Four Ways to Humanize Our Assessments

As educators, assessments are at the heart of our teaching practice. When we create meaningful assessments for students, we not only gauge student learning, but we also create a better understanding of what students still need to learn and what we may need to reteach.  Students care about the assessments in our course. We may

Humanized Course Template Now Available!

As we approach the new semester, we may consider how we can leverage Canvas to create a humanized learning experience for our students. If you’re looking for a template that you can import into your Canvas shell, check out this template on Canvas Commons or search Bakersfield_College_Humanized_Course_Template.  The template includes prompts and how-tos on:  Feel

Bakersfield College and Kern CCD Invests in Equity Infrastructure to Humanize Online STEM Courses

This piece was written by Michelle Pacansky-Brock. Michelle Pacansky-Brock, Ed.D., is an online faculty developer and thought leader in higher education. Her work helps faculty and instructional designers across the nation to craft relevant, humanized online learning experiences that support the diverse needs of college students. In her current role as Faculty Mentor for the

Faculty Voices: A Renegade Toolkit for Small Changes with Big Impacts

To kick off the 22-23 year, we wanted to highlight faculty voices and provide concrete examples of how one Renegade faculty has found small changes make a big difference. This piece was written by Jacy Hill, MA,Ed, RT(R). Jacy says, “I have been a full-time faculty member at Bakersfield College for 5 years. I have

Faculty Perspectives on Humanizing Learning

The February faculty forum “Humanizing Learning: Tips and Tricks for Face-to-Face and Online Classes” featured three faculty who shared their strategies for humanizing their courses. Rebecka Zepeda shared her liquid syllabus, syllabus quiz, and introductory Flipgrid assignment. If you are looking for a Renegade example of a liquid syllabus, check out this 9-minute video which

Humanizing a Course: A Student’s Interview with an Instructor

This piece was written by communication intern, Catherine Acuna. Catherine Acuna is pursuing her Associate degree in Biology at Bakersfield College, and aspires to be in the veterinary field. She is a first-generation student who strives to obtain higher learning to reach her dreams. During her free time, she loves spending time at the dog

Bonus! Renegade Faculty Strategies for Temporary Online Teaching

As we continue to navigate disruptions to our teaching caused by COVID, focusing on communication, consistency, care, and content can help us to best support students. If you are looking for specific strategies, check out this Padlet created by Renegade faculty. Feel free to add your own strategies as well:)

Liquid Syllabus: Deep Dive

This piece was written by Mallory Gardner. Mallory is a communication intern for the Bakersfield College Academic Technology department. She will complete her Bachelor’s in English Literature at California State University, Bakersfield. After her Bachelor’s, she immediately plans on completing her MA in English Literature. Mallory is a longtime lover of learning, when she’s not enveloped in a

A Year of Humanizing Strategies from Renegade Faculty

Every month(ish) last year, I led Humanizing workshops with Renegade faculty. After exploring what humanizing is and how it can help us to act as warm demanders in our classes, faculty would participate in a virtual gallery walk where they shared and brainstormed their own strategies for humanizing their classes. These virtual gallery walks created

Using Flipgrid to Humanize Online Education

This piece was written by Mallory Gardner. Mallory is a communication intern for the Bakersfield College Academic Technology department. She will complete her Bachelor’s in English Literature at California State University, Bakersfield. After her Bachelor’s, she immediately plans on completing her MA in English Literature. Mallory is a longtime lover of learning, when she’s not enveloped in a