The context for this project is a large 500-student first year science breadth course that focuses on drug discovery from science in the laboratory to human testing in clinical trials. We revised the course to change the course ecosystem to be more inclusive and to improve the course’s major video assignment. The ecosystem changes included weekly quizzes with infinite attempts, in-class activities using MS Forms, and “We’re listening!” surveys at the beginning, midpoint and end of the course. We were responsive to student suggestions in the surveys and created dry-run technical submission areas for the MyMedia video assignment for practice. To emphasize the role of everyday people in drug development, we added a required documentary film about the impact of HIV/AIDS activists on drug approval speed and this film was very well received due to its message of empowerment. A U of T biomedical communications graduate student created welcoming illustrations to support the instructions of the major video assignment. In this assignment, students create a 3-minute video to describe strategies for improving diversity in clinical trials with a focus on strategies they think would be effective in their own community. The success of the LEAF+ project was due not only to the redesign of the assignment instructions and supports, which was the initial aim of the project. Changes to the ecosystem of the course as a whole created an environment that supported inclusive excellence in students’ video assignments.
Outcomes
A major outcome is the production and sharing of new graphical illustrations explaining aspects of the video assignment instructions. These focus on diversity and the images support the assignment goals. This approach supports UDL with a more visual and less text-heavy approach to assignment instructions. We asked student whether they preferred written or oral feedback for their assignments and tracked their preference. We recommend to other instructors the use of Quercus surveys at the beginning and midpoint with an emphasis on open-ended questions that demonstrate the teaching team’s curiosity and openness to support students’ learning. When assessing diverse assignments, we found it helpful to consider a rubric category of Alignment. For example, did the student’s strategies that they proposed in their assignment clearly and explicitly align with the student’s community indicated in that assignment?