We are at the beach for a short vacation! After a long day of morning meetings, afternoon travel, and evening chaos, I sat down and watched Sal Meyers and Pascasie Redhage from Simpson College present at the 2021 Lilly Conference online on “Videos for Teaching Undergraduates about Stereotypes and Bias.” Pascasie is a student working with Sal Meyers. They both have a passion for social justice. Meyers worked with Pascasie to create a series of video to train students and faculty about stereotypes and bias. Pascasie talked about the stereotype content model that outlines four different stereotypes that differ in warmth (low/high) and competence (low high). The bias maps outlines 2 types of behavior: facilitation (making something easier) and harm, and we do this in two ways: active and passive, explained Pascasie. The video clips they shared were great! Contempt stereotypes: we see individuals that are different, such as those economically disadvantaged or the poor, as inferior whereas pity may be an emotion elicited for elderly and disabled. Pascasie also talked about envy when thinking about the rich or in power positions. Meyers talked about microagressions and mentioned: “if you see something; say something” and emotions as information for behaviors. This was a short presentation and I enjoyed watching the student’s energy and eloquence when speaking about bias and stereotypes.
Next, Zeliha Ozdogan from The Pennsylvania State University – Harrisburg, presented about “The Use of Open Access Educational Resources to Enhance Student Engagement And Learning in Introductory College Classes.” Ozdogan talked about the resources available at the Econ education site at the St. Louis Fed. I did not know about the Federal Reserve Bank St. Louis, and how it has several educational resources. The website includes PDF guides and teacher and student interaction. There are several ways to access and use the resources. There is even a COVID-19 data dashboard. Ozdogan uses customizable maps and realistic scenarios based on actual data to engage students. The key takeaways Ozdogan shared were that open access educational resources can help instructors improve engagement, enhance student learning, and help accommodate an increasingly divers population. As I continue to participate in more Open Education Pedagogy and OER sessions, I find that the use of these resources and conversations we can have with students go beyond cost savings (for textbooks) and can be reframed to center justice, respect, and support for diverse learners.
