Dr. Erica Kosal is the Director of the Life Sciences First Year program (LSFY) and Associate Teaching Professor at NC State University. It is always great to hear/watch what your departmental colleagues are doing in their classrooms to promote inclusion and the diversity of scientists! Kosal presented a recorded session at the 2020 Lilly Conference online on an assignment they used in a LSFY course. The presentation began with the NSF 2017 data on STEM occupations and percentages of women and minorities. Kosal took an online free course offered by Columbia University that highlighted five principles to foster inclusive classrooms (from Kosal’s slide):
- Principle 1. Establish and support a classroom climate that fosters belonging of all students.
- Principle 2. Set explicit student expectations.
- Principle 3. Select course content that recognizes diversity and acknowledges barriers to inclusion.
- Principle 4. Design all course elements for accessibility.
- Principle 5. Reflect on one’s beliefs about teaching to maximize self-awareness and commitment to inclusion.
For this activity and course, Kosal focused on principle 3. I enjoyed learning about these principles, and the second, fourth, and fifth are areas I’m focused on improving. I have struggled with principle 3 and was really impressed by how they implemented this activity in large enrollment LSFY courses! Kosal predicted that female students would select more females to study and that students of color would also select more scientists of color. LSC 101 focuses on critical and creative thinking in the life sciences. This is a required course with enrollment between 500-540! The assignment was at the beginning of the course and addressed a course level objective to evaluate science through the lens of history, socioeconomics, racial biases, and cultural biases. The assignment came after a case study on how society influences science and vice-versa. The assignment was to find and research a scientist. This lesson is similar to others I have encountered or read about, and Kosal added some elements that were nicely integrated with the course. A list of diverse scientists was provided, and students had the opportunity to research other scientists. From 119 students, 69 chose males, 82 white, 19 black, 2 Latinx… Kosal could identify in 77 students why the student selected the scientists, and the top reason was interest in the discipline (60%). A survey was given to students after the assignment. Forty out of eighty five female students chose female scientists (47%), and 72% male students chose male scientists, and 37% of students of color selected scientists of color. The survey asked students to rank how the assignment helped them learn more and most ranked 7, 8, 9, or 10… the highest ratings. Another question on the survey asked did you choose a scientist of the same race or gender? Kosal stated that 59% said yes, and shared several comments. It was interesting to read the comments: several mentioned under or over representation. Other comments appreciated the diversity of scientists, yet mentioned they focused on discipline or research. I love how Kosal went beyond the assignment and included the survey that helped students think about their decisions and explain their rationale. Overall comments were positive and appreciated the assignment. Kosal concluded with the take home messages from the assignment and mentioned that during the course they often returned to thinking about this assignment. Males chose males more often than predicted. Kosal had several possible modifications, including having students research scientists of different backgrounds than those of the student, and emphasized how the activity promoted great conversations!
