We recently hosted our AI Orientation on August 21st, where an amazing group of graduate student instructors generously shared their insights. To keep the conversation going beyond that day, I wanted to highlight a particularly valuable takeaway (or “quick tip”) from our colleagues, Alex Tran and Samantha Heiman, who led the workshop, “Engaging and Equitable Designs for the Vast Landscape of STEM Labs.”
To create more inclusive classrooms, they encouraged instructors to have students reflect on their purpose for being in STEM. Research from IU Bloomington’s Social Roles Laboratory, led by Principal Investigator Amanda Diekman, has shown that when students take time to reflect on their purpose, students see STEM as offering more opportunities to fulfill their goals. Students also report higher enjoyment and certainty in their chosen STEM majors (Diekman et al. 2024). This simple activity is impactful for all students but has shown significant benefit for minoritized women and men. If you’re interested in creating assignments that help students integrate their purpose in STEM, they recommended exploring the Purpose Reflection Integration in STEM Modalities (PRISM) Toolkit to learn more.
A huge thank you to Samantha and Alex for their help with AI Orientation and for sharing their teaching knowledge with our IU Bloomington community!
Work Cited
Diekman, Amanda B., Mansi P. Joshi, Andrew D. White, Quang-Anh Ngo Tran, and Jayshree Seth. 2024 Purpose reflection benefits minoritized students’ motivation and well-being in STEM. Scientific Reports 14(466). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-50302-1
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