Jan 16 training

LEARNING TO CHALLENGE INEQUITY IN MATHEMATICAL SERVICE COURSES

Many of today’s educational institutions rest on foundations rooted in historical legacies of structural racism. In this social-political context, what role do educators play in driving the status quo and how can they transform themselves and their inequitable educational

institutions? In a three-hour information session, Dr. Jose H. Vargas (Social Psychology, CSUN), Dr. Alex Alekseenko (Math, CSUN), Bamdad Samii (Math, LAMC), Scarlet Sarkissian

(Math, LAVC), and Humberto Raya Mendoza (Math, LAVC) address this question by reviewing the professional development and programmatic aspects of the Equitable Calculus for Life Sciences (ECLiS) program. A unique feature of ECLiS is its foundation in antiracist culturally

responsive pedagogy. In Part 1 of the session, Dr. Vargas will establish the backdrop of educational injustice and discuss how faculty can get involved in efforts to achieve equity in STEM. He will go over the historical legacies, social-political contexts, and system-justifying discourses that must be challenged in order to create the conditions where students can succeed. In Part 2, the mathematics instructors will present two practical recommendations

that can be implemented to build a culturally responsive course: contextualization of curriculum and equitable grading. A culturally-responsive course resulted in increased student success but also required instructors to take risks. The pros and cons of ECLiS’ approach to

STEM pedagogy are reviewed. The speakers also address how their experiences changed throughout the project.

• ·   JANUARY 16, 2024 1:00PM – 4:15PM

• ·   REGISTRATION LINK: http://bit.ly/InequityinMath