Strategies for Culturally Responsive Online Teaching in STEM

This webinar is part of our OLC Innovate 2021 Best-in-Track (Open Learning) summer webinar series!

Culturally Responsive Teaching pedagogy in the online environment is key to maintaining student engagement, acquiring knowledge about the course content, developing critical thinking skills, promoting a sense of belonging and community, and succeeding in their academic and professional careers. For educators, integrating a culturally responsive teaching curriculum in online STEM courses can be a challenging task.

The instructor-centered method adopted by the STEM field with its emphasis on Eurocentric values is not always conducive to addressing achievement barriers for diverse students in the online classroom. This session will challenge the assumption of depleted cultural capital for students of color and explore a new theoretical framework and its application to online teaching practices.

To accomplish a culturally responsive teaching pedagogical method in the online classroom for STEM courses, the authors propose a Culturally Responsive Online Teaching Model (CROTM). The process to develop a CROTM model includes seven features: prejudice reduction; academic success; knowledge building during course delivery; course curriculum revision; social justice; an online classroom community; and the appropriation of technology to facilitate an interactive communication space for students of color.

During this session, the presenters will describe CROTM and its theoretical application to a sample Earth Science lesson to make it culturally relevant.

During this session, attendees will accomplish four primary goals:

  1. Examine the history of completion rates for students of color in the STEM field.
  2. Develop an understanding of the Culturally Responsive Teaching Online Model.
  3. With this foundation set, we will move forward to applying the theoretical framework of the Culturally Responsive Teaching Online Model to an Earth Science lesson.
  4. Finally, we will discuss teaching strategies for integrating culturally responsive teaching to maximize student learning in the online classroom for STEM courses.
Speaker Bio

Cassandra Thompson
Faculty (Sociology Department) and Faculty Consultant (Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning) – Madison College

Cassandra Thompson has been an educator teaching sociology and statistics classes for 12 years. In her work, she has advocated for culturally responsive teaching pedagogy. In her role as a faculty consultant at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, she is responsible for assisting instructors with instructional design, teaching strategies, student engagement strategies, course development, digital technology, digital content, and professional development training classes. As a faculty professional development trainer, she was a course reviewer and co-host for a 12-week session, Focus on Quality, which relied on Quality Matters concepts.
Rafael Perez
Faculty (Physical Sciences Department) and Faculty Consultant (Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning) – Madison College

Rafael Perez is a faculty consultant in the Academic Technology and Flexible Learning Unit in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Madison College. He supports faculty in different areas including online teaching practices, engagement tools, digital creation tools, instructional design, and teaching and learning. Rafael earned a Master of Science degree at the University of Puerto Rico. Over the last 11 years, he taught physical sciences courses at Madison College. Rafael has training and experience teaching online courses. In addition, he advises a student club at the College for students interested in the STEM field.