GenderMag Teach

GenderMag-Teach provides a repository of open educational resources (OERs) and advice for educators and technical trainers on how to teach gender-inclusive technology design. The repository is housed at OERCommons.org. Anyone can download these resources, incorporate them directly into their courses, adapt and remix them, and upload their modified or new resources to the repository. Most of the resources are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0, meaning that they can be used in any way so long as the original authors are given credit.

The resources are for teaching GenderMag gender-inclusive technology design. GenderMag, provided by The GenderMag Project (https://gendermag.org), is a research-based method for finding, fixing, and averting gender biases in user-facing designs such as websites, software, courses, robots, and many other forms of technology or information design. To detect these biases, evaluators “walk through” a design while taking the perspective of a user with under-represented problem-solving styles. The method includes several components, some of which can be taught in isolation or accompanied by a small amount of prerequisite GenderMag knowledge. Because of this, GenderMag can be taught at many different education levels and in small, bite-sized chunks.

The OERCommons.org repository of GenderMag teaching and learning resources is organized by topic and material type. Topics include “Activities”, “Homeworks”, “Test Questions”, and “Lectures”. Most of the materials are meant to be given or presented to students and others provide educators guidance on how to go about teaching GenderMag concepts (e.g., “PCK + Strategies”). GenderMag topics include “Cognitive Styles”, “Personas”, and “Walkthrough Method”. The repository also links to a free, online GenderMag course that has two modules specifically for educators.

GenderMag has multiple entries in the BPCnet Activity Library that might be of interest depending on your department’s or your needs:

• GenderMag Project for individuals, teams or departments;
• GenderMag-Teach for individual faculty and departments;
• GenderMag Online Course for all.

These activities can be cascaded. For example, in a multi-year BPC plan, individuals and teams could start with GenderMag Online Course to get the certificates. In later years, GenderMag-Teach could be used in teaching by the department, and the GenderMag Project further used by all on project outcomes and materials.

Examples of how to incorporate into a CISE proposal (PI):

• You can teach portions of GenderMag in your classes. GenderMag-Teach provides many resources you can use to do so. Research has shown that doing so increases students’ feelings of belonging in their classes and in the CS major. See https://gendermag.org/research.php for specific evidence.
• You can use the resources to remove gender-inclusivity biases from your course materials.

Examples of how to incorporate into a departmental BPC plan (Department Chair):Your faculty can teach portions of GenderMag in your department’s classes. GenderMag-Teach provides many resources for doing so. Evidence shows that doing so can increase retention and the education climate. See https://gendermag.org/research.php for specific evidence.