We found 84 results that contain "equity"

Topic Area: Information Session
Presented by: Stephanie Brewer, Michelle Snitgen, Renee Brown
Abstract:
During this session, you will learn about and explore elements of strong partnerships to effectively co-create community engaged learning opportunities for students. Hear examples of how existing faculty/community partnerships were successfully transitioned to the virtual learning environment, discuss considerations for initiating and sustaining partnerships in the virtual environment, and explore resources to assist you in partnership development and/or enhancement. This workshop is loaded with helpful tools that are relevant for in-person or virtual community engagement, and whether you’re already working with community partners or you are new to working with community partners. Join the conversation and map out community engaged learning strategies for student success.Session Resources: (log in to G-Drive with your MSU netID)Elements of Successful Community Engaged Partnership (PDF)Community Engaged Learning Course Development Guide (PDF)Building Community Partnerships Canvas (PDF)Social Change Wheel Toolkit (PDF)Planning During Disruption (DOCX)Virtual Community Engagement (PDF)101 Ways to Reflect (PDF)Peralta Online Equity Rubric (PDF)Global Community-Engaged Learning Rubric and Best Practice Guide (PDF)Storytelling and Social Change (PDF)

Title: Teaching Gender in a Global Context: Pedagogy, Practice, and Prospects for Expanding NarrativesPresenters: Pat Arnold, Potentially GenCen staffFormat: WorkshopDate: May 11th, 2023Time: 2:45 pm - 3:45 pmClick here to registerDescription:Representing the diversity of gender identities, experiences, and narratives is a core commitment and learning outcome of gender studies programs as well as general university curriculum in many cases. Its importance cannot be understated particularly in a cultural context where issues of injustice against women as well as transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) communities are so often trending. However, stereotypes and myths about women and gender outside the privileged confines of the U.S. abound, a theme captured well by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her popular TedTalk “The Dangers of a Single Story.” Just a single story can be deeply transformative for how we view the experiences of people in different cultural contexts, yet just a single story can equally be limiting and stymie efforts to promote values of gender inclusion. In this presentation, we compile assessment data and reflections from 300 students across three years of teaching WS102: Navigating Sex and Gender in Everyday Life to illustrate both the challenges as well as the transformative prospects for centering global narratives in the context of teaching gender equity and diversity. From the perspective of faculty, we highlight the tension they experience between the value and importance of including global gender perspectives, yet the barriers to fully incorporating it into their courses. We end by outlining how departments and university teaching centers can support faculty development and build confidence by developing open curricular resources on women and gender in a global context, as well as professional development for global, decolonial, and indigenous pedagogies.

There has been a lot happening in the world- in addition to my world- and navigating these happenings has felt heavy at times. From institutional changes to caregiving responsibilities, I feel like I’ve been spinning a lot of plates (and each plate is full). Wanting to do and give my best to my work, my family, and my community, while the impacts of invisible disability knock regularly at my door… this has been an exceptionally tough “season”.
Throughout it all, I’ve found that thinking of my life and all the ways I engage in/with it as tied to a collection core guiding principles and values. Starting by identifying what these were for me, and moving to what they look like in practice personally and professionally, has helped me scope my expectations for myself, how I decide to (or not to) take on new projects, and how to measure success. I’m trying hard to move away from thinking about my “performance” and productivity (grounded in capitalism) towards a day-to-day where I’m bringing my whole authentic personhood to the spaces in which I’m invited or have access. This is a snapshot of three of the ideas guiding me in this effort… centering these are what “help me sleep at night” (as my therapist says).
Trust:
I know from my doctoral research, that trust is a key characteristic of groups coming to a place of shared communal wisdom. I also know that my perspectives on trust have shifted as I’ve faced relational trauma and toxic environments, while coming into my own as a parent of two kiddos. I don’t give trust as freely as I used to, and don’t expect others to either… instead I’ve moved toward relational reciprocity. I now understand trust as something to be cultivated and maintained. It takes work, just like most aspects of relationships, but the work is worthwhile.
According to the Center for Creative Leadership research (2017), all components of trust constitute a core need we have as humans; trusting in ourselves, being trusted, and trusting those around us.  When present in a team, trust stiches together buy-in around group purpose, goals, and objectives, creating a fabric of collaboration and empowerment. To build (and sustain) this kind of trust, it is crucial to provide meaningful opportunities for folx to connect with one another on a human level. Just as crucial is the understanding that there will be times when trust is compromised, and rebuilding is necessary (after all we’re all human).
Care:
Depending on who I’m talking to, “care” can look very different. To my kids, care looks like “keeping us safe and healthy” (what they know is my “#1 job”) where to my colleagues and collaborators, care is very different. Regardless of who – acting with care requires one to actively listen (listening to understand rather that just respond). Care often requires time and definitely establishment of welcoming spaces. Care is community. Care is compassion + action, letting humanity drive the way we exist and operate with and amongst one another. We should consider approaching all with a commitment to caring; ourselves and others.
Dr. Catherine Denial, author of “A Pedagogy of Kindness” (2024), very eloquently captures what I’ve come to know and experience (if only I had read her book first). “Our access to care—even self-care—is knowingly limited by people who understand their privileges to be dependent upon denying others the material, emotional, social, and spiritual space they need. In the academy this is reflected in matters like the move to contingency; in the loss of lines in departments and programs that ask hard questions about equity and inclusion (like gender and women’s studies, Latinx studies, and African American studies); and in tolerance of sexual harassment, abuse, and assault” (p17).
Congruence:
Growing up, I heard relatives regularly pick up the phrase “they talk the talk but do they walk the walk” to point out the way what a person says aligns with how they act. Now whether they picked the phrase up from casual conversation or the movie Apocalypse Now, I came to understand that “walking the walk” was the most important part of the phrase from an onlooker (or impacted persons’) perspective. Congruence in my practice means that I am doing what I say I’ll do, that my actions are in alignment with what I say is important to me, that (going back to my opening of this piece) I can sleep at night knowing that I showed up in ways I’ve promised to my community.
Congruence is one of the seven “C’s” of the Social Change Model for Leadership Development. In “Leadership for a Better World” authors Komives and Wagner, with associate Shalka (2017), note that “The ability for individuals to live their lives from places of personal truth [congruence] can bring comfort and strength” (p69) and that “To be a person of Congruence requires dedication and courage. Congruence demands that leaders commit to a process of frequent evaluation and refinement of their intentions, actions, and motives” (p79).     
All in all, as you may have gathered, these three guiding principles are interconnected in a way that is quite challenging to parse out in my daily life. Despite that, the work of self-reflection, of naming these things and how they influence the way I keep the plates spinning and my heart beating, has proven to be an extremely valuable practice in my life as an educator, as a colleague, and as a human.
Photo by Charlie Firth on Unsplash

Topic Area: DEI
Presented by: Patrick Arnold
Abstract:
Diversity education increasingly takes an anti-racist, anti-sexist, and trans-inclusive orientation, and aims to highlight the dynamics between power, privilege, and forms of oppression which permeate many of our institutions and create conditions of discrimination and marginalization. Extensive scholarship has emerged on the theoretical frameworks, teaching methods, and the impact of diversity education within settings like university courses or DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programming. Educational and psychological research has studied anti-racist diversity education as a form of intervention: A central purpose of anti-racist education, after all, is to increase understanding of bias, and promote ways of ending systemic racial discrimination (Lynch, Swartz, & Isaacs, 2017). Naturally, then, it is common to evaluate the effectiveness of diversity education by measuring change in relevant attitudes, beliefs, or implicit biases of the participants of these interventions. However, diversity education is important not merely because it can be an intervention on existing bias, nor is the only appropriate audience for this context subjects who display such biases. In this pilot study, we explore more expansive data on the impact of diversity education, collected via a large intro course covering diversity in sex, gender, and current social justice issues like #BlackLivesMatter. Importantly, we find that diversity education is particularly impactful on the sense of belonging the students feel toward the university and its community, and especially for students of color enrolled in the course. We argue that further research is needed on diversity education as also an affirmation of belonging in our institutions.
Ingrid Lynch, Sharlene Swartz & Dane Isaacs (2017) Anti-racist moral education: A review of approaches, impact and theoretical underpinnings from 2000 to 2015, Journal of Moral Education, 46:2, 129-144, DOI: 10.1080/03057240.2016.1273825 

MSU's Enhanced Digital Learning Initiative (EDLI) has received a National Science Foundation Improving Undergraduate STEM Education grant to support research aiming to improve student learning outcomes and equity in blended online and in-person courses. As part of the study, we are seeking instructors interested in or already implementing blended undergraduate courses to participate for one or more semesters between Spring 2024 - Fall 2025.
What counts as “blended”?
Courses where the contact hours incorporate a mix of in-person and online (synchronous or asynchronous) instruction will likely qualify, including those where the course is offered fully in person but students are able to attend via Zoom. Fully online courses or in–person courses with online assignments (that are not part of the credit contact hours) will not qualify. 
We ask that instructors:

Participate in professional development with other blended course instructors, including:

Kick-off meeting/workshop with one-on-one consultations
Online learning community throughout the semester

Facilitate data collection, including: 

A course observation
A one-hour instructor interview 
Dissemination of two student surveys and consent/recruitment materials 
Tracking student attendance and the modality of student attendance


Instructors will receive:

Technical and pedagogical assistance through the professional development and learning community
$1000 overload stipend per semester (up to 4 semesters from Spring 2024 - Fall 2025)
Potential funding for undergraduate learning assistants

Priority given to STEM courses that feature in-person class sessions with synchronous Zoom sessions for online students


To learn more or participate:
Email Dr. Caitlin Kirby, kirbycai@msu.edu; or follow this link to our recruitment survey.

The Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation and educators discussed the title “What Inclusive Instructors Do: Principles and Practices for Excellence in College Teaching” By Tracie Marcella Addy, Derek Dube, Khadijah A. Mitchell, Mallory SoRelle (published by Routledge in 2021) on 11/2/23. This title is available in print at the MSU Main Library (Call Number: LB2331 .A34 2021) or as an eBook (via ProQuest EBook Central).
If you missed the discussion or want to continue your reflection, in addition to the great reflection questions incorporated in each chapter of the book, here are the prompts we used for our discussion:


The book defines inclusive instructors as the “literal embodiment of inclusion. Inclusive instructors generate spaces through their scholarship, service, mentorship, teaching, activism, and their very selves. To be an inclusive instructor is to critique and challenge traditions, systems and structures that were constructed to exclude and marginalize”.Is this aspirational or achievable? How / what would you add or change in the definition of an inclusive instructor? 


What are you currently doing to create inclusive and welcoming learning environments? How do you incorporate inclusivity in the beginning, middle, and end of the course? How do these things create and support educational equity and belonging?


The book talks about the importance of growth mindset in this work. That as humans we never "fully arrive". How do you (currently or aspire to) continue your learning and development journey in this area?


In your opinion, how can educators measure the effectiveness of their inclusive teaching practices? What indicators or assessment tools can help them gauge the impact of their efforts? The naming and framing of this work is important. How can/do you tell the story of your inclusive educator practices?


The group had a conversation rich with activities and resources. Here are a few of the items that came up:


Resources:



Microvalidations


Power Wheel


OFASD Learning Communities



Practices and ideas from the group:


smaller assessments give students feedback on a limited amount of knowledge and they’re less likely to forget everything after the midterm





removed all grades related to "participation" or attendance


1 min check outs (What rocked today? What sucked today?)


Break large exams into the smallest chunks for learning assessments… this allows educators to demonstrate flexibility in large courses


“made a mistake and I had total points of 105 - rather than correcting it, it gave students some room to miss deadlines on some of discussion forums”


small-group exams


“I have my quizzes open Monday and close Friday each week, and they can take as many times as they want while it is open - I still have students who don’t do them, so they will typically use the drops”


“I've been offering flexibility in assignment format. Granted, I teach small grad-level courses so this might not work for larger undergrad courses. But I give students the option to do a traditional academic paper, powerpoint presentation with recorded narrative, or if they have other ideas I ask them to meet with me to talk it through.”






If you’d like to nominate a title for a future CTLI book discussion and/or volunteer to co-facilitate a discussion, please reach out to Makena Neal at mneal@msu.eduCover-photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Overview:
Transparent grading involves clarifying and sharing grading criteria, processes, and feedback with students. This approach ensures that students understand how their work is assessed and how they can meet the expectations set for their assignments.
Key Aspects:

Clear Criteria and Standards: Develop and share detailed rubrics and grading criteria to guide students.
Open Communication: Discuss grading policies and provide ongoing, transparent feedback.
Student Involvement: Include students in creating or refining grading criteria to enhance their understanding.
Consistent Application: Apply grading standards consistently to maintain fairness and equity.
Feedback Focus: Provide specific, actionable feedback that helps students improve their performance.
Transparency in Grade Calculation: Clearly explain how final grades are derived from assignment scores and criteria.
Accessible Information: Make grading criteria and feedback easily accessible through LMS or course materials.

Benefits:

Enhanced Understanding: Students gain clarity on expectations and reduce confusion about their grades.
Improved Performance: Detailed guidelines and feedback help students focus on areas for improvement.
Increased Trust: Builds trust between students and instructors by making the grading process transparent and fair.
Greater Accountability: Ensures that grading practices are consistent and equitable.

Implementation Tips:

Provide detailed rubrics for major assignments and share them early in the course (check out this AI-powered Rubric Generator as a starting point).
Regularly review grading criteria with students and encourage them to ask questions.
Use examples to demonstrate different levels of performance according to the rubric.
Offer feedback on assignments promptly and discuss it with students during office hours.


Resources:

Five Innovative Grading Strategies (iteach article)
Transparent Assignment Design (iteach article)
Transparent Assignment Design (CTLI Quick Guide)
Transparent Assignment Design (CTLI workshop slides)
A Student-Centered Approach to Grading (CTLI workshop slides)
CTLI- Student Centered Grading Resouces
Fair Assignments: Designing Transparent Assignments via the Grading Criteria (iteach article)
TILT Higher Ed Examples and Resources

This article is a component of the Resources for Teaching After Crisis playlist.
#EnoughisEnough Syllabus: Responding to School Violence in the Classroom 
Collaborative syllabus by students and faculty in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the University of Minnesota [online syllabus] This syllabus includes reading lists (with examples in many formats including from the arts), annotated resources, class responses and activities, and other related collective syllabi. The authors encourage us to be critical, complex, and hopeful as we wrestle with these topics.
Teaching on Days After: Educating for Equity in the Wake of Injustice
by Alyssa Hadley Dunn [book/ebook available at MSU Libraries; preview on Google Books]
Book description: What should teachers do on the days after major events, tragedies, and traumas, especially when injustice is involved? This beautifully written book features teacher narratives and youth-authored student spotlights that reveal what classrooms do and can look like in the wake of these critical moments. Dunn incisively argues for the importance of equitable commitments, humanizing dialogue, sociopolitical awareness, and a rejection of so-called pedagogical neutrality across all grade levels and content areas.
Restorative Justice Resources for Schools
Edutopia resource by Matt Davis including links and case studies [website]
Offers examples of and evidence for the benefits of restorative justice frameworks in K-12 schools.
Restorative Justice: What it is and What it is Not 
by the editors of Rethinking Schools magazine [article]
This article explains restorative justice approaches as an improvement over zero-tolerance policies in schools. It advocates for restorative practices that take time, build trust and community, require commitment and resources, and can’t be a band-aid for schools in crisis.
Transformative Justice, Explained 
by Kim Tran for Teen Vogue [article]
Describes the overall framework and examples of transformative justice, an approach aiming to reduce inequitable incarceration and facilitate community-centered healing. 
Transformative Justice: A Brief Description 
Article by Mia Mingus from the TransformHarm.org resource hub [article]
This article describes and introduces transformative justice, an approach aiming to break cycles of generational and state violence and to build resilient, accountable communities. Includes links to examples and case studies.