focus on societal impact (Thevenot, 2021). Recognizing these diverse perspectives could enrich the global understanding of STEM. 

These simple changes can help make online STEM courses better for everyone, no matter where they come from.  Culturally responsive teaching in STEM is an ongoing journey that involves a commitment to openness, feedback, and inclusivity. It is about continuously striving to create a learning environment where students from all cultural backgrounds feel valued and empowered to succeed in the STEM fields. 

Adding cultural responsive teaching could further enhance the learning environment for students who may need extra consideration. If you want to explore how to incorporate this type of teaching strategy into your online course, the SCSU Online and Distance Learning team can help.  You can reach out to us via email or through Bookings.

Additional Reading:

For more information on any of the following topics, please check out our previous blog articles.

References: 

Culturally Responsive STEM Committee. (2021, February 10). About the Culturally Responsive STEM Initiative. STEMteachersNYC. https://stemteachersnyc.org/culturally-responsive-stem/ 

Thompson, C. & Perez, R. (2021). Strategies for culturally responsive online teaching in STEM. Online Learning Consortium. https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/webinar/strategies-for-culturally-responsive-online-teaching-in-stem/ 

Thevenot, Y. (2021, July 26). Culturally responsive and sustaining STEM curriculum as a problem-based science approach to supporting student achievement for black and Latinx students. NYU Steinhardt. https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/vue/culturally-responsive-and-sustaining-stem-curriculum-problem-based-science-approach  

Woit, S. (2022). Person Holding Glucose, Medicine Students [Photograph]. SCSU photos. https://stcloudstate.smugmug.com/CastleCampus/i-MGQxHg4 

Woit, S. (2022). Group of graduates, gathering joyfully. [Photograph]. SCSU photos.  https://stcloudstate.smugmug.com/2023EconomicImpact/i-r44z7bp 

 

Monisha Mohannaidu, currently serving as a Graduate Assistant at SCSU, brings three years of valuable experience from her work with advertising agencies around the world. Apart from her professional background, she is an enthusiastic individual who has actively participated in several art workshops and has a proficiency in graphic design. 

DEI Learning

Equity and Technology in the Learning Environment

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Nowadays, learning, ideas & information’ sharing is dependent on technology hence it is high time to get familiar with Equity and Technology.

The Minnesota State Network for Educational Development (NED) Equity and Technology short course was designed to get participants familiar with equity while providing learning through technology. As per the course, equity and technology was defined as, “equitable access to learning technology & information irrespective of learners’ socio-economic status, age, ethnicity, physical ability, or any other quality” (Hill, 2022, slide 3). The course was about the creation of a learning environment in which every learner had equitable access to all technologies which were in use throughout the learning process.

To implement equity and technology, it was recommended to apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in connection with Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT). With UDL, the learning process is designed to accommodate all learners’ needs and abilities. It is a framework based on three guiding principles: Multiple Means of Engagement, Multiple Means of Representation, and Multiple Means of Action & Expression within learning. While CRT refers to the style of teaching and learning that facilitates the equitable achievement for all students / learners through recognition of the fact that culture is a powerful force in shaping how students see themselves and the world around them.

Seven Tips to Design Learning with Equity and Technology in Mind

The following seven tips were described in the course as ways to incorporate UDL and CRT frameworks in course design to support equitable learning outcomes.

  1. Start Small: Pick one instructional problem, one learning experience, and one assessment to begin.
  2. Keep It Manageable: Implement a small change and build on it over time.
  3. Focus on Learning Goals: Provide clear explanations for the assignment’s learning goals.
  4. Connect to UDL and CRT: Brainstorm ways to apply UDL principles in connection with CRT in order to enhance equitable learning outcomes.
  5. Select Technology Last: First, decide on the multiple means of engagement, representation, or action & expression, then select the technology that can support that means. Make sure that the technology and content chosen support access and accessibility.
  6. Let Students Lead: Make learning more interactive and engaging by involving students in the learning process. Also, consider improving learning experiences, then make sure students’ inputs are implemented to drive changes to the learning process.
  7. Build Community: Connect with other faculty on-campus who are engaging in UDL with CRT, and equity to share ideas.
Recommendations

The following recommendations are based on my self-reflection of the Equity and Technology (Fall 2022) course materials and my personal experiences working on several MBA online course design projects.

  1. Provide D2L Student Orientation: Provide guidance, support, and training to students on how to use the technology linked to their learning. This support should also include how to engage in productive online discussions, and how to locate and upload assignments in D2L.
  2. Establish Instructor Presence: Create course-specific instructional videos with transcripts to clarify the learning expectations for students. Instructional videos will also provide details about how multiple modes of communication could be used throughout the course and how students should prepare for it. Videos should not be too long in duration, with a recommended length of 5-10 minutes.
  3. Add an Optional “All Class Meetings” to the Schedule: Introduce and implement synchronous sessions through the use of the break-out room feature as it will encourage communication between students and incorporate multiple means of representation.
  4. Ask for Student Feedback Often: Incorporate student feedback loops (throughout the course) for learning quality improvement. Through the incorporation of feedback loops during the course, faculty and the institute will be in a better position to assess the feedback in real-time and improve the learning outcomes for existing and upcoming students.

When you add accessibility and diversity to the design of your course, you can make learning that can be accessed by different types of students.  These are the guiding principles that are identified by Universal Design for Learning and Culturally Responsive Learning.  If you are interested in learning more about either of these frameworks, please reach out to the SCSU Online and Distance Learning team.  We can be reach via email or through Bookings.

References:

Abegglen, S., Aparicio-Ting, F. E., Arcellana-Panlilio, M., Behjat, L., Brown, B., Clancy, T. L., DesJardine, P., Din, C., Dyjur, P., Ferreira, C., Hughson, E. A., Kassan, A., Klinke, C., Kurz, E., Neuhaus, F., Pletnyova, G., Paul, R. M., Peschl, H., Peschl, R., & Squance, R. T. T. (2021). Incorporating Universal Design for Learning in Disciplinary Contexts in Higher Education (M. Arcellana-Panlilio and P. Dyjur, Eds.). Calgary, AB: Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning Guide Series.

Bass, G., & Lawrence-Riddell, M. (2020, January 20). Culturally responsive teaching and UDL. Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/equality-inclusion-and-diversity/culturally-responsive-teaching-and-udl/

Hill, T. (2022, November 13). Equity and Technology [Online course]. MnSite. https://mnsite.learn.minnstate.edu/d2l/home/6046808

Novak, K. (2022, October 12). If equity is a priority, UDL is a must. Cult of Pedagogy. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/udl-equity/

Pixaby. (2016). Library high angle photo [Photograph]. Pexels. https://www.pexels.com/photo/library-high-angle-photro-159775/

 

Shagufta Naeem is a Graduate Assistant at the Online and Distance Learning department at Saint Cloud State University. She is an ACCA Member with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Accounting, a CFA Charter-holder and is pursuing an MBA from SCSU. She has 8 years of work experience specific to Corporate Credit, Audit, Risk Assurance, Internal Controls, and Financial Management.