Inclusive Teaching
CETL is dedicated to supporting equitable and inclusive teaching practices at KSU. As the traditional demographics of college students has evolved in recent years, the need to understand how and why our social and cultural identities influence teaching and learning in higher education has become more crucial. Through enhancing students’ sense of belonging at our institution, we increase their chance of success. As educators, our role in understanding diversity and implementing inclusive and equitable pedagogies is becoming more important every semester.
The following resources have been compiled to assist you in learning more about equity
and inclusion. We include both theoretical ideas and practical advice for implementation
in your classroom, regardless of the modality in which you teach.
For more information on inclusive pedagogies or for one-on-one support, please contact
cetl@kennesaw.edu
Resources for Inclusive Teaching
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Learn about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Teaching
The following resources provide justification for the importance of being inclusive of all students, promoting diversity, and ensuring equity in learning experiences.
Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning Guide for Inclusive Teaching
Columbia University’s comprehensive guide to developing and delivering inclusive courses. This downloadable booklet details five principles for inclusive teaching, the research behind these principles, and strategies educators can implement right away.
Teaching and Learning in the Diverse Classroom
This award winning, self-paced, free course was developed by the University of Michigan’s teaching center. It provides a comprehensive overview of how diversity and inclusion efforts manifest in the classroom and how educators can be aware of and proactive in their course design and class delivery.
Maintaining Equity and Inclusion in Virtual Learning Environments
This is the San Diego State University Model for developing and sustaining equitable and inclusive online classrooms. Though this model is geared toward fully online course delivery, many of the concepts and practices are relevant in all modalities.
Humanizing Online Teaching to Equitize Higher Education
by Michelle Pacansky-Brock and Kim Vincent-Layton
Abstract:
Online courses are increasing access to college for students who have been traditionally left out of higher education. However, minoritized students are less likely to succeed online when compared to their White and Asian peers. As the student population becomes more diverse, colleges and universities have an opportunity to improve this problem by preparing faculty to design and facilitate inclusive online learning experiences that more effectively support the needs of all learners. This paper presents a model for humanized online teaching using a theoretical framework influenced by Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT), social presence, validation theory, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Humanized online teaching ensures the non-cognitive components of learning are addressed through instructor-student relationships and community, allowing connection and empathy to drive engagement and rigor. Six humanizing strategies with real teaching examples are discussed, in addition to goals for meaningful professional development to support the adoption of humanized online teaching.
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Implement Inclusive Pedagogies
The following pedagogical practices seek to be more inclusive of all learners in a wide variety of ways.
Measuring the Promise/Developing a Learning-centered Syllabus
Palmer, Bach, and Streifer
Establishing trust and rapport with your students is an important step toward building an inclusive classroom community and this starts with the syllabus. This article and accompanying rubric can help you to assess the learning-centeredness of your syllabus and determine what messages the document may be sending to students.
TILT: Assignment Design for Transparency
The TILT framework provides an evidence-based way to revise assignment descriptions to promote student success. “TILT”ed assignments contain three essential elements: a clear purpose statement, a simple, yet detailed, description of the task to be completed, and explicit criteria for evaluation. TILT is a simple method faculty can apply that can have a significant positive impact on student outcomes.
This Micro-Credential souvenir denotes the viewing of a 30-minute webinar introducing the research behind the TILT framework and describing the structure of a “TILT”ed assignment. Faculty members who teach full-time or part-time in any modality would benefit from viewing this webinar.
After the webinar, participants should be able to:
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- Explain how providing students with a clear purpose for assignments, describing the task in detail, and specifying the criteria on which students will be evaluated might enhance student performance
- Identify resources to assist them in developing transparent assignments
- Create a transparent assignment or revise a current assignment to make it more transparent
The webinar is available on-demand, and participation is verified via a one-question quiz at the end of the webinar. Please ensure that you sign in to MediaSpace before viewing. Badges will be granted in the Badgr system within two weeks of completion.
Join the KSU TILT Team in MS Teams here Link to 'TILT Higher Ed' Official Website
Humanizing Online Education
Pacansky-Brock
Michelle Pacansky-Brock has developed a comprehensive website sharing her work and resources for humanizing your online course to make it more inclusive of all students. Her site contains links to articles and research, as well templates, walkthrough videos, and samples of the strategies she writes about.
Using Neuroscience and Positive Psychology to Enhance College Teaching and Learning
Alex-Assenosh
LACE: Love, Authenticity, Courage, and Empathy—this short piece by Yvette Alex-Assenosh introduces the science behind why we should consider how these characteristics operate in our classrooms and within our relationships with our students.
Pedagogies of Care
“Pedagogies of Care: Open Resources for Student-Centered & Adaptive Strategies in the New Higher-Ed Landscape offers practical and engaging advice about what "next" should look like across higher education, from sixteen current and forthcoming authors in the Teaching and Learning in Higher Education book series from West Virginia University Press.”
Peralta Community College Online Equity Rubric
“The Peralta Equity Rubric is a research-based course (re)design evaluation instrument to help teachers make online course experiences more equitable for all students. The rubric’s criteria include: addressing students’ access to technology and different types of support (both academic and non-academic); increasing the visibility of the instructor’s commitment to inclusion; addressing common forms of bias (e.g., implicit bias, image and representation bias, interaction bias); helping students make connections (e.g., between course topics and their lives; with the other students); and following universal design for learning principles.”
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
“UDL is a framework to guide the design of learning environments that are accessible and challenging for all. Ultimately, the goal of UDL is to support learners to become “expert learners” who are, each in their own way, purposeful and motivated, resourceful and knowledgeable, and strategic and goal driven. UDL aims to change the design of the environment rather than to change the learner. When environments are intentionally designed to reduce barriers, all learners can engage in rigorous, meaningful learning.”
See KSU DLI’s UDL Resources Here
Online Accessibility (KSU DLI)
Creating course content that is accessible to all learners contributes to an inclusive class climate. KSU Digital Learning Innovations has resources and support to ensure your materials are accessible.
University of Pennsylvania Racial Equity Course Review Rubric
This short document provides educators with a simple flowchart they can use to evaluate courses for equity.
How Do I Create Meaningful and Effective Assignments
This comprehensive article details assignment design from conception to grading with an emphasis on considerations for increasing equity and being inclusive.
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Create Inclusive and Equitable Assessments
The following articles and resources address the need for educators to consider how their traditional grading practices may inhibit equity and inclusion in higher education, while also offering alternative ways to think about grading while maintaining rigor.
Effective Culturally-Inclusive Assessment of Student Learning & Academic Performance
Cuseo
“The purpose of this manuscript is to equip instructors with skills for improving the quality, validity, and equity of assessing student learning. The following principles and strategies also improve the quality of teaching and promote the academic achievement of students from diverse cultural backgrounds.”
Grading for Equity
Joe Feldman
This book and accompanying resources address the need for educators to consider how their assessment techniques embrace and promote equity, along with suggestions and ideas for making our assessments more equitable.
These two short pieces by Feldman touch on many of the points he expands in his book:
How Teachers Can Create an Equitable Grading System
Jennifer Gunn
This blog post addresses how “inconsistent grading practices and the ways they can inadvertently perpetuate achievement and opportunity gaps among our students make grading an issue of equity. There are grading practices that are more bias-resistant and motivational that can improve learning, minimize grade inflation, reduce failure rates, and create stronger teacher-student relationships and more caring classrooms.”
