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Strategies to improve the experience of interna3onal students (and everyone) in a large-enrollment course Deena Wassenberg and Carl Stenoien Biology Teaching and Learning; Ecology, Evolu3on, and Behavior Twin Ci3es Campus Abstract All students can benefit from representa3on of diverse backgrounds and experiences in a classroom seIng. Here we describe efforts to more fully engage all students in the in-class discussions in a large- enrollment Environmental Biology course. We describe some changes made to a course aMer the instructor par3cipated in the Interna3onalizing Teaching and Learning cohort program at the University of Minnesota. These simple changes were meant to foster beRer engagement between interna3onal students and domes3c students within their assigned groups and to highlight the value that interna3onal perspec3ves brought to the groups. We present observa3ons and some preliminary data regarding the involvement of interna3onal students in the course. Course Descrip3on Environmental Biology is a course designed for non- biology majors that fulfills Liberal Educa3on requirements. Students in the class oMen describe themselves as “non-science people” and some3mes are somewhat science averse. The course is taught in one of the “Ac3ve Learning Classrooms” 1 which have up to 19 round tables that seat 9 students each (Figure 1). Student small group discussions are an important part of the instruc3on. In early semesters of the course offering, the instructors no3ced that while some student groups had lively and produc3ve discussions, other groups had almost no discussion and uncomfortable silence when the group was called on in the larger class seIng. Instructors no3ced that interna3onal students par3cularly were struggling both with par3cipa3ng in the course discussion and with scores on exams. Changes were made to the course to improve the group-aspects of the course, and during this 3me one of the authors (DW) par3cipated in the Interna3onalizing Teaching and Learning (ITL) cohort program. Through this experience new ac3vi3es were implemented that aimed to improve the experience for interna3onal students. Ac3vi3es Some example ac3vi3es implemented to help facilitate greater group par3cipa3on Data Future Direc3ons Figure 1. Ac3ve Learning Classroom As a result of this course, I am more competent in interac4ng with students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Agree/SA Disagree/SD This instructor effec4vely facilitated interac4ons (e.g., discussions, group projects) among students from different cultural backgrounds (e.g., White students, students of Agree/SA Disagree/SD 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 Domes3c students Interna3onal students Normalized Change in Confidence 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 Domes3c students Interna3onal students Normalized Change in Science Interest Figure 3. Normalized changes represent the difference between pre- and post-semester surveyed confidence and interest in science out of total gain possible (possible range is from -1 to +1). Differences between groups are not significant. Gains in confidence and interest are sta3s3cally different from 0 for domes3c and interna3onal students. Error bars represent standard error of the mean. 280 290 300 310 320 330 340 350 Domes3c students Interna3onal students Mean exam score total (out of 400) Figure 4. Differences in exam scores are sta3s3cally significant (p<0.001), however when controlled for students taking the course pass/fail (52% of intl,7% of domes3c), the difference is no longer significant (p=0.0874). Figure 2. Student percep3on based on end-of-semester survey. Technique: Student tables are assigned before the first day of class. Students taking the class with lab are assigned to a group that is within their lab sec3on. Observa4ons: The frequency of non-par3cipa3on in group discussions went down. Before groups were assigned, students appeared to self-segregate into groups, decreasing the diversity of perspec3ves at a table and causing some tables to be non-communica3ve. As an unexpected bonus, the laboratory TAs noted that groups in the lab sec3ons became more communica3ve with each other. Technique: Most days one reporter per table is chosen by some criteria that fosters communica3on (who is wearing the most colorful socks, who woke up earliest, etc.) Observa4ons: There is broader par3cipa3on in the large group discussions beyond the “usual suspects.” Casual dialog is encouraged in the picking of the reporter. Technique: The Magic Eight Ball applica3on (developed by Dr. Mark Decker) chooses which group to call on. Observa4ons: This keeps the tables ready to be called on, fostering beRer par3cipa3on. The visual of the 8-ball lets them know to be prepared. This also prevents the instructors from avoiding certain tables that might be under-prepared. Technique: On the first day of class notecards numbered 1-9 are passed out to the class. Students are instructed to order themselves 1-9 based on the distance wherever they consider “home” is from the Twin Ci3es campus. Students then go around the table describing one environmental issue they grew up thinking about. This begins the discussion of the fact that we see environmental issues through a lens of our prior experiences. Students are encouraged to share their perspec3ves and where these perspec3ves come from. On the second day of class students order themselves with notecards on by how urban versus how rural their home is. We discuss how both loca3on and the urban/rural upbringing affect our percep3ons of environmental issues and that people from homes that are very distant may share more perspec3ves in common based on the urban/rural nature of their upbringing than students from nearby communi3es. Observa4ons: GeIng students to view their home as a diverse asset is one of our goals and having them share their perspec3ves based on their unique histories is valuable in this class. Since doing this we have had interna3onal students share their experiences and perspec3ves from their homes with the en3re class. Technique: At the introduc3on to the Food unit, students spend a few minutes describing to their table group the meal or food item that “felt like home” to them. The instructor then shared their food (for one it was meatloaf… don’t judge un3l you’ve tried her mother’s meatloaf). We discuss how deeply embedded culture and emo3on are into food choices. Observa4ons: In the past we have had students who seemed to feel aRacked by the data regarding food choices, par3cularly around meat consump3on. Sharing, and to some extent, celebra3ng the food items with classmates seems to help ease some of the hard feelings that can occur. The discussion about the environmental costs of meat consump3on seem more palatable when the professor admits to liking meatloaf. Technique: During the ITL workshop we learned of a resource to get interna3onal students to come to classes that was available through the UMN Culture Corps program. For this class we oMen have an evening farming panel in which people with farming exper3se come share their experiences about what food produc3on is like in reality. I was able to bring in two interna3onal students to par3cipate in this panel. Observa4ons: The interna3onal students brought a different perspec3ve to the panel that was not previously available in the mostly local farmers. Acknowledgements The authors thank Paul Baepler and J.D. Walker for helpful sugges3ons on study design and data analysis. The authors also thank the par3cipants and organizers of the Interna3onalizing Teaching and Learning Faculty Cohort Program of 2015. The authors especially thank many semesters of inspira3onal students! We have further analyses that need to be done on data from pre-and post-semester surveys. The surveys include a tool to understand students’ percep3ons of their group, what they have learned from their teammates and what their teammates have learned from them 1,3 . We are interested in the perspec3ves of interna3onal students in comparison to domes3c students on the team aspects of the course. We would further like to develop interna3onal perspec3ves presented in the class by, for example, spending more 3me on environmental policy and important environmental issues outside the US. References 1. Baepler, P., Walker, J.D., Brooks, D.C., Saichaie, K., & Petersen, C.I. (2016). A guide to teaching in ac3ve learning classrooms: History, research, and prac3ce. Washington, D.C.: Stylus Publishing. 2. University of Minnesota Culture Corps Program. Informa3on at: hRps://isss.umn.edu/programs/culturecorps/aboutcc- staff.html . 3. Link to Social Context tool: hRp://z.umn.edu/lsr .

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Strategiestoimprovetheexperienceofinterna3onalstudents(andeveryone)inalarge-enrollmentcourse

DeenaWassenbergandCarlStenoienBiologyTeachingandLearning;Ecology,Evolu3on,andBehavior

TwinCi3esCampus

AbstractAllstudentscanbenefitfromrepresenta3onofdiversebackgroundsandexperiencesinaclassroomseIng.Herewedescribeeffortstomorefullyengageallstudentsinthein-classdiscussionsinalarge-enrollmentEnvironmentalBiologycourse.WedescribesomechangesmadetoacourseaMertheinstructorpar3cipatedintheInterna3onalizingTeachingandLearningcohortprogramattheUniversityofMinnesota.ThesesimplechangesweremeanttofosterbeRerengagementbetweeninterna3onalstudentsanddomes3cstudentswithintheirassignedgroupsandtohighlightthevaluethatinterna3onalperspec3vesbroughttothegroups.Wepresentobserva3onsandsomepreliminarydataregardingtheinvolvementofinterna3onalstudentsinthecourse.

CourseDescrip3onEnvironmentalBiologyisacoursedesignedfornon-biologymajorsthatfulfillsLiberalEduca3onrequirements.StudentsintheclassoMendescribethemselvesas“non-sciencepeople”andsome3mesaresomewhatscienceaverse.Thecourseistaughtinoneofthe“Ac3veLearningClassrooms”1whichhaveupto19roundtablesthatseat9studentseach(Figure1).Studentsmallgroupdiscussionsareanimportantpartoftheinstruc3on.Inearlysemestersofthecourseoffering,theinstructorsno3cedthatwhilesomestudentgroupshadlivelyandproduc3vediscussions,othergroupshadalmostnodiscussionanduncomfortablesilencewhenthegroupwascalledoninthelargerclassseIng.Instructorsno3cedthatinterna3onalstudentspar3cularlywerestrugglingbothwithpar3cipa3nginthecoursediscussionandwithscoresonexams.Changesweremadetothecoursetoimprovethegroup-aspectsofthecourse,andduringthis3meoneoftheauthors(DW)par3cipatedintheInterna3onalizingTeachingandLearning(ITL)cohortprogram.Throughthisexperiencenewac3vi3eswereimplementedthataimedtoimprovetheexperienceforinterna3onalstudents.

Ac3vi3esSomeexampleac3vi3esimplementedtohelpfacilitategreatergroup

par3cipa3on

Data FutureDirec3ons

Figure1.Ac3veLearningClassroom

Asaresultofthiscourse,Iammorecompetentininterac4ngwithstudentsfromdiverse

culturalbackgrounds.

Agree/SA

Disagree/SD

Thisinstructoreffec4velyfacilitatedinterac4ons(e.g.,discussions,groupprojects)amongstudents

fromdifferentculturalbackgrounds(e.g.,Whitestudents,studentsof

Agree/SA

Disagree/SD

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

Domes3cstudents Interna3onalstudents

NormalizedChangeinConfidence

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

Domes3cstudents Interna3onalstudents

NormalizedChangeinScienceInterest

Figure3.Normalizedchangesrepresentthedifferencebetweenpre-andpost-semestersurveyedconfidenceandinterestinscienceoutoftotalgainpossible(possiblerangeisfrom-1to+1).Differencesbetweengroupsarenotsignificant.Gainsinconfidenceandinterestaresta3s3callydifferentfrom0fordomes3candinterna3onalstudents.Errorbarsrepresentstandarderrorofthemean.

280

290

300

310

320

330

340

350

Domes3cstudents Interna3onalstudents

Meanexamscoretotal(outof400)

Figure4.Differencesinexamscoresaresta3s3callysignificant(p<0.001),howeverwhencontrolledforstudentstakingthecoursepass/fail(52%ofintl,7%ofdomes3c),thedifferenceisnolongersignificant(p=0.0874).

Figure2.Studentpercep3onbasedonend-of-semestersurvey.

Technique:Studenttablesareassignedbeforethefirstdayofclass.Studentstakingtheclasswithlabareassignedtoagroupthatiswithintheirlabsec3on.Observa4ons:Thefrequencyofnon-par3cipa3oningroupdiscussionswentdown.Beforegroupswereassigned,studentsappearedtoself-segregateintogroups,decreasingthediversityofperspec3vesatatableandcausingsometablestobenon-communica3ve.Asanunexpectedbonus,thelaboratoryTAsnotedthatgroupsinthelabsec3onsbecamemorecommunica3vewitheachother.Technique:Mostdaysonereporterpertableischosenbysomecriteriathatfosterscommunica3on(whoiswearingthemostcolorfulsocks,whowokeupearliest,etc.)Observa4ons:Thereisbroaderpar3cipa3oninthelargegroupdiscussionsbeyondthe“usualsuspects.”Casualdialogisencouragedinthepickingofthereporter.

Technique:TheMagicEightBallapplica3on(developedbyDr.MarkDecker)chooseswhichgrouptocallon.Observa4ons:Thiskeepsthetablesreadytobecalledon,fosteringbeRerpar3cipa3on.Thevisualofthe8-ballletsthemknowtobeprepared.Thisalsopreventstheinstructorsfromavoidingcertaintablesthatmightbeunder-prepared.Technique:Onthefirstdayofclassnotecardsnumbered1-9arepassedouttotheclass.Studentsareinstructedtoorderthemselves1-9basedonthedistancewherevertheyconsider“home”isfromtheTwinCi3escampus.Studentsthengoaroundthetabledescribingoneenvironmentalissuetheygrewupthinkingabout.Thisbeginsthediscussionofthefactthatweseeenvironmentalissuesthroughalensofourpriorexperiences.Studentsareencouragedtosharetheirperspec3vesandwheretheseperspec3vescomefrom.Ontheseconddayofclassstudentsorderthemselveswithnotecardsonbyhowurbanversushowruraltheirhomeis.Wediscusshowbothloca3onandtheurban/ruralupbringingaffectourpercep3onsofenvironmentalissuesandthatpeoplefromhomesthatareverydistantmaysharemoreperspec3vesincommonbasedontheurban/ruralnatureoftheirupbringingthanstudentsfromnearbycommuni3es.Observa4ons:GeIngstudentstoviewtheirhomeasadiverseassetisoneofourgoalsandhavingthemsharetheirperspec3vesbasedontheiruniquehistoriesisvaluableinthisclass.Sincedoingthiswehavehadinterna3onalstudentssharetheirexperiencesandperspec3vesfromtheirhomeswiththeen3reclass.Technique:Attheintroduc3ontotheFoodunit,studentsspendafewminutesdescribingtotheirtablegroupthemealorfooditemthat“feltlikehome”tothem.Theinstructorthensharedtheirfood(foroneitwasmeatloaf…don’tjudgeun3lyou’vetriedhermother’smeatloaf).Wediscusshowdeeplyembeddedcultureandemo3onareintofoodchoices.Observa4ons:InthepastwehavehadstudentswhoseemedtofeelaRackedbythedataregardingfoodchoices,par3cularlyaroundmeatconsump3on.Sharing,andtosomeextent,celebra3ngthefooditemswithclassmatesseemstohelpeasesomeofthehardfeelingsthatcanoccur.Thediscussionabouttheenvironmentalcostsofmeatconsump3onseemmorepalatablewhentheprofessoradmitstolikingmeatloaf.Technique:DuringtheITLworkshopwelearnedofaresourcetogetinterna3onalstudentstocometoclassesthatwasavailablethroughtheUMNCultureCorpsprogram.ForthisclassweoMenhaveaneveningfarmingpanelinwhichpeoplewithfarmingexper3secomesharetheirexperiencesaboutwhatfoodproduc3onislikeinreality.Iwasabletobringintwointerna3onalstudentstopar3cipateinthispanel.Observa4ons:Theinterna3onalstudentsbroughtadifferentperspec3vetothepanelthatwasnotpreviouslyavailableinthemostlylocalfarmers.

AcknowledgementsTheauthorsthankPaulBaeplerandJ.D.Walkerforhelpfulsugges3onsonstudydesignanddataanalysis.Theauthorsalsothankthepar3cipantsandorganizersoftheInterna3onalizingTeachingandLearningFacultyCohortProgramof2015.Theauthorsespeciallythankmanysemestersofinspira3onalstudents!

Wehavefurtheranalysesthatneedtobedoneondatafrompre-andpost-semestersurveys.Thesurveysincludeatooltounderstandstudents’percep3onsoftheirgroup,whattheyhavelearnedfromtheirteammatesandwhattheirteammateshavelearnedfromthem1,3.Weareinterestedintheperspec3vesofinterna3onalstudentsincomparisontodomes3cstudentsontheteamaspectsofthecourse.Wewouldfurtherliketodevelopinterna3onalperspec3vespresentedintheclassby,forexample,spendingmore3meonenvironmentalpolicyandimportantenvironmentalissuesoutsidetheUS.

References1.  Baepler,P.,Walker,J.D.,Brooks,D.C.,Saichaie,K.,&

Petersen,C.I.(2016).Aguidetoteachinginac3velearningclassrooms:History,research,andprac3ce.Washington,D.C.:StylusPublishing.

2.  UniversityofMinnesotaCultureCorpsProgram.Informa3on

at:hRps://isss.umn.edu/programs/culturecorps/aboutcc-staff.html.

3.  LinktoSocialContexttool:hRp://z.umn.edu/lsr.

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