{"id":33270,"date":"2020-07-29T15:27:40","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T20:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/?p=33270"},"modified":"2020-07-29T15:27:40","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T20:27:40","slug":"ideas-and-strategies-for-taing-inclusively-and-equitably-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/2020\/07\/29\/ideas-and-strategies-for-taing-inclusively-and-equitably-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Ideas and Strategies for TAing Inclusively and Equitably Online"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This blog post is based on a <a href=\"https:\/\/web.ma.utexas.edu\/users\/richard.wong\/slides\/Teaching_Inclusively_and_Equitably_Online.pdf\">talk<\/a> that I gave at the Inequity in STEM seminar at UT Austin.\u00a0 The key ideas come from this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aMrf_MC5COk\">Center for Organizational Responsibility and Advancement webinar<\/a>, led by Dr. Frank Harris III and Dr. J. Luke Wood at SDSU.\u00a0 However, I have supplemented their ideas to show what we, as grad student TAs, can do to be inclusive and equitable.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>As the end of the summer break nears and the fall semester approaches, we, as grad student teachers and TAs, need to prepare for the coming online or hybrid semester.\u00a0 \u00a0If you TAed during the spring semester, take the time to reflect on your own experience with the transition to online classes. In particular, think about whether the tools and techniques that you used were effective.<\/p>\n<p>However, for both new and returning TAs, another important thing to think about is whether your online teaching practices are <strong>inclusive<\/strong> and<strong> equitable<\/strong>. Teaching online is a completely different experience from teaching in person, and it&#8217;s not enough to just use your in-person teaching practices on Zoom. On the other hand, it&#8217;s also important to not get excited and carried away with new technology (aka Zoom breakout rooms) &#8211; you need to carefully consider whether your students have access to the resources and hardware\/software to use these technologies.<\/p>\n<p>If you are a course instructor with control over your syllabus, I recommend using the framework of <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/udlguidelines.cast.org\/\">Universal Design for Learning<\/a><\/strong> in re-designing your course for online instruction. However, if you are a TA without the power to make these changes, I recommend thinking about the four following tenets in your online teaching practices:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Accessibility<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Building Community<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Intervention<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Empathy &amp; Race-consciousness<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I will discuss each of these tenets below, and provide a non-exhaustive list of suggestions that go with these tenets.\u00a0 Please feel free to comment and share any other suggestions you might have!<\/p>\n<p><em>Disclaimer:<\/em> Most of this blog post is written in race-neutral language.\u00a0 This is because most of these suggestions are about inclusivity and equity, and will improve the learning experience for everyone, regardless of race, gender, socio-economic background, etc.\u00a0 However, we should not ignore the fact that race and cultural identity can be a barrier to accessing resources and opportunities in education.\u00a0 Therefore, you should read these suggestions with a focus on how they can help counteract and overcome systemic racial inequity.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Accessibility:<\/h2>\n<p>The first and most important tenet of online teaching is accessibility &#8211; in order for your students to learn, they must have access to the course materials.<\/p>\n<p>However, this does not just mean recording your Zoom lectures!\u00a0 Not all students have access to fast, reliable internet.\u00a0 Therefore, you should offer accessible, low-data and mobile-friendly materials (such as accessible pdfs).<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, not all students will have access to webcams, microphones, or even a quiet workspace.\u00a0 Furthermore, you should consider how to best use your synchronous time.\u00a0 Plenty of good videos teaching calculus exist already, so you should consider using active learning techniques, instead.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Anonymously <strong>survey your students<\/strong> about their <strong>resources<\/strong> and <strong>needs<\/strong>.\u00a0 In particular, things you should ask include:\n<ul>\n<li>What technology\/software do they have access to?<\/li>\n<li>Do they have reliable internet access?<\/li>\n<li>Do they have a quiet\/safe workspace?<\/li>\n<li>Are there accommodations they might need?<\/li>\n<li>What are the student\u2019s course goals?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Use both<strong> synchronous<\/strong> and <strong>asynchronous<\/strong> <strong>materials<\/strong> and activities.\n<ul>\n<li>Make use of discussion forums like Canvas\/Piazza.<\/li>\n<li>Use active learning techniques.<\/li>\n<li>Vary the activities you use, and split your synchronous time into smaller (5-15) minute segments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Use <strong>transcription services<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>For example, Google Slides offers a free(!!) live captioning feature. Powerpoint also has this feature.<\/li>\n<li>Youtube and Zoom also have transcription features for videos.<\/li>\n<li>Find out if your university offers transcription services &#8211; UT Austin does!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Building Community:<\/h2>\n<p>We lose a lot of things in the virtual learning format that are normally taken for granted &#8211; for example, we lose having a shared, physical space.\u00a0 It&#8217;s a lot harder to see non-verbal cues to measure student engagement\/interest.\u00a0 Similarly, it&#8217;s a lot easier to get distracted online.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, it&#8217;s worth examining our models for learning.\u00a0 This post in particular is based on the <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/coi.athabascau.ca\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Community of Inquiry<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201d model for (online) learning.\u00a0 This model posits that the educational experience not only requires a teaching presence and a cognitive presence (aka teacher and student), but also a social presence (aka discussion with peers). T<\/span>herefore, it is important to build community in your online teaching.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Build student <strong>communities that exist beyond class hours<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Zoom breakout rooms are not enough!<\/li>\n<li>Encourage students to collaborate and create class notes using Google docs.<\/li>\n<li>Use discussion forum platforms such as Canvas or Piazza.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Encourage students to form <strong>study groups<\/strong>\/connect via social media.\n<ul>\n<li>For example, Groupme is extremely popular at UT Austin.<\/li>\n<li>Suggest the use of social contracts for accountability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Encourage participation<\/strong> in office hours and\/or other tutoring services.\n<ul>\n<li>In particular, encourage students to attend in groups!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Intervention:<\/h2>\n<p>Along with building community, another important facet of online teaching is to<strong> reach out to students <em>before<\/em><\/strong> they are at risk of dropping out or failing.\u00a0 It is especially easy to stop engaging and\/or attending class in the online format.\u00a0 Furthermore, students from under-represented groups may struggle with seeking help, so it&#8217;s especially important to take the initiative to reach out.\u00a0 Showing that you notice and care can make a world of difference.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Track participation\/engagement<\/strong>\u00a0weekly through low or no-stakes check-ins:\n<ul>\n<li>Possible tools include polls, Canvas posts, etc.<\/li>\n<li>You could ask students to share weekly highs\/lows, share their pets, or other ice-breaker games.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure you are doing this with <strong>accessibility<\/strong> in mind!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Continue to survey students about their needs.\n<ul>\n<li>Re-evaluate your discussion section goals biweekly or monthly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Empathy and Race-consciousness:<\/h2>\n<p>Finally, the last tenet to keep in mind is empathy and race-consciousness.\u00a0 It&#8217;s important to humanize yourself, and connect with your students, especially in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Acknowledge<\/strong> the difficulties of the pandemic.\n<ul>\n<li>Know that it affects different people and groups in different ways.<\/li>\n<li>Promote self-care resources.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Be accommodating\/flexible (within reason).<\/li>\n<li>Be available:\n<ul>\n<li>Have regular office hours.<\/li>\n<li>Respond to emails\/messages promptly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>You should also be aware of your own actions &#8211; don&#8217;t downplay the difficulties that they may be facing, but instead be empathetic and accommodating.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, you should be conscious about the examples and people that you choose to talk about!\u00a0 For example, calculus may have been invented by Newton and Leibniz, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.journals.uchicago.edu\/doi\/10.1086\/368443\">ideas in calculus existed before them<\/a>, and calculus has been refined and developed by people afterwards.\u00a0 Furthermore, you can also include <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hidden_Figures\">people that applied calculus to solve real-world problems<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Be aware of your own actions<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Validate, affirm, and empower your students.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid microaggressions.\u00a0 Your behavior can have an adverse impact on others, even in the absence of malicious intent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be race-conscious<\/strong> in the examples you use, and the mathematicians you mention. Some suggestions include:\n<ul>\n<li>Kerala School of Mathematics<\/li>\n<li>Maria Agnesi<\/li>\n<li>Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson<\/li>\n<li>Annie Easley<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>See below for resources that can help you find other examples of mathematicians to highlight in class.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Further Resources:<\/h2>\n<p>In my talk, I highlighted and mentioned several resources available at UT Austin &#8211; in particular the <a href=\"https:\/\/facultyinnovate.utexas.edu\/commons\">Faculty Innovation Center<\/a>.\u00a0 I highly recommend learning about the resources and support your institution offers, and reaching out to ask questions.<\/p>\n<p>Resources for inclusive and equitable online teaching practices:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">CORA- <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/aMrf_MC5COk\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Equity-Minded and Culturally-Affirming Teaching and Learning Practices in Virtual Learning Communities<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rice &#8211;\u00a0 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cte.rice.edu\/blogarchive\/2020\/3\/13\/inclusion-equity-and-access-while-teaching-remotely\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Inclusion, Equity, and Access While Teaching Remotely<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vanderbilt &#8211;\u00a0 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cft.vanderbilt.edu\/guides-sub-pages\/crisis\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teaching in Times of Crisis<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Resources for examples of mathematicians to bring up in your classes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"http:\/\/lathisms.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Latinxs and Hispanics in the Mathematical Sciences<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mathematicallygiftedandblack.com\/history\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mathematically Gifted &amp; Black<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ams.org\/about-us\/LivingProof.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Living Proof: Stories of Resilience Along the Mathematical Journey<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Disclaimer<\/em>: The opinions expressed on this blog are the views of the writer(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the American Mathematical Society.<\/p>\n<p><em>Comments Guidelines<\/em>: The AMS encourages your comments, and hopes you will join the discussions. We re- view comments before they are posted, and those that are offensive, abusive, off-topic or promoting a com- mercial product, person or website will not be posted. Expressing disagreement is fine, but mutual respect is required.<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This blog post is based on a talk that I gave at the Inequity in STEM seminar at UT Austin.\u00a0 The key ideas come from this Center for Organizational Responsibility and Advancement webinar, led by Dr. Frank Harris III and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/2020\/07\/29\/ideas-and-strategies-for-taing-inclusively-and-equitably-online\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" data-url=https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/2020\/07\/29\/ideas-and-strategies-for-taing-inclusively-and-equitably-online\/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,163],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-math-teaching","category-social-justice"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3gbww-8EC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33270"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33280,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33270\/revisions\/33280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}