DL Ambassadors - Kimberly Henderson

kimberly henderson

Kimberly has been using Carolina Distance Learning kits since fall 2020 for General Biology I and II courses at Rowan College of South Jersey’s Gloucester and Cumberland campuses. She has also taught microbiology and human biology.

What do you think would have added to your own learning experience when you were a university student?

Having a connection with my instructors. I think sometimes instructors can seem distant or not connected to their students. I don’t think it’s intentional. I think having an instructor who was relatable, or down-to-earth, or made it an intention to connect would have made a difference for me.

 

What is the most fulfilling part of your work?

The most fulfilling part of my work would be getting students excited about the subject that I’m teaching. Sometimes I will get students that take my course because they need to fill a science elective, so I like getting students excited about science, getting excited about science in their everyday life.

 

What roles have you taken on as an educator?

I support STEM degree-seeking female students as a faculty mentor for the Women in STEM Academy at RCSJ. The academy participants are assisted with registration and campus resources and encouraged to participate in student networking and professional development events.

 

When my schedule permits, I also participate in a leadership career panel for the MILE (Minority Initiative on Leadership and Excellence) program, where I share my academic and professional journey experiences with first-year students.

 

Over the last few years, I have worked to increase racial equity in STEM in my classroom by participating in ESCALA workshops/trainings and submitting an NSF grant proposals to increase racial equity in STEM on our college campus. This summer, I am looking to pursue some of the ideas that were presented in the grant such as the STEM Summer Camp for underrepresented students.

 

What interests have you been able to pursue at your institution, and which would you like to pursue?

Recently, we made a connection with Rowan University to have students work in labs on that campus. They had different topics of interest that I’m interested in: microbiology, rodent pharmacology—I used to work with mice when I worked in the lab—mouse models. Things like that I would like to continue to pursue if they give the opportunity for community college faculty to work with the students.

 

What is one of the best ways that you found to connect with your students, both in-person and distance learners?

When you take a course on how to create your online classes, they suggest doing discussion boards to keep students connected. Usually, those discussion boards might be centered around papers or articles that you might have the students read, which is fine, but I sometimes like to add in different ways that I can connect with the students on a more personal level.

 

It might be five questions that they choose from—different questions that kind of connect with the students to get them connecting with each other and connecting with me. Those are the discussion boards that mean a lot to me, because I can connect with that distant learner and see what floats their boat, what fuels them, why they’re there.

 

It makes it easier for them to ask me questions if they don’t understand, and I don’t want any of my students to feel lost in class.

 

How do you feel using Distance Learning kits have enhanced your teaching and your students’ learning experience?

It makes [the student] more of a critical thinker. I think having that lab kit, and that that one student is responsible for troubleshooting and answering questions, makes them a better student, because the responsibility lies solely on them.

 

I think it’s made me more intentional about what I want them to do, making sure that is clear, what is the expectation as far as the results, as far as answering the questions, and just being a little more clear as an instructor about the learning outcomes and the intent.

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