Complete the modules below to learn more about incorporating inclusive and equitable practices into your teaching. Each module includes short videos about the topic, a handout you can refer to or take notes on, tips, and an activity with a worksheet.
Maintaining Student Engagement
In this session, you'll learn about using inclusive teaching strategies to engage your students as well as some active learning techniques. You'll have the opportunity to reflect on your current teaching practices/methods and find opportunities for improvement.
Watch These Videos
Handout on Inclusive Student Engagement
Tips for Maintaining Engagement
- Use features in Zoom to make interactive - Whiteboard, polls, participant yes/no, chat, etc.
- Stop before breakout rooms and give space to write and think individually
- Ask good questions – open ended, why, challenge viewpoints, encourage problem solving
- Allow extra time for everything
- Less content, more concise presentations; fewer slides 20-25 per hour
- Ask your colleagues – don’t reinvent the wheel
- Be yourself and show your personality, plan a conversation not just content
- Make things fun! (silly polls or participant yes/no, etc.)
Activity: Reflecting on Teaching
Download and complete this worksheet to reflect on how you use inclusive teaching practices to engage students.
Dealing with Difficult Situations
This session addresses how to anticipate and prevent difficult situations, including the creation of a brave space in your classroom. It also covers some best practices for how to handle difficult situations, when they do occur, both in the moment and afterwards.
Watch These Videos
Handout on Dealing with Difficult Situations
Tips on Handling Difficult Situations
- Spend time before your class starts thinking about what sort of issues on the syllabus might prompt controversy
- Be sure to consider how different issues may affect different student groups
- In the moment- Use “I” statements and acknowledge existence of conflict
- Reach out to students one-on-one outside of class setting to follow up
- Design an in-class activity around the classroom code of conduct and/or netiquette practices
- If a 'hot moment' occurs, ask everyone to take time to write (or draw) out what they are feeling or thinking. Make time for silent reflection.
- Debrief with colleagues after difficult situations arise
- Check in with yourself about defensive reactions
Activity: Case Studies
Download and review these case studies, then answer the associated questions to practice and reflect on how you might handle these difficult situations.
Minimizing Bias in Grading and Feedback
In this session, we offer suggestions to minimize the impact of bias on grading and feedback. We cover ways to grade student work consistently, fairly, and efficiently and techniques for providing constructive feedback to improve student learning.
Watch These Videos
Handout on Equitable Assessment
Tips for Consistent and Efficient Grading & Feedback
- Tell students what they've done successfully and express appreciation
- State observations, not interpretations
- Focus on the product, not the person
- Read through a random sample to get a feel for the submissions before starting to assign grades
- Grade all of the question 1, then all of question 2, etc.
- Revisit the first and last assignments you graded, and make adjustments if needed
- Read the whole paper before commenting, do not edit or revise student work
- Suggest how students can do better next time and help them understand that struggle is normal
Activity: Essay Review
Download this worksheet to practice grading and providing feedback.
“Even though some of us might wish to conceptualize our classrooms as culturally neutral or might choose to ignore the cultural dimensions, students cannot check their sociocultural identities at the door, nor can they instantly transcend their current level of development […] Therefore, it is important that the pedagogical strategies we employ in the classroom reflect an understanding of social identity development so that we can anticipate the tensions that might occur in the classroom and be proactive about them.”
- Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M.W., DiPietro, M. & Lovett, M.C. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass. 169-170.