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Including Diverse Scientists for an Inclusive Class


Posted: Feb 14 2023 by

Patricia Marsteller
Emory University
Patricia Marsteller, Emory University

Change Topics (Working Groups): Equity and Inclusion
Target Audience: College/University Staff, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Graduate Students, Post-doctoral Fellows
Program Components: Professional Development:Accessibility, Diversity/Inclusion, Pedagogical Training, Curriculum Development, Cultural Competency, Supporting Students:Student Engagement

Dear friends, did you ever do the draw a scientist exercise? Indulge me for a moment. Close your eyes. Visualize a scientist doing science. Draw or describe what you see.

Although this exercise was developed and studied mostly for elementary and middle school students, when I ask college faculty or students, many of the results are similar. Many see only men with beakers, chemicals, and often wild hair! Faculty with their eyes closed often grimace because they don't like what they first envision.

Another quick test is to ask your students to name as many scientists as they can...on the first day of class. Look at your textbooks and your class slides. Who is depicted? Whose work is mentioned? More

Flying with Sankofa: Moving forward by learning from the past


Posted: Aug 23 2022 by

Ruthmae Sears
University of South Florida
Laura Frost
Florida Gulf Coast University
Alec Cattell
Texas Tech University
Alec Cattell, Texas Tech University; Laura Frost, Florida Gulf Coast University; and Ruthmae Sears, University of South Florida

*All authors contributed equally to the document.

Change Topics (Working Groups): Equity and Inclusion
Target Audience: College/University Staff, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration, Teaching/Learning Assistants, Graduate Students, Post-doctoral Fellows
Program Components: Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion, Cultural Competency

It is important to celebrate the heroes in our society who spoke up, and who took action to change systems and improve the lives of many. For instance, our nation celebrates heroes like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose legacy continues to inspire civil rights initiatives and advocacy for equitable opportunities. The living legend Shirley Malcom, director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) SEA Change program, was recently celebrated when her name was recognized on a building at her alma mater, Penn State University. Over her career, Dr. Malcom has tirelessly advocated and brought attention to the challenges of intersectionality, specifically the challenges faced by women of color in the sciences. More

Transforming Institutions Takeaways


Posted: Jun 24 2021 by

Rachel Renbarger
Western Michigan University
Rachel Renbarger, Western Michigan University

Change Topics (Working Groups): Guiding Theories, Change Leaders, Assessment, Policy, Costs and Benefits, Equity and Inclusion, Faculty Evaluation
Target Audience: In-Service K12 Teachers, College/University Staff, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration
Program Components: Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion, Cultural Competency, Institutional Systems:Interdepartmental Collaboration, Supporting Students:Professional Preparation, Outreach:Policy Change, Inter-Institutional Collaboration

Last week concluded the 2021 Transforming Institutions Conference that marked the 10th year of convening like-minded change leaders. The event was a rousing success; we had over 250 participants from at least 3 continents with over 40 concurrent presentations, 60+ posters, and 4 workshops containing research-based strategies for improving higher education. What did we learn from such an amazing event? More

'Eat Your Veggies' Research: Why I pursue qualitative research for an audience of quantitative-minded engineering educators


Posted: Oct 14 2020 by

Stephen Secules
Florida International University
Stephen Secules, Florida International University

Target Audience: College/University Staff, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration
Program Components: Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion, Pedagogical Training, Cultural Competency

In conversations on equity and education, I often hear people claim a certain relationship between qualitative and quantitative research— qualitative research can explore new complex topics in depth, so that subsequent quantitative research can demonstrate the trend. Further, if you want to convince an engineering or STEM educator of something, that quantitative trend will be crucial. Since the educator audience values numbers, the qualitative descriptions or arguments will be perceived as anecdotal. More

Frameworks for Inclusive Excellence and Systemic Change


Posted: Oct 12 2017 by
Susan Shadle
Boise State University
Susan Shadle, Boise State University
Change Topics (Working Groups): Guiding Theories, Equity and Inclusion
Target Audience: College/University Staff, Non-tenure Track Faculty, Tenured/Tenure-track Faculty, Institution Administration, Teaching/Learning Assistants, Post-doctoral Fellows
Program Components: Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion, Cultural Competency

In the work I and my colleagues have done to create change around STEM Education on our own campus we've intentionally worked at two levels. We try to focus both on what will help individual faculty to make changes to their teaching and on how we can shift norms, structures, and teaching culture at the institutional level. My focus as a faculty developer has historically been focused on helping faculty make changes to their pedagogy through exploration and adoption of a variety of active learning pedagogies. I've also been interested in how the spaces in which faculty teach and the norms and policies that guide their practice can promote the adoption of evidence-based teaching practice. More recently, and for a variety of reasons, I've become more interested in how to support faculty to pay attention to their classrooms as inclusive places for learning and the degree to which their courses help to support equitable outcomes for students. While these ideas are connected to good pedagogical practice, thinking about inclusivity has prompted me to expand my toolbox. More

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