With classes still remote due to Covid, Biology professors Selinda Martinez and Julie Kelley have an honest discussion about the experience of teaching diverse students in asynchronous online courses. We’ll explore their ideas for creating a shared sense of community among their online students at Laredo College in Texas.
[00:04:31] A lot of these students want that relationship with that instructor.They want to get to know the instructor. And at the same time, the instructor is also feeling that need to connect with their students.
[06:47] They go in and they do their work. And you don't know who they are. They don't attend your Zoom sessions. They don't attend the lectures. And how do you interact with them? You know, they're just MIA on you.
[00:22:13] And the difficulty is, and especially in biology, it's one, learning the language of biology because we have a lot of terms, but two, it’s also learning it, you know, from a language you may not be comfortable with.
[00:24:38] You go to Google and you type in like lab coat or lab scientists, and they're the white, the blond, the Caucasian with the lab coat. And, you know, and I think that's important to show diversity. Like, no, that's that's not how it is, you know, and showing that you can be Hispanic and be a scientist, you could be African American and be a scientist.
[00:26:02] I think if students see themselves in a lab experience, whether it's virtually or face-to-face, they're going to have that connection.
Teaching tool mentioned in this episode:
Circle In: https://www.circleinapp.com/
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