Teaching Labs and Pandemic STEM Teaching

COVID-19 has significantly altered the way we live, teach, and learn. For those of us in STEM fields, this often meant developing creative approaches to teaching labs effectively under socially distanced circumstances. You may be spending lots of time trying to develop effective teaching aids, including lecture sheets, adjusting your approaches from direct use of instrumentation and other tactile activities, or incorporating the use of lab simulation software.

This workshop will focus on developing pedagogical strategies that could support lecture/lab instruction in an online context. We will explore ways to increase opportunities for student feedback that foster studentsโ€™ understanding, and consider ways to effectively engage students across lecture and lab. You will also have an opportunity to engage in a collaborative discussion of digital tools that stand in for the hands-on element of STEM classes.

Time and Date: Friday Jan 29th (1-2:30 PM)

This workshop was offered as part of the TLCโ€™s 2021 Mid-Winter Institute.The workshop took place via Zoom as an online, synchronous workshop. The workshop and materials were developed by Atasi Das, Dr. Diane Price Banks, and LaToya Anderson.

Outreach

Jan 28th Email Communication for Registered Participants

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for registering for the TLC Mid-Winter Institute’s Teaching Labs and Pandemic STEM Teaching workshop. We are excited to have an interactive and resourceful conversation with you.

The Zoom meeting is noted at the bottom of this email.

We will begin the workshop as close to 1:00 pm as possible. If you enter in late, it would be helpful to mute yourself as you enter the zoom call.

As a note, we will be using a variety of digital tools (poll everywhere, padlet, jam board) to facilitate conversation and engagement. You can join using any device you have available. However, it may be easiest to go between each tool and Zoom on a desktop or laptop.

Other Technological considerations:

We will be asking for consent to record. The recording will be distributed only to registered participants. You may want to be mindful of what can be seen/heard in the location you will be joining this workshop from.ย  Your camera does not need to be open. However, we ask participants to take part in opportunities for interactivity via chat, Padlet, polls, Jamboard, and of course using your voice. If you need to step away from the camera, please feel free to.

You can also add an image &/or pronouns to your name by clicking on the ellipsis in the window with your image/name in it.

If you have questions please feel free to email adas@gradcenter.cuny.edu

We look forward to meeting soon!

Best Regards,

Atasi Das, Dr. Diane Banks and LaToya Anderson

Materials

All materials on this page and in the linked google folder are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC-BY-SA) 4.0 International Public License.

This folder contains outreach materials, workshop plans, and slides.

Materials Folder: Teaching Labs Workshop Materials Folder

View Recording of Jan 2021 workshop here

Workshop Agenda

Goals/Objectives:

At the end of this workshop, participants will:

  1. Define pedagogy and its practices
  2. Identify the various types of teaching practices and learning styles to incorporate best practices in the STEM classroom
  3. Outline lesson plans that align lecture with lab instruction
  4. Discuss the various ways to teach in the digital space whether or not autonomy for course development is present

 

Structure/Activities 1:05-1:10

  1. Welcome and Introduce, Agenda, Orientation to Zoom (Atasi

2. Goals/Objectives (Atasi-10-15 Min)

    • (Time Keeper: Diane; 1:10-1:20 pm; 10-15 mins)
    • Activity (in chat)- Define Pedagogy/Practices
    • Slide with definition
      • How this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners.
    • Discuss- How does this definition compare with your learning experiences or teaching approaches?(1 min or chat)
    • PollEv.com/atasidas686
    • Text this number 37607 with this message (Atasidas686) you will then be able to put in your response

3. Learning Styles: How do you learn? How do people learn?n(Atasi leads, LaToya and Diane add in)

  • (Time Keeper: LaToya) 1:20-1:35 pm; 10-15 min
  • Padlet activity (how you teach yourself) 5 mins
    • https://padlet.com/atasidas/sw5y1n4x5fdgcnbc
    • How do you learn? How do your students learn?
    • What pedagogical strategies that you have tried?
    • Brainstorm how you teach yourself and consider relationship to knowledge and process of knowing
    • Use the chat if you are having issues.
  • Introduce Learning Styles (8 styles of learning blog page)-
    1. Navigating between seeking and knowing how you learn and understand and the learning objectives
    2. Learner Relationship to knowledge and knowing
  • Learning Style Activity-How would you teach the following students? (Choose one style and think of associate activity or method to meet this)

4.ย  Lesson planning: (Diane leads- 20 mins)

    1. (Time Keeper: Atasi; 1:35-1:55 pm 20 mins)
    2. Steps/Components of Effective Lesson plans
    3. Examples

5. Teaching in a Digital Space (LaToya leads- 20 mins)

6. Whole group discussion (Diane leads 15 mins)

    • Time 2:15-2:30 pm Keeper: Atasi