I needed to find descriptions of what an inclusive classroom looks like or explanations of some of the terms used in these initiatives. I discovered this from the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Central Florida, “In an inclusive college classroom, the participants work together to create and maintain a climate of openness and respect that encourages individuals to share their perspectives and thought for the purposes of mutual understanding, growth, and development. Inclusive classrooms are welcoming, secure, diverse, and interactive. In an inclusive college classroom, instructors strive to be responsive to students as individuals with many intersectionalities, as well as cognizant of students’ uniqueness and value in relationship to the broader classroom culture.” Lourdes: A big thing that still is facing women in STEM is the career or family versus career and family, which is disappointing. So many women are having to make decisions between those things rather than being given the chance to blend them successfully.

Gradebook records all scores for automatically graded assignments. Struggling students and challenging assignments are highlighted in red, giving you an at-a-glance view of potential hurdles students may face throughout your course. Study resources- Mastering Biology includes several resources to help students study for quizzes and tests. Among these resources are virtual flashcards, simple animations and videos, vocabulary practice, and interactive activities. These resources help students to better understand and practice key concepts. Behind the scenes, the adaptive learning engine identifies which concepts the student knows and doesn't know. It analyzes past performance on assignments, and selects question types that were most effective for the student on previous assignments, plus question types that were helpful for students with similar performance profiles. Each new question set adapts to results on previous sets. Not every student learns the same way and at the same rate. And now, thanks to advances in adaptive learning technology, you no longer have to teach as if they do. Mastering uses real time data and analytics, to reinforce concepts that target each student's strengths and weaknesses.I look forward to the day when a young woman who says she's a scientist isn't told, “Well, you don't look like a scientist.” To be accepted in the discipline she's pursuing. To avoid harassment and all the challenges that so many women in STEM report and have experienced, myself included. So, I want that for my daughter and for all the young women out there who pursue this career path. And I think hearing those voices from women encourages more women to speak out about how we want to see our workplaces change; how we want to see STEM change. And that's important because it changes the culture, and it can change behavior.

Before class, reading quizzes, pre-lecture quizzes, and formative assessments test your knowledge of the material and ensure you come to class prepared. Mastering Biology has many additional features that help students study for tests, complete assignments, and participate in class discussions. Additionally, this program helps students gain a deeper knowledge of core biological theories and concepts. Here are a few examples of how Mastering Biology can help. Intersectionality is the interconnection of social constructs such as race, class, and gender. And this construct applies to both individuals and groups. Intersectionality creates overlapping and interdependent systems that may foster discrimination and disadvantage, or conversely, may create privilege and entitlement. We’ve rounded up seven of Mastering’s best features that are sure to help the way you teach, engage, and ensure your students success. 7 Mastering features you can start leveraging today — First up, we look at how to help students who struggle to learn key biology concepts. They would benefit from interacting with the material in addition to reading about complex processes in their textbook and listening to the lecture. So with BioFlix Turtorials...

Immersive experiences

This just seemed absolutely daunting to me when I considered the vast and varied intersectionality presented in each of my students’ lives. However, after reading Lang’s Small teaching I felt more empowered to make changes in my teaching and course-room designs. Lisa: I'm hopeful for institutions supporting women as they're starting their careers, making them feel included, wanted, and that their contributions are valued because they have unique contributions to make. And this includes trans people, LGBTQ+, disabled people, BIPOC, and groups of people that have been marginalized, pushed aside – not made to feel welcome in biology and other sciences. It's really important to value all biologists and not just the ones who are established white men. During class, Learning Catalytics and existing Mastering media like simulations, Flix, Videos, etc.,bring tough topics to life. With real-time insights from Mastering’s analytics dashboard, you can personalize your lectures and labs, keeping pace with student life today while helping to boost student performance. Next, we look at how many biology topics can be explored through the use of video and animations. Yet many professors don't have time to find films that are well-suited for the classroom. And when students do see videos, they sometimes need guidance to help them focus on teaching points rather than just being entertained. That's why the new, Assignable Short Films produced by HHMI's BioInteractive...

Dynamic Study Modules help students study effectively on their own, using adaptive algorithms that adjust the content based on each student's understanding of the concepts. With the enormity of changes in education, we sometimes need to take a breath and think about small changes we can make to yield big results for student success. James Lang writes in Small Teaching; we should consider taking “an approach that seeks to spark positive change in higher education through small but powerful modifications to our course design and teaching practices.” Upon mastering a course, it’s etched in our minds along with much satisfaction and pride. That’s what happens for faculty and students alike using Pearson’s Mastering ® platform. It supports active, engaging, and immersive experiences while lightening the teacher’s workload. Finally, we explore how Mastering Biology can help instructors avoid spending too much class time teaching basic scientific skills. Many biology majors need to learn--or re-learn-basic scientific skills, which can take away from class time that could otherwise focus on the core concepts of biology. And while some students do well on basic exam questions, they sometimes struggle with test questions that require more critical thinking and application skills. But with Assignable Scientific Skill-Building Exercises... I said to one of my young coworkers, you shouldn't apologize so much for being a mother. And it's not that she was really apologizing for being a mother but that was the situation she was struggling with emotionally. She didn't want to it come across as “dropping the ball” now that she had a child.Lourdes: I would say early on it was it was rather challenging. I wouldn't say it was academically difficult for me so much as it was an emotional challenge. I ended up constantly having to prove myself, over and over again, much more so than a lot of my male peers. It’s a recurring theme I hear from other women scientists, so it's nice that I wasn't alone, but it's also disappointing that that's still often the case for women in STEM. Students complete an initial set of questions with a unique answer format that asks them to indicate their confidence level. Once completed, Dynamic Study Modules provide students with explanations of the answer, using materials from the text. The questions repeat until the student can answer them all correctly and confidently. These modules can be accessed on smartphones, tablets, and computers, so students can study virtually anywhere, anytime.