As the COVID pandemic drove learning online at institutions of higher learning worldwide, some U.S. professors sought to reflect the new face of undergraduates, more diverse than ever. Demographic changes have led some to rethink the way they teach undergraduate science. Take Sara Brownell of Arizona State University, who received a Faculty Teaching Achievement Award this year. Brownell recalls the 2012 workshop that upended her science instruction.
The COVID pandemic's impact on teaching and learning forced instructors to restructure their courses to be more accommodating toward and understanding of their students' situations -- both inside and outside of the classroom. Now that students have returned to classes, many of these instructors have continued to implement some of the lessons learned from teaching during the COVID pandemic into their courses. These new approaches to teaching can have positive effects on the inclusivity and accessibility of university courses.
Misheva, T., Brownell, S. E., & Barnes, M. E. (2023). “It's More Of A Me-Thing Than An Evolution Thing”: Exploring The Validity Of Evolution Acceptance Measures Using Student Interviews. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 22(4), ar41.
Google, A. N., Bowen, C. D., Brownell, S. E., & Barnes, M. E. (2023). Isolation, resilience, and faith: Experiences of Black Christian students in biology graduate programs. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1-34.
Please join us for the third and final event of the Fall 2023 Research, Reflect, RISE workshop series!
Please join us for the second event of the Fall 2023 Research, Reflect, RISE workshop series!
Women working as STEM instructors are more likely than men in the same profession to disclose to their undergraduate students identities which could carry stigma, such as depression or growing up in a low-income household. In the new study, published July 19, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, Carly Busch of Arizona State University, USA, and colleagues suggest that these decisions to disclose may be in order to act as role models for students.
Research shows that when faculty members choose to disclose hidden, potentially stigmatized identities to their students—such as mental health issues or an LGBTQ+ identity—it can be powerful for undergraduate students looking for representation. But there are gendered differences in who chooses to disclose, according to a study published today in PLOS ONE.
The subject of faculty revealing concealable stigmatized identities in science and engineering classes led to Brownell having some questions. Why don't more instructors reveal their concealed identity to students? Are those that do then stigmatized? And how beneficial is this practice?
Busch CA, Cooper KM, Brownell SE (2023). Women drive efforts to highlight concealable stigmatized identities in U.S. academic science and engineering. PLoS ONE 18(7): e0287795.