Every fall semester, 600 New Mexico State University freshmen have been learning communication skills from two faculty members who are approaching their course differently thanks to a program called Every Learner Everywhere.
Gabriela Morales, an assistant professor, and Dae Romero, a college instructor, both teach communication studies. They have experience teaching Introduction to Communication in three back-to-back sessions of 200 students once a week in the fall and spring semesters. Morales taught the course from fall 2020 to fall 2022. Romero is now its basic course director.
Teaching so many students in one semester requires the help of teaching assistants who meet with smaller groups of these students separately. It takes a team effort to provide so many students with needed communication skills in such a short time.
A grant from Every Learner Everywhere is allowing Morales and Romero to re-envision this fundamental course that impacts virtually every student who attends NMSU.
“The opportunity with this organization offered us a chance to get a survey out to our students, see how they perceive the class, whether they think that their needs are being met, and from there, build on that feedback to improve on the course,” Morales said. “That required a variety of things that thankfully we were able to accomplish and we’re still implementing today.”
The survey data showed their students wanted to practice what they were learning. Romero and Morales also discovered students who grew up in different circumstances could have very different understandings of the same things.
“We need to understand that as educators, the power dynamic that we hold with our students is unequal, and it’s more unequal when you talk about first-gen students,” Romero said. “They see me as authority. When I was a student, I didn’t get to know my professors as human beings. That power dynamic between professor and student really influenced me. I am aware of my power as a professor so I can communicate and have empathy with my students. What I've learned is the more they understand us, the more that they see us as humans, the more that they respect us and the communication gets better. They're not as scared to tell us about their life, problems that are impacting their work or their school because of what’s going on in their life.”
While reviewing survey responses and considering changes to Introduction to Communication, Romero and Morales reflected a lot on their own experiences as first-generation college students.
“At the beginning, we give them this enormous information overload, and then we never mention some of the information we share again. Not in classes, not in passing, nothing,” Morales said. “There are resources that they can use on campus, there are things they can become involved in, and it doesn't have to be this disconnected type of experience where not only are you navigating this space that no one else in your family has navigated but you’re doing it alone. We understand what that feels like, and we have been changing how we present these resources to students so they have a constant reminder of what is out there for them and what they can benefit from.”
Every Learner Everywhere focuses on a broad range of content and communication tools, curricular models, design strategies and services support institutions in developing a tailored engagement approach that aims to create better learning experiences and more equitable outcomes for minority students and those from low-socioeconomic backgrounds.
“This project requires dedication and a willingness to forge a new path in teaching this foundational communication course,” said Enrico Pontelli, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “I appreciate professors Morales and Romero for taking the lead and doing the legwork to provide a more accessible experience for our students and ultimately improve their learning.”
Every Learner Everywhere offers professional development and consulting services to support the effective implementation of equitable and high-quality digital learning at scale.
“It's not your traditional way of providing a lecture,” Morales said. “We're so used to doing things a specific way, and we’re so focused on getting all the material that we need out to our students that we often don’t realize that a lot of these strategies are no longer working. Every semester, we get a new batch of students with different ideologies, with different knowledge, with different backgrounds, and as faculty, I think it's our responsibility to keep up with that and to be able to modify our pedagogy, our way of teaching, our way of putting together assignments and materials. We need to change the way we provide that information to our students.”
Using examples from their own lives as first-generation college students also helps students to better understand the context of their teaching and be more comfortable with their teachers. Romero and Morales also have added a section of useful information about available resources that first-generations students may not know.
“Our syllabus should be a resource for students, not just in terms of the course that they're taking, but also in terms of the university and what they're going to experience,” Morales said. “If they identify with the LGBTQIA+ community, there are resources. If they identify with the American Indian community, there are resources. If they identify with the Latine community, there are resources. If they need to rent a laptop, there are resources. One of the important steps is to make sure our students know that these resources exist.”
In addition to digital learning and communication skills, Romero and Morales are working on ways to strengthen students’ awareness of their identities in ways they hope will improve their learning outcomes.
"This course would focus on the students and the critical reflection of their own communication experiences to create self-empathy,” Romero said. “If we can help them reflect on the construction of their experiences and identities through communication, we can help them understand that they communicate the way they do because of their identities.”
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CUTLINE: Every Learner Everywhere is a program led by Dae Romero and Gabriela Morales teaching communication skills to 600 freshmen every semester. (NMSU photo by Josh Bachman)