Being Human in STEM

“Being Human in STEM is a welcome addition to the field of higher education that addresses how to unveil the curtain in STEM fields and embrace diversity. The authors describe a course with clear learning outcomes that directly confronts humanity in STEM. They describe its successful implementation at multiple institutions. The course counters the narrative that inclusivity cannot be directly addressed in undergraduate STEM education. I encourage all who want to provide exceptional learning experiences for their STEM students to consider how this course could be offered at their institution. There is a place for Being Human in STEM at colleges and universities of all types from community colleges; historically Black colleges and universities; minority serving institutions; tribal colleges and universities; public universities, private universities; master’s colleges and universities; small, private liberal arts colleges, to K-12 schools. The course is relevant to any institution educating students in STEM disciplines.

For those ready to explore an avenue for supporting diversity in STEM, the book provides a helpful roadmap for developing a Being Human in STEM course within any context. More than just the syllabus, the authors describe their experiences building the course and growing it into a community spanning several institutions, provide recommendations for implementation, give sample activities, assignments, and inclusive teaching approaches, and present feedback from students who completed the course. It’s all here.

Perhaps this book interests you for a variety of reasons - being human in STEM is an intriguing concept, you want to learn more detail about the course, you are interested in how such a course could fit in with the existing curriculum at your institution. Whatever your reasons, I hope you’ll consider utilizing the precious content to make STEM education more inclusive at your college, university, or K-12 school. Now is the time to stop hiding our identities behind the curtain. We need to embrace our humanity in STEM.”

from the Foreword by Tracie Marcella Addy, Lafayette College

“Throughout my career, I have taken on many roles--a faculty member, faculty developer, and institutional leader—and I wish this book had been available to guide me. Many faculty want to work with their students to change STEM fields collaboratively, and the authors demonstrate a compelling, flexible model of how to achieve those goals. This resource sheds light on ways to enlist colleagues in an on-going, constructive institutional dialogue on difficult topics. Across higher education, we need to bring more folks into the HSTEM movement.”

Becky Wai-Ling Packard, Professor of Psychology and Education, Mount Holyoke, and author of Successful STEM Mentoring Initiatives

“Faculty often ask me how they can make students feel like they really belong in STEM and excel in courses. After reading this book, the answer is crystal clear – allow them to bring their whole selves to the environment thereby eliminating the need to ignore any part of their humanity. This book is a treasure trove of information for making STEM (or any environment) more inclusive by partnering with students to make it happen.”

Saundra Y. McGuire, Director Emerita, Center for Academic Success, former Assistant Vice Chancellor and Professor Emerita of Chemistry, Louisiana State University; author of Teach Students How to Learn, Stylus Publishing

“This book chronicles a remarkable project that began with three sophomores planning a sit-in that ultimately transformed how their campus supports student belonging and understanding in STEM. Sarah Bunnell, Sheila Jaswal, and Megan Lyster share the compelling story and a wealth of guidance, inviting us to adapt what they learned within our own disciplinary and campus contexts. In the end, though, this book is so much more than course design: it’s a roadmap for what higher education should be in the 21st century."

Nancy Chick, Director of the Endeavor Foundation Center for Faculty Development, Rollins College

“By centering the voices and agency of students, this book offers a significant and new approach to making any – and every – course, program, and institution a more inclusive learning environment. Although the book’s four-step change process emerges from STEM disciplines at one college, the authors give us concrete advice about and vivid examples of how we can adapt that model across fields and contexts. This is a guide all of us in higher education can and should use to make our classrooms and campuses more humane and equitable.”

Peter Felten, Professor of History and Executive Director of the Center for Engaged Learning, Elon University

List of Figures and Tables 

Preface  

Acknowledgments 

Chapter 1:The Amherst Uprising 

Chapter 2: The HSTEM Course 

Chapter 3: A Process for Partnership 

Chapter 4: Teaching with and for Empathy 

Chapter 5: Practices for Building Community in STEM Classrooms and Lab 

Chapter 6: Telling your HSTEM Story 

Chapter 7: Bringing About Change 

Chapter 8: Measuring the Impact of Inclusive Efforts 

Chapter 9: Growing the HSTEM Network: Adapting the HSTEM course across Institutions 

Chapter 10: Conclusions 

Appendices:           

Appendix A: HSTEM Readings and Student Reflections Organized by Module

Appendix B: Facilitator Guide: Humanizing the Professor

Appendix C: Facilitator Guide: Airplane Game

Appendix D: Facilitator Guide: This I Believe

Appendix E: Facilitator Guide: Discussing Class Expectations

Appendix F: Facilitator Guide: Designing Success and How to Achieve It

Appendix G: Facilitator Guide: Community Agreements   

Appendix H: Facilitator Guide: One Minute Paper

Appendix I: Facilitator Guide: Utility Value Writing

Appendix J: Facilitator Guide: Exam Wrappers

Appendix K: Facilitator Guide: Mid-Semester Feedback

Appendix L: Facilitator Guide: Scientist Trading Cards

Appendix M: Facilitator Guide: Community Announcements

Appendix N: Facilitator Guide: Group Work Reflections

Appendix O: Facilitator Guide: Telling your HSTEM Story

Author Biographies

Sarah L. Bunnell

Sarah Bunnell has been actively involved in scholarship of teaching and learning research, and mentoring others in SoTL, since 2006. She has published multiple articles and chapters in SoTL including in the Journal of Faculty Development, International Journal for Students as Partners, Case Studies in the Environment, Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education, and the edited volume, Threshold Concepts in Problem-Based Learning. She recently completed a three-year Mellon Foundation-funded project examining the impact of interdisciplinary team teaching on student learning across the sciences and the arts/humanities. She served as President of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (2021-2022) and served in elected positions on the ISSOTL Board for 10 consecutive years prior to moving into the presidential position for the Society. As the Associate Director and STEM Specialist for the Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning, her work focuses on providing faculty with the frameworks and support that they need to impact student learning and a sense of community in their classrooms and laboratories. Sarah received her B.A. degree in Neuroscience from Middlebury College and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Developmental and Cognitive Psychology from the University of Kansas.

Sheila S. Jaswal

Sheila received her B.A. in German and Biochemistry from Mills College, where her experiences in women-only classrooms and laboratories provided an opportunity to learn and lead in science settings in the absence of gender-based implicit bias and stereotype threat. While earning her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of California at San Francisco, she co-led a middle school girls’ science club for a year through the NSF-supported “Triad Project” of the UCSF Science Education Partnership. Under the tutelage of Liesl Chatman, Kimberly Tanner and colleagues, she experienced the transformative power of experiential and active learning coupled with metacognitive reflection on the part of the learners and the educators. As a Professor in the Chemistry Department and Program in Biophysics and Biochemistry at Amherst College, she partners with a team of undergraduate researchers to study the interplay between protein stability, dynamics and function using a combined biophysical and computational approach. She has published this work widely, in journals such as Protein Science and The Journal of Physical Chemistry. Since co-founding the “Being Human in STEM” (HSTEM) Initiative in 2016, Sheila has coordinateed HSTEM activities at the college and national scale: She co-facilitates the HSTEM course in collaboration with students, staff and faculty colleagues, organizes campus and regional HSTEM events, gives talks and workshops at colleges, universities and conferences nationwide, oversees a growing HSTEM network and collaborators at other institutions, and shares curricular and other HSTEM resources at www.beinghumaninstem.com.

Megan B. Lyster

Megan Lyster has supported students, faculty, and staff in designing and implementing project-based learning experiences since 2007. She taught courses in design, social entrepreneurship, and women in business at Hampshire College, and served as the co-director of the Hampshire College Social Venture Fund and Advisory Network from 2010 – 2013. Megan then transitioned to supporting faculty as the Instructional Designer for Experiential Learning in the Amherst College Center for Community Engagement, where she facilitated community-based and project-based learning initiatives inside and outside the classroom. While at Amherst, she developed and facilitated the Design Thinking Challenge, an intensive program in which small teams of students grappled with and identified potential solutions for campus-based challenges. She also partnered with Sheila (and later, Sarah) to co-develop the Being Human in STEM initiative from its inception in the Spring of 2016, and served as a co-designer and co-instructor for seven iterations of the HSTEM course, with a specialized focus on the development and implementation of student-led projects. In her current role as the Assistant Director in the Wurtele Center for Leadership at Smith College, Megan supports students, faculty, and staff to cultivate the creativity, courage, and collaborative capacity to facilitate positive change in the world. Megan received her B.A. in 2002 from Hampshire College, and her M.A. in 2009 from Prescott College.

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendix F

Appendix G

Appendix H

Appendix I

Appendix J

Appendix K

Appendix L

Appendix M

Appendix N

Appendix O