17 Part M: Humanizing Across the Disciplines
Selected Examples from Different Disciplines
Biology
“In my first-year biology class, we explore how failure is a normal part of the process of science. We look through history at experiments that failed spectacularly, and follow those failures through time to see how they can lead to discovery and innovation.” – Biology instructor
“I think sometimes the professors of Biology courses forget it’s not humanly possible to remember that much content.” – Anonymous
“There were concepts from first year biology that I did not fully understand until I was TAing them in my MSc. We need to recognize where we struggled as students and help bridge that gap as instructors.” – Anonymous
Gender Studies
As a program in the Humanities in which writing skills and communication are integral, it can be helpful to make an effort to provide specific but encouraging feedback. For example, if the assignment calls for a critical analysis but a student provides a summary, the instructor might recognize the work they have done in reading the articles and paying close attention to their content. They may also hold a writing and citation workshop as a way to level the playing field and make expectations clear for students.
It is also important to emphasize that life is a learning experience and that learning is a constant process. We are often discussing sensitive topics and with first- and second-year students, who may still possess inaccurate information on a certain topic. Instead of saying they are wrong and bad people for thinking this way, we can encourage students to ask questions to help their learning and emphasize that every mistake is a learning experience, not a wrong that must be righted.
French Studies
In French language courses, storytelling and story-exchange methodology can been impactful ways to initiate connection among all class members, inspire a sense of belonging, and incorporate empathy-based approach in teaching and learning.
In second language pedagogy, meaningful and authentic task-based, communicative, and active learning approaches are at the heart of humanized curricular design. The World-Readiness framework supports instructors not only to go beyond the classroom to reach communities, but also to blur boundaries by bringing communities into the classroom.
In literature and culture in French language courses, strategies that focus on providing opportunities for students to relate to course content are also available. These include selecting reading materials that offer representations of student identity, tasks and projects where subject matters are intertwined with students’ personal experiences, and creative alternative assessments.
English
Some of the feedback that students receive in English courses for papers and essays can be rather “mean.” In Biology courses, grading is more objective and is usually not in any way a personal critique. In English however, grading includes critiquing a student’s personal writing style, tone, habits, more–a somewhat subjective process. In this way, graders annotating with phrases like “sounds awkward”, “strange word choice”, “you lost me here”, or even “???,” is largely unproductive and even a little mean. It is too easy for instructors to forget that writing anything in English is a more personal production and that the students writing these papers are real humans with real feelings.
Consider, what is unique about assessment and feedback norms in your discipline? How might humanized methods apply?