Humanistic STEM: Blending STEM and Humanities in Asynchronous Courses to Improve the Student Experience
Workshop Session 1
Brief Abstract
Humanistic STEM (H-STEM) has the power to transform both STEM and humanities higher education. H-STEM is the ability to blend technical competence in STEM with humanities-based skills—such as critical thinking and communication—that employers desire. Presenters will discuss how this innovative program can be developed and delivered asynchronously online.
Presenters
Extended Abstract
Introduction: Humanistic STEM (H-STEM) has the power to transform both STEM and humanities higher education. The presenters define H-STEM as the ability to blend technical competence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics with interest in, and concern for, human affairs, welfare, values, or culture. Students are able to integrate ideas and issues from diverse academic disciplines in order to expand their capacity for analysis and critical thinking. The presenters will focus on evidence from the following initiatives: (1) infusion of H-STEM interventions into existing courses; (2) delivery of full team-developed H-STEM courses; and (3) development of H-STEM credentials, including badging, a minor and diploma add-ons. This discussion will encourage participants to consider Humanistic STEM implementation on their own campuses—from small, incremental course-based interventions, to complete interdisciplinary courses, to a full H-STEM minor. At the presenters’ home institution, H-STEM is developed and delivered fully asynchronously, using innovative strategies for engaging students and creating interdisciplinary instructor presence.
Background and Significance: While science, technology, and engineering are critical elements of the presenters’ institutional identity, to fulfill our university’s mission of “preparing students for productive careers and leadership roles in service around the world,” we aim to significantly expand the integrative role of humanities in its undergraduate curriculum. This has occured through the development of fresh course offerings in the General Education program to benefit all students and provide the opportunity to collect such courses into in a five-course minor in Humanistic STEM. In The Chronicle of Higher Education, Beckie Supiano recently examined an AAC&U survey of employers who lamented that graduates lack “transferrable skills” such as writing and public speaking. In an editorial for the New York Times, Nicholas Kristof (2014) argued that it is necessary to vigorously oppose the idea that the “humanities are obscure, arcane and irrelevant,” and asserted, instead, that “To adapt to a changing world, we need new software for our cellphones; [but] we also need new ideas. The same goes for literature, for architecture, languages and theology.” He concluded, “The humanities are still relevant in the 21st century — every bit as relevant as an iPhone.” Additionally, Deborah K. Fitzgerald, Dean of the MIT School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, claimed in a 2014 Boston Globe opinion piece that the humanities are essential for STEM students because they are focused on “making fresh connections, and laying down new pathways for thought, discernment, and action.” STEM and humanities, she argued, are “mutually informing modes of knowledge” that, together, can provide students with “a willingness to experiment, to open up to change; and the ability to navigate ambiguity.” It is through both these practical and philosophical defenses of the need for STEM students to embrace the humanities that we came to understand a need to create an option for our own students to show how seemingly disparate disciplines actually inform, complement and even rely upon each other. After all, it is impossible to truly understand any public scientific debate without realizing how it is discussed in multiple realms—how it finds its way into the discourse of philosophers, novelists, journalists, as well as practitioners. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, we wish to produce STEM graduates who are also creative and empathetic critical thinkers. We have the additional challenge that our courses are developed and delivered asynchronously online in nine-week terms.
Evidence of Effectiveness: The presenters will focus on evidence from the following initiatives: (1) infusion of H-STEM interventions into existing courses, including a history and chemistry class; (2) delivery of full H-STEM courses; and (3) development of an H-STEM minor and digital credentials. Our H-STEM pilot course—HUMN 333: How Fiction, Film and Popular Culture Represent Science and Mathematics—was team-developed and team-taught asynchronously by faculty from mathematics and the humanities. The presenters will include results from data collection before, during and after the courses that strongly suggest that students benefited from the interdisciplinary perspective of both the faculty members and the course materials. The students in the course were able to take part in a unique interdisciplinary experience that allowed them to integrate ideas and issues from diverse academic disciplines in order to expand their capacity for analysis and critical thinking. They learned the language and methodologies commonly associated with various disciplines, both to understand their commonalities and also to appreciate their differences. They learned how the humanities disciplines perceive, interpret and discuss the seemingly diametrically opposed STEM disciplines. Examples from student assignments and evidence from end-of-course surveys will show increased competency in these areas. We will also discuss our successful partnership with Instructional Design and Development which led to the creation of an innovative, visually stunning course that looked unlike any Canvas course at our institution.
Plan for Engaging Conference Participants/Attendees: This discussion will encourage participants to consider Humanistic STEM implementation on their own campuses—from small, incremental course-based interventions, to complete interdisciplinary courses, to the full minor as planned at the presenters’ institution. In a small-group activity, participants will be invited to contribute ideas for potential H-STEM activities and identify existing and potential new courses. They will also learn how to design effective assignments that incorporate both humanities and STEM perspectives. Participants will also discuss how to collect data at various stages of the courses to ensure a successful student experience. H-STEM implementation is possible at almost every institution, and participants will be encouraged to share stories of possibilities and challenges as they consider the best approaches for their own campuses. Engaging students in an asynchronous environment will be a topic of discussion. Detail-rich examples will be provided—from syllabi, to assignments, to student artifacts.
Learning Outcomes:
Participants will:
1.Define Humanistic STEM and determine how H-STEM initiatives can be implemented in their own institutional context.
2. Develop H-STEM infusions for existing asynchronous courses.
3. Design initial online H-STEM course possibilities.
4. Generate virtual H-STEM programs appropriate for their institutions.
Audiences: This workshop is suitable for faculty interested in innovative course design and deployment, instructional design professionals, and those interested in improving general education offerings at their institutions.
Materials needed: Presenters will be using presentation software projected to the audience. Handouts will be provided to participants.
Timeline for Workshop:
Introduction to H-STEM: 10 minutes
Course Infusion Examples: 10 minutes
Course Infusion Ideas from Participants: 15 minutes
Full Course Examples: 10 minutes
Full Course Brainstorming: 15 minutes
H-STEM Program Possibilities: 10 minutes
H-STEM Program Ideas from Participants: 10 minutes
Final wrap-up and Q&A: 10 minutes