Culturally Responsive Teaching Fall 23-Spring 24

CHEM 4: Chemical Calculations

Flexibility / Equity / Motivation

Reflection on Instructional Change:

I made changes to my class this semester to reflect what I had learned from "Equitable Grading." Much of what the book covered made a lot of sense to me and were things that I knew I wanted to address in my class, but was unsure how to do so. Reading through the book helped me to figure out a way to hopefully make my class more equitable and ensure my students were earning grades that reflected how well they mastered the material covered in my class.

The first change I made was to restructure how homework, exam, and quiz scores impacted their grades. I did not want students to feel they were unable to make mistakes on formative assignments, such as homework. I also treated quizzes as formative assignments because this gave my students a better idea about what I was going to expect from them on exams, and hopefully push them to address those topics if they did not do well. Ultimately, I made grades so that they were distributed by percentages rather than pure points. Homework and quizzes combined are worth 10%. I would have liked to not have homework reflected in their grades at all, but got some push back on this and decided to just give minimal credit.

For the second change, I implemented a retake opportunity for exams and the major "diagnostic quizzes." Students will have the opportunity to replace their exam grades when they take the final. I have the final designed in such a way that it is split into sections which reflect the different exams taken this semester. If they earn a higher grade on those sections than what they earned on the exam, they will have the exam score replaced. I wanted them to feel like were not doomed to fail because of the various obstacles that can hinder their performance on an exam. The end goal of this change was to have their grades reflect the mastery of what we covered this semester. The skills they learn in this class will be critical in their next chemistry classes where they will be expected to know most of the material we covered this semester.

**Evidence of Instructional Change**
Image 1: Excerpt from my syllabus describing how grades are calculated	Image 2: Excerpt from my syllabus describing the final exam
Grades were first determined by percentages and then points added after. The points were more added for the comfort of my students as many of them are point driven.

Course Syllabus (Fall 2023)

Course Syllabus (Spring 2024)

**Faculty Bio**
	I was a non-traditional college student who attempted to go down many paths until I found my way to chemistry. I attempted to go to community college right out of high school but had no real motivation and as a result did not do well. I decided college was not right for me (at least at that moment) and worked a few blue collar jobs before moving into a career as a pro audio technician. It only took a few years until I got the itch to try college again. I was more successful this time and after overcoming job losses, family illnesses, and more, I earned my B.S. in biochemistry at Sac State in the Spring of 2020. Early on in my second attempt at college, I realized I wanted to become a college professor. To do this I knew I would need to go on and get either a masters degree or PhD. I originally wanted to pursue a PhD, but stayed at Sac State to earn my masters so I could stay and help care for my mom. I can happily say that now I have earned my masters, currently work as a lecturer here at Sac State in the chemistry department, and will start as a assistant professor at a community college in the Fall semester.

This work was supported by:
	Grant funding from Sacramento State Division of Inclusive Excellence *Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sacramento State.