The Quality Matters (QM) YouTube channel has recent video recordings from webinars and panels. One I found tonight had several members from North Carolina Central University (NCCU)! The panel included: Racheal Brooks, Zakaria Jouaibi, Laurell Malone, Gail Hollowell & Larrisha McGill-Youngblood. I am so glad I clicked on this recording to learn about the fantastic work happening near us! The session was entitled “Reconstructing the Table: Designing Culturally Affirming Online Learning Communities at an HBCU w/QM” and is linked and embedded below (I’m learning about WordPress!).
The session started with Brooks reviewing Gay’s (2010) attributes of Culturally Responsive Teaching: multi-dimensional, comprehensive, validating, emancipatory, empowering, and transformative. Dr. Jouaibi began by explaining multi-dimensional online environments. Jouaibi emphasized accessible design: labeling using language that can be understood by learners from different backgrounds, and incorporating a variety of examples. For course delivery, Jouaibi suggested using cooperative learning, transparency in teaching, and including teaching strategies that emulate cultural traditions like storytelling. Another component of a multi-dimensional online course is discourse, and Jouaibi explained communication that focuses on growth, relevance, and challenges students can conquer. Creating an inclusive environment requires learning more about students in the course through surveys or preliminary assessments. I appreciate that Jouaibi suggested a holistic view of students that includes their personal experience and current situation (home, mental health, for example). Brooks then discussed instructional materials that are case studies that incorporate content from a variety of cultures while meeting the course objectives. Importantly, Brooks gives learners choice and voice: providing options (“you will review two case studies of your choice that center issues affecting Indigenous and Native peoples” and including common questions.
Hollowell then discussed the holistic look of learners that they take at NCCU. The graphic Hollowell shared included elements that influence success in STEM such as financial aid, 1st assignment grade performance (yes!), interactions with instructors, stereotype threat, and high school preparation. On the other side of the graphic, Hollowell included non-academic life experience scenarios such as social support, jobs, children, parental health. For example, Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett (who spoke at our 2020 MBTP symposium!) was mentioned as an example of how HBCUs delivery quality education! Brooks then spoke about the importance of validating student different cultural knowledge and prior experience to create environments that promote learning and sharing. I think this aligns with a constructivist approach that includes students in the process of co-creation and sharing. Brooks talked about creating an emancipatory experience, and Malone returned to assignments that provide voice and choice to students. Malone said: “Student choice = ownership… value turns into engagement… and then engagement turns into learning.” I like how Malone explained in the guidelines displayed that learners can choose up to five of a list of assignments for ten points each. Before this video, I watched one about choice tables/boards used in K-12. students have a handout with learning objectives and instructions clearly stated in the top center part of the page and then six (for example) boxes in a table with choices of assignments.
The next section was about empowering learners. Jouaibi explained how designing meaningful activities to empower learning can be approached using a framework that considers:
- alignment with objectives, materials, activities, and technologies
- transparency of the purpose, measurement of learning objectives, tasks, and success criteria (this sounds like the TILT framework we have been using in yeast metabolic engineering!).
- authentic culturally relevant, real world, problem-based, and valuable tasks.
- scaffolded activities broken down to provide practice, examples, and feedback for improvement.
This Comprehensive Framework to Design a Meaningful Assignment/Project by Zakaria Jouaibi had a Creative Commons logo and is totally worth finding! McGill-Youngblood then discussed comments from students in the class they teach. The comments mentioned the combination of approaches, clear instructions for assignments, and engagement. The student comments were very positive and describe how the course was thoughtfully designed. Malone ended by discussing transformative course design and reciting a beautiful poem from “What is it About me You Can’t Teach?”! What a transformative (yes!) way of ending this presentation: the presenters empowered the audience to try some of the numerous design suggestions they offered. Importantly, choice and voice align well with Universal Design for Learning and accessibility. I hope I can learn more from our neighbors.
