The Teaching with Heart project started in 2022 and is about to wrap up in its current form. The practice of Teaching with Heart continues, of course, and we are excited that we have launched a follow-up project as described later in this newsletter.
During the Teaching with Heart project, we have worked with three cohorts of teachers at universities across the United States. These teachers gave their time to the program, and they gave their heart to their students. They have shared their Teaching with Heart practices with each other and with us. They shared their successes and victories, as well as the challenges they encountered inside and outside the classroom. One of the main things that we learned is that teachers often feel vulnerable expressing care for their students.
The culture of STEM education–and of STEM institutions–can be analytical and devoid of expressed feelings. As a result, teachers can perceive themselves to be an outlier if they bring heart into the classroom or to their department. That perception may be correct, or it may not be, but the result is that teachers often don’t speak about the care they seek to bring to their students. Conversations about Teaching with Heart continue to be important because it helps normalize a culture of care in STEM higher education.
During the project we have developed the following resources that are freely available on the Teaching with Heart website.
- An overview of Teaching with Heart practices that can be implemented one by one in the classroom. Some of these practices are easy and take almost no time.
- A list of Advising with Heart practices that helps advisors support their advisees, in particular for graduate student research.
- A series of newsletters with topics that are relevant for heartful teaching.
- A video about Teaching with Heart: https://vimeo.com/1015462384
As project leaders have much to be grateful for. We thank the John Templeton Foundation for their financial support. The program could not have existed without the teachers that devoted their time, creativity, and energy to the project. We also are grateful for the teachers participated in the project:
Cohort 1
Tracy De Peralta, University of Colorado Anschutz | Mohammed Farghally, Virginia Tech | Shelly Fischer, University of Colorado Anschutz | Wendy Fisher, Colorado School of Mines | Veerle Keppens, University of Tennessee | Jeffrey King, Colorado School of Mines | Giselle Lamas, University of Kentucky | Mirna Mattjik, Colorado School of Mines | Carrie McClelland, Colorado School of Mines | Eve Mozur, Colorado School of Mines | Mike Nicholas, Colorado School of Mines | John Popovics, University of Illinois | Philip Romig, Colorado School of Mines | Arthur Schmidt, University of Illinois | Kimberley Scott, Colorado School of Mines | Estelle Smith, Colorado School of Mines | Tammy Spencer, University of Colorado Anschutz | Venkataramana Sridhar, Virginia Tech | Maggie Thompson, University of Colorado Anschutz | Cassie Wallway, Virginia Tech
Cohort 2
Benjamin Chambers, Virginia Tech | Eric Davis, Clemson University | Mary Fidler, Clemson University | Karen Gipson, Grand Valley State University | Jess Hagman, Colorado State University | Kevin Hamed, Virginia Tech | Erin Hopkins, Virginia Tech| Kathleen Kelley, Colorado School of Mines | Jihey Kim, Colorado School of Mines | Tara Kneeshaw, Grand Valley State University | Perry Martin, Virginia Tech | Elizabeth Melvin, Clemson University |Erik Menke, Colorado School of Mines | Ciara Reyer-Ton, Lipscomb University | Susan Reynolds, Colorado School of Mines | Michael Sehorn, Clemson University | Kathy Shaw, University of Colorado Anschutz | Chuck Stone, Colorado School of Mines | Pitchayaporn Tantihkar, Virginia Tech | Sparkle Williams, Virginia Tech | Lauren Woolsey, Grand Rapids Community College
Cohort 3
Sakhi Aggrawal, Purdue University | Nkeiruka Angela Aziekwu, Stephen F Austin State University | Daniel Baker, Colorado State University |Heidi Barrett, Arapahoe Community College | Ahmed Bahabry, United States Military Academy, West Point | Yinlin Chen, Virginia Tech | Eleanor Cotton, University of Colorado School Anschutz Medical Campus |Keith John Ellis, Southern New Hampshire University | Aneesha Gogineni, Saginaw Valley State University | Laura R Grossenbacher, UW-Madison | Khalid Hattar, University of Tennessee, Knoxville | Sally Hamouda, Virginia Tech | Bethany Huxford Davis, Point University | Chloe Johnson, Colorado School of Mines | Rima Khankan, Marshall B. Ketchum University| Jessica Larsen, Clemson University | Sheron Lawson, Colorado School of Mines | Richard Levine, Colorado School of Mines | Karo Parsegian, University of Colorado School Anschutz Medical Campus | Colleen Pritchard, Colorado School of Mines |Bryn Seabrook, University of Virginia | Dendy Sloan, Colorado School of Mines | Neal Sullivan, Colorado School of Mines | Ashley Taylor, Virginia Tech | Margeret Webb, Virginia Tech
Below we express our gratitude to these teachers.
I applaud you for stepping up and participating in our program. I loved meeting you and learned much from you. I know that you participated while being pressed for time, this makes me appreciate your participation even more. I am deeply moved by the Heart that you brought to the program, to each other, and to your students. You are the change-makers that higher education needs. Your students are lucky having you as their teacher! Roel Snieder
What’s next?
We are in the process analyzing what we have learned in the project and are writing a book about Teaching with Heart. We are excited that one of our projects leaders, Qin Zhu (Virgina Tech), secured funding for a follow-up project Compassionate STEM Education through a generous grant from Wake Forest University. The Teaching with Heart team is part of this new project. If you are on the mailing list for the Teaching with Heart newsletter, we will add you to the mailing list of the new project.