Dr. Melissa Salazar, CEO of ESCALA and colleagues presented at the 2020 Lilly Conference online about “Designing Inclusive Online Learning Environments for Minoritized Students” with a focus on cultural frameworks and engagement. Salazar described Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) and their instructor and student demographics. On average, HSIs are about 50% Hispanic for students, yet HSI faculty representation is much lower. Salazar explained how cultural frameworks influence how we handle conflict, explain our success, organize information, compete, and communicate… and these behaviors and responses are invisible and unclear to students. Latinx cultural frameworks value collectivist ways of knowing while the higher education system in the US often privileges individualistic cultural frameworks. Salazar said “higher Ed is in tension with Latinx cultural frameworks” and I found this new and intriguing. Dr. Alena Yastchenko then mentioned representative responses from instructors about what is going on in their online classes at HSIs. Interestingly, instructor responses centered around what students were or were not doing. In contrast, when students at HSIs were interviewed they spoke about communication with instructors. Yastchenko described a disconnect between what instructors were thinking and the student responses: a fundamental attribution error because of lack of situational information. The ladder of inference and the disconnects we create convince us of an interpretation of reality based on our assumptions. With each rung of the ladder we: see reality and facts through our cultural framework, select a reality, interpret that reality, make assumptions, use those to conclude, start formulating beliefs, and finally act based on a disconnect we created! Are we aware of this? Dr. Flor Madero then discussed how we all carry ladders! Are we making certain assumptions or… not acting when we should? ESCALA created the TOPSE tool: a framework of online interactions. The tool allows you to organize the online interactions and their results for online courses. The next part of the tool, almost like a rubric, then is used to measure the quality of the interactions as 1 – low, 2 – medium interaction, 3 – high interaction. Madero emphasized listening to students to improve the experience. TOPSE, Madero mentioned, can reveal some of the cultural disconnects. Flor asked us to reflect: How can we use this information to be more engaged in our course for Latinx learners? How can we improve the quality of interactions? Oh these questions made me think! Just today we spoke to a member of the Mexican embassy here in Raleigh to see how we can support Mexicans here and create new collaborations with Querétaro! I’m excited about the opportunity to connect with Latinx learners, scientists, and colleagues.
Dr. Salazar shared a quote:
Online, you must set the table for engagement through intentional connection. Marginalized students who have prior experiences with isolation, stereotyping, or other education trauma do not just automatically engage with students, you or content online.
Dr. Courtney Plotts
Salazar added: “build in the time for community and Latinx engagement will follow”! They then recommended ways of building instructor-student connections using videos, prompt feedback, and having several ways for students to reach you during the time they are working on assignments. I loved the energy Yastchenko shared and revealed! Yastchenko also said: “you get what you design.” They mentioned video introductions, group work, group virtual hours, using social reading/annotation tools (Perusall and Hypothes.is)! The message was clear: facilitate intentional connections and make sure activities and feedback are grounded in learning objectives. Yastchenko urged instructors to use variety and think carefully about choices! I now want to learn more about ESCALA and TOPSIE. Arriba y adelante!
