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Psychology 300: General Principles

Mindset, Connectedness, Inclusivity

Reflection on Instructional Change:

The one practice from the ACUE course that I implemented is ensuring equitable access to learning. The steps and practices shared by the experts and faculty in this module I implemented in the introductory discussion forum with four questions to answer:

What is an important piece of your identity?
Talk about your college experience.
What is your goal for this class?
What song has helped you achieve your goals?

Here is an example of what that looked like:

Hello and welcome to Intro to Psych 300!

My name is Trina Stanford, my pronouns are she/her/hers and I will be your instructor for the course. I am looking forward to a terrific semester with each of you!

I am a native Californian who was born and raised in Oakland. After graduation from high school, I attended Merritt Community College. As a former community college student, I know the first-hand value of a community college education and am a fervent supporter of community college. As a servant-teacher, it is important that I create an inclusive learning environment for each of you that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities (including race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, ability, etc.) The song that has helped me achieve my goals is “Rise Up” by Aundra Day.

Implementing these practices helped establish connectedness and inclusivity that enhanced the students learning experience. It is very important to me that I create an environment that helps create and foster a student-centered environment where all students feel heard, seen and know they belong here.

The additional steps I took to continue to refine my use of the practices from this module was to focus on best practices that were suggested by my students. As a servant teacher who believes in continuous improvement, this is how I will evolve as a teacher because not only am I talking the talk, but walking the walk.

Some student reactions from the practices were: “very warm and inviting” “caring”; “learned a lot”, and “enjoyable learning experience.”

The learning activity that most influenced my teaching were the online discussion forums with my colleagues as I obtained lots of valuable insight and teaching tips.

I also participated in my own “Observe and Analyze Session” with my colleagues that I found to be extremely valuable. My one takeaway about my teaching I got from this session was that I came across as caring and supportive which is important that I convey that energy to students.

Evidence of Instructional Change

Hello Psych 300 Team,

Cultural competence is the ability to effectively interact with people from cultures different from one’s own, especially through a knowledge and appreciation of cultural differences. When mental health professionals accommodate and respect the differences in opinions, values, and attitudes of marginalized people, including communities of color and LGBTQ+ communities, patients are less likely to be misdiagnosed and more likely to continue treatment.

Cultural competency is especially important when considering that an individual’s perception of mental health, including stigma, is often influenced by their cultural identity and social values.

This exercise is designed to promote cultural identity insight. In a reflection paper of at least one typed double-spaced page (12 point font), please select a group from list below and answer question,

"As a mental health professional, what will you do to ensure that you provide equitable and respectful quality care and services that are inclusive of the cultural health beliefs and practices of the community you selected?"

Asian American and Pacific Islander

Black/African American

Hispanic/Latinx

Indigenous

LGBTQI

People with Disabilities

Please feel free to use attached NAMI link and any other resources you deem helpful.

https://www.nami.org/Your-Journey/Identity-and-Cultural-Dimensions

Cultural Competency Matters Reflection Paper assignment

Hello Psych 300 Team,

Please respond to both critical thinking discussion questions below:

Why do you think psychology courses like this one are often requirements of so many different programs of study?

Provide a personal example of an experience in which your behavior was influenced by the power of the situation.

Please post your introductory post in the reply box below by Wednesday evening, Aug 31 at 11:59PM. Read through the other entries and reply directly to at least two classmates by Sunday evening, Sept 4 at 11:59PM.

Your responses to your classmates should be on two different days during the week. You need to have a total of 3 posts on 3 different calendar days. Make sure each of the 3 posts has references to and is supported by statements from the textbook or external websites.

When you reply, please type the name of the classmate you are responding to, provide a welcome message to that person, and type your name at the bottom of the message. Make sure to use proper grammar, capitalization, (I instead of i) and punctuation in this college level course in all correspondence. Please avoid “text” or “twitter speak” when corresponding.

Need Help?

The following resources may help you complete this task:

How do I reply to a discussion?

How do I attach a file to a discussion reply?

How do I view and sort discussion replies?

How do I view the rubric results for my graded discussion?

Perspectives in Modern and Social Psychology discussion forum

Earned 07/19/22

Look Mom, I did it!

Practice and Reflect on: Embracing Diversity in your classroom

I am a native Californian who was born and raised in Berkeley and Oakland. The messages I learned about minorities when I was a child at home was that “minorities” had to work harder in school and everything to achieve the same things that were given to the “majorities” simply on the basis of their skin color. I attended predominantly black junior and high schools in the Oakland public school system. Even though I was in gifted classes throughout my K-12 experience, I felt that my education was not up to par and did not adequately prepare me for university level work. Upon high school graduation, I went to Merritt Community College for two years and honed up my study skills and completed my GE requirements. My views have not changed since then because as Blacks we do have to work harder in school and everything and the school systems for people of color are substandard and even more so today. This is why I am so adamant and passionate about advocating for classroom inclusiveness where all students are seen and heard and have a right to a decent education.

I expect the use of these practices will help establish connectedness and inclusivity that enhances the students learning experience. It is very important to me that I create an environment that helps create and foster a student-centered environment where all students feel heard, seen and know they belong there.

The additional steps I will take to continue to refine my use of the practices from this module is focus on best practices that are suggested by my students. As a servant teacher who believes in continuous improvement, this is how I will evolve as a teacher because I am leading by example.

ACUE reviewer feedback:

Thank you, Trina. Your reflection for the module Embracing Diversity in Your Classroom is complete. Good luck with the implementation. For your future submissions, I invite you to submit your reflections using the Course Reflection Rubric.

Course Syllabus

Psych 300 Syllabus.docx

Faculty Bio

Hello and welcome to Psychology 300,

My name is Trina Stanford, my pronouns are she/her/hers and I am really excited to be part of your learning journey at SCC as your instructor for this class. I am looking forward to a terrific semester with each of you!

I am a native Californian who was born and raised in Berkeley and Oakland. After graduation from high school, I attended Merritt Community College. As a former community college student, I know the first-hand value of a community college education and am a fervent supporter of community college. As a lifelong learner who is a servant-teacher, it is important that I create an inclusive learning environment for my students that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities (including race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, ability, etc.)

I have posted the syllabus on Canvas for you to read before our first-class meeting in case you have questions so we can answer them during class.

The class is designed to be interactive with assignments that directly relate to applied examples and skills in psychology.

What it Means to be Successful

Mindset is defined as the "driving force in the quest for success and achievement" A mindset that combines discipline, strength, confidence and ambition is a powerful mindset that can achieve anything it sets its sights on. A powerful mind can achieve anything.

Research shows that students with a growth mindset are more likely to reach their academic goals. Essentially a person with a growth mindset believes they can learn (even when it's difficult) and that the key to learning is putting in effort. I will do my best to encourage a growth mindset in our class, and I hope you will do the same.

"The mind is everything. What you think, you become." Buddha

Regards,

SCC Adjunct Psychology Professor

Trina Stanford

This work was supported by:

National Science Foundation Hispanic Serving Institution Project STEM Zone DUE 1832335

CSU Office of the Chancellor Academic Affairs grant for Faculty Professional Development

US Department of Education Hispanic Serving Institution Project STEM4Equity P031C210012

*Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the US Department of Education.

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