We found 167 results that contain "diversity"
Posted on: #iteachmsu
Teaching & Learning Conference Day 2: Thursday–Virtual day with online sessions (all day)
Spring CTLI Conference Landing Page Content
Graphics if needed
CTLI Spring Teaching and Learning Conference
The Return of MSU's 2023 Spring Conference on Teaching & Learning: Community, Conversation, and Classroom Experience, organized by the Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation (CTLI).
A conference where MSU educators gather to share approaches, tools, and techniques that support teaching and learning.
May 10-11, 2023
Wednesday Day 1: In-person in the STEM Teaching and Learning Facility (all day)
Thursday Day 2: Virtual day with online sessions (all day)
Keynote Speakers:
Stephen Thomas, (Associate Director, CISGS; Assistant Dean for STEM Education Teaching and Learning in the Office of the APUE)
Dr. Kris Renn (Professor of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education and serves as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies for Student Success Research)
Conference Registration
Registration for the event is open! Please submit your information into the form below. We will reach out with more information on sessions and schedule closer to the event.
***insert registration form button***
Interested in Submitting a Presentation Proposal?
We are extending an invitation for presentation proposals on select teaching and learning topics across a wide array of presentation formats, including synchronous digital sessions on May 11th to accommodate virtual attendees. The deadline for submissions is February 17th.
Proposal Learning Topics and Formats
Please refer to the descriptions below for details regarding formats and topics. At least one presenter per session should be an educator at MSU.
Teaching and Learning Topics:
The conference committee welcomes presentations on post-secondary education that address one or more of these core topics:
Curriculum and Pedagogy
Assessment and Evaluation
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Learning Technologies
Proposal formats
Presentations may be in-person or virtual.
Paper Presentation: individual papers authored by one or more people, delivered in 15-to-20 minutes. Individual papers will be grouped according to topic and delivered in a multi-paper session that includes a 15-minute question period.
Workshop: this format will include participatory exercises where attendees will learn about a select educational topic or practice from an expert practitioner. These sessions will run for 50-to-60 minutes and include a 15-minute question period.
Welcome to my Classroom: these 50-to-60-minute sessions will feature a short overview of a teaching and learning theory or practice followed by a demonstration of active pedagogy. The audience will be positioned as learners, according to the educational and disciplinary context, and observe the presenter’s demonstration of actual classroom exercises and practices. The sessions will conclude with a 15-to-20-minute discussion or question period.
Learning Technology Demonstration: these 15-to-20-minute demonstrations of learning technologies will be grouped according to topic and delivered in a multi-presentation session that concludes with a 15-minute question period.
***insert proposal form button***
Contact the Center
If you are interested in hearing more about the conference, would like to submit a proposal or have any questions, please contact the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation.
Graphics if needed
CTLI Spring Teaching and Learning Conference
The Return of MSU's 2023 Spring Conference on Teaching & Learning: Community, Conversation, and Classroom Experience, organized by the Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation (CTLI).
A conference where MSU educators gather to share approaches, tools, and techniques that support teaching and learning.
May 10-11, 2023
Wednesday Day 1: In-person in the STEM Teaching and Learning Facility (all day)
Thursday Day 2: Virtual day with online sessions (all day)
Keynote Speakers:
Stephen Thomas, (Associate Director, CISGS; Assistant Dean for STEM Education Teaching and Learning in the Office of the APUE)
Dr. Kris Renn (Professor of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education and serves as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies for Student Success Research)
Conference Registration
Registration for the event is open! Please submit your information into the form below. We will reach out with more information on sessions and schedule closer to the event.
***insert registration form button***
Interested in Submitting a Presentation Proposal?
We are extending an invitation for presentation proposals on select teaching and learning topics across a wide array of presentation formats, including synchronous digital sessions on May 11th to accommodate virtual attendees. The deadline for submissions is February 17th.
Proposal Learning Topics and Formats
Please refer to the descriptions below for details regarding formats and topics. At least one presenter per session should be an educator at MSU.
Teaching and Learning Topics:
The conference committee welcomes presentations on post-secondary education that address one or more of these core topics:
Curriculum and Pedagogy
Assessment and Evaluation
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Learning Technologies
Proposal formats
Presentations may be in-person or virtual.
Paper Presentation: individual papers authored by one or more people, delivered in 15-to-20 minutes. Individual papers will be grouped according to topic and delivered in a multi-paper session that includes a 15-minute question period.
Workshop: this format will include participatory exercises where attendees will learn about a select educational topic or practice from an expert practitioner. These sessions will run for 50-to-60 minutes and include a 15-minute question period.
Welcome to my Classroom: these 50-to-60-minute sessions will feature a short overview of a teaching and learning theory or practice followed by a demonstration of active pedagogy. The audience will be positioned as learners, according to the educational and disciplinary context, and observe the presenter’s demonstration of actual classroom exercises and practices. The sessions will conclude with a 15-to-20-minute discussion or question period.
Learning Technology Demonstration: these 15-to-20-minute demonstrations of learning technologies will be grouped according to topic and delivered in a multi-presentation session that concludes with a 15-minute question period.
***insert proposal form button***
Contact the Center
If you are interested in hearing more about the conference, would like to submit a proposal or have any questions, please contact the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation.
PEDAGOGICAL DESIGN
Posted on: PREP Matrix
Career Diversity For Historians
This website from the American Historical Association provides resources for history grad student and historians to consider a multitude of possible career paths, including unexpected ones.
Posted by: Admin
Navigating Context
Posted on: PREP Matrix
Diversity Employers
Diversity Employers is a career database with the goal of providing professional and career information to African Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Latino/Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and women.
Posted by: Admin
Justice and Belonging
Posted on: #iteachmsu

Who (and What) is Diversity Education For? Expanding Assessment Research on Anti-Racist Diversity Ed
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
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
Authored by: Patrick Arnold
Justice and Belonging
Posted on: PREP Matrix
Diversity And Language: ESL Students In The University Classroom
A more in-depth look at the challenges facing English language learners in college, as well as considerations and strategies for college instructors. While an older resource, its conclusions remain relevant.
Posted by: Admin
Justice and Belonging
Posted on: #iteachmsu

Much more than conjugations! Learn culture, diversity, and inclusion in the intro French program
Topic Area: DEI
Presented by: Anne Violin-Wigent, Matt Kanefsky
Abstract:
In recent years, there has been a push to supplement a communication-based approach to language teaching with a systematic inclusion of cultural content and cultural literacy. Most textbooks, however, fail to do so and restrict culture to a page or two at the end of each chapter or cultural vignettes sprinkled throughout, while remaining focused on grammar. For this project, Matt Kanefsky and I decided to develop teaching material that uses culture as the source and context for all learning. In addition, we seek to represent the diversity of the French-speaking world, to include material from and about various countries, and to give voices to minorities groups telling their stories. This is done in particular through the development of online learning activities since our program is hybrid/flipped.In this presentation, we will share how we chose to implement our focus on culture and diversity in deliberate, systematic, and cyclical ways in each aspect of the course. We will share a list of questions we used as guiding principles to make sure that we reach our goals and provide a truly inclusive representation of French speakers. Lastly, we will share preliminary experiences and feedback from both instructors and learners.
Presented by: Anne Violin-Wigent, Matt Kanefsky
Abstract:
In recent years, there has been a push to supplement a communication-based approach to language teaching with a systematic inclusion of cultural content and cultural literacy. Most textbooks, however, fail to do so and restrict culture to a page or two at the end of each chapter or cultural vignettes sprinkled throughout, while remaining focused on grammar. For this project, Matt Kanefsky and I decided to develop teaching material that uses culture as the source and context for all learning. In addition, we seek to represent the diversity of the French-speaking world, to include material from and about various countries, and to give voices to minorities groups telling their stories. This is done in particular through the development of online learning activities since our program is hybrid/flipped.In this presentation, we will share how we chose to implement our focus on culture and diversity in deliberate, systematic, and cyclical ways in each aspect of the course. We will share a list of questions we used as guiding principles to make sure that we reach our goals and provide a truly inclusive representation of French speakers. Lastly, we will share preliminary experiences and feedback from both instructors and learners.
Authored by: Anne Violin-Wigent, Matt Kanefsky
Disciplinary Content
Posted on: #iteachmsu

Multimodal Blended Events Handbook — Accessibility (Part 10 of 14)
Just as in-person events need to accommodate diversity and special needs factors, virtual events present similar challenges and calls-to-action for your team. Tackling accessibility issues (e.g., screen reader compatibility, proper contrast, WCAG compliance, etc.) will ensure that everyone can partake of the event equally and protects the university from legal ramifications.
Examples of key accessibility-related topics include, but are not limited to the following:
Effort:
Closed captioning is needed for live presentations and
Website images must include alternative
Contrast should be evaluated to confirm WCAG AA
Content should be tested to confirm screen reader
Color choices must support colorblindness
Audit:
The Hub can assist with accessibility
Third-party support teams can be secure to assist with
To learn more about accessibility and virtual events, visit the following:
An Accessibility & Inclusion Checklist for Virtual Events
Accessibility: Resources to Help Ensure Accessibility of Your Virtual Events for People with Disabilities
Ensuring Virtual Events Are Accessible For All
Examples of key accessibility-related topics include, but are not limited to the following:
Effort:
Closed captioning is needed for live presentations and
Website images must include alternative
Contrast should be evaluated to confirm WCAG AA
Content should be tested to confirm screen reader
Color choices must support colorblindness
Audit:
The Hub can assist with accessibility
Third-party support teams can be secure to assist with
To learn more about accessibility and virtual events, visit the following:
An Accessibility & Inclusion Checklist for Virtual Events
Accessibility: Resources to Help Ensure Accessibility of Your Virtual Events for People with Disabilities
Ensuring Virtual Events Are Accessible For All
Authored by: Darren Hood
Posted on: Teaching Toolkit Ta...
Seven Tips Toward Linguistic Inclusion
You might think linguistic diversity equates to different languages people speak. However, I urge you move toward a more nuanced understanding, one where our linguistic background involves both our variable linguistic repertoire (the resources of a language we use or have access to) and our sociolinguistic competence (our ability to interpret social uses of language and use language in socially meaningful ways). A linguistically inclusive classroom, then, would include nuanced understandings of linguistic diversity. To help you intentionally move toward linguistic inclusion, I provide seven tips below.
Learn a little about language. Language is a resource we utilize for a variety of purposes (e.g. prestige, power, recognition, etc.). For instance, you might use language perceived as “more proper” to be identified as educated or professional, or use more colloquial language to fit in with peers. Thus, before you engage with language in the classroom, make sure you can differentiate the facts from the myths (to start, see Richard Nordquist’s post about Language Myths).
Get to know your linguistic background. Have you thought about how you use language? If not, you might be surprised by how your own language varies (from how much -ing vs. -in you use to your speech in formal or informal situations). Taking some time to get to know yourself as a language producer and perceiver will help you come to terms with your linguistic identity.
Get to know students’ linguistic backgrounds. No matter where you teach, you will surely come across language variation. Recognizing this will help you understand students and how they use language. Students come from different linguistic backgrounds and bring different language experiences (with different associated norms). I get to know students by having them talk about where they are from on the first day of class, but mostly this work requires listening for clues enabling you to differentiate between, for instance, dialectal features (e.g. “ain’t”) and mispronunciations.
Become aware of linguistic assumptions. Though it is not always easy to talk about, we all have linguistic biases. These might surface as pet peeves (see Weird Al’s parody “Word Crimes” for some examples), stereotypes (e.g. that “southern”-sounding speakers are “lazy”), or assumptions (e.g. thinking there is an objectively “right” or “correct” way of talking). Acknowledging and addressing these biases will help you see language more objectively and address language in the classroom more dynamically.
Know how linguistic assumptions affect the learning environment. Regardless of whether you teach a course that discusses language or not, you are in a position to set rules and expectations about language. As such, it is important to consider what you tell students about language. Language assumptions can lead to linguistic profiling. They can make students linguistically insecure, or feel they are somehow linguistically inferior. Make sure you’re creating classrooms flexibly, accommodating multiple and diverse language uses.
Be willing to accommodate. As a result of individual linguistic backgrounds, students’ language behaviors might not map to your expectations. Some students might not have experience writing essays, but might be profound bloggers, tweeters, or novelists. Some might speak different languages or come from backgrounds where there are different cultural norms surrounding language use (e.g. the use of silence, turn-taking, interruptions, etc.). Before jumping to conclusions, ask yourself if a student comes from a culture where language use is governed by different rules. Be flexible, willing to accommodate, and work together toward where you all hope to go. Start by defining culture- or dialect-specific terms in course content and assessments; vary assessment types to accommodate different communication preferences; and grade based on content, not grammar (unless grammar is the focus of your class). Grammar-based grading privileges native-English speakers and students from certain educational backgrounds.
Recognize linguistic diversity as a resource. Some assume classrooms should run under cultural norms expected by a given region, country, or community. However, as sociolinguist Carmen Fought (2006) points out, “…interactional patterns from different ethnic groups might enhance learning and ultimately provide all participants with a wide range of skills.” Seek to understand ways the inclusion of several different interactional norms and behaviors might benefit learning environments. Some communities, for instance, encourage a “collective orientation […] group harmony, and the avoidance of conflict” in classrooms. Though inclusion of this orientation can be viewed as problematic, it could also be used to teach concern for others, humility, and an ability to work cooperatively (pp. 193-4).
If we aim to make students feel seen and heard, we must question what we really listen to when students communicate. We have an opportunity to co-construct an inclusive curriculum, classroom, and community built out of diverse linguistic resources.
Learn a little about language. Language is a resource we utilize for a variety of purposes (e.g. prestige, power, recognition, etc.). For instance, you might use language perceived as “more proper” to be identified as educated or professional, or use more colloquial language to fit in with peers. Thus, before you engage with language in the classroom, make sure you can differentiate the facts from the myths (to start, see Richard Nordquist’s post about Language Myths).
Get to know your linguistic background. Have you thought about how you use language? If not, you might be surprised by how your own language varies (from how much -ing vs. -in you use to your speech in formal or informal situations). Taking some time to get to know yourself as a language producer and perceiver will help you come to terms with your linguistic identity.
Get to know students’ linguistic backgrounds. No matter where you teach, you will surely come across language variation. Recognizing this will help you understand students and how they use language. Students come from different linguistic backgrounds and bring different language experiences (with different associated norms). I get to know students by having them talk about where they are from on the first day of class, but mostly this work requires listening for clues enabling you to differentiate between, for instance, dialectal features (e.g. “ain’t”) and mispronunciations.
Become aware of linguistic assumptions. Though it is not always easy to talk about, we all have linguistic biases. These might surface as pet peeves (see Weird Al’s parody “Word Crimes” for some examples), stereotypes (e.g. that “southern”-sounding speakers are “lazy”), or assumptions (e.g. thinking there is an objectively “right” or “correct” way of talking). Acknowledging and addressing these biases will help you see language more objectively and address language in the classroom more dynamically.
Know how linguistic assumptions affect the learning environment. Regardless of whether you teach a course that discusses language or not, you are in a position to set rules and expectations about language. As such, it is important to consider what you tell students about language. Language assumptions can lead to linguistic profiling. They can make students linguistically insecure, or feel they are somehow linguistically inferior. Make sure you’re creating classrooms flexibly, accommodating multiple and diverse language uses.
Be willing to accommodate. As a result of individual linguistic backgrounds, students’ language behaviors might not map to your expectations. Some students might not have experience writing essays, but might be profound bloggers, tweeters, or novelists. Some might speak different languages or come from backgrounds where there are different cultural norms surrounding language use (e.g. the use of silence, turn-taking, interruptions, etc.). Before jumping to conclusions, ask yourself if a student comes from a culture where language use is governed by different rules. Be flexible, willing to accommodate, and work together toward where you all hope to go. Start by defining culture- or dialect-specific terms in course content and assessments; vary assessment types to accommodate different communication preferences; and grade based on content, not grammar (unless grammar is the focus of your class). Grammar-based grading privileges native-English speakers and students from certain educational backgrounds.
Recognize linguistic diversity as a resource. Some assume classrooms should run under cultural norms expected by a given region, country, or community. However, as sociolinguist Carmen Fought (2006) points out, “…interactional patterns from different ethnic groups might enhance learning and ultimately provide all participants with a wide range of skills.” Seek to understand ways the inclusion of several different interactional norms and behaviors might benefit learning environments. Some communities, for instance, encourage a “collective orientation […] group harmony, and the avoidance of conflict” in classrooms. Though inclusion of this orientation can be viewed as problematic, it could also be used to teach concern for others, humility, and an ability to work cooperatively (pp. 193-4).
If we aim to make students feel seen and heard, we must question what we really listen to when students communicate. We have an opportunity to co-construct an inclusive curriculum, classroom, and community built out of diverse linguistic resources.
Authored by: Madeline Shellgren
Pedagogical Design
Posted on: #iteachmsu
Cultivating Inclusive Classrooms: Inclusive Curriculum Design
Beginning to Teach Inclusively
How do I encourage students to bring diverse perspectives to the subject matter I teach? How can I promote inclusive behavior of students working in groups? These were just a few questions posed by approximately 45 doctoral students and postdocs at the “Cultivating an Inclusive Classroom” workshop I ran last year with Dr. Sheila Contreras. To begin answering them, Inside Teaching posts over the next few weeks will address different areas for you to focus on toward a more inclusive classroom. In today’s post, I’ll discuss where to begin: making your curriculum design choices more inclusive.
What Do I Mean By “Inclusive”?
Before I start discussing how your content and curriculum design choices can be more inclusive, let’s start with a working definition for an inclusive classroom. According to the Association of American Colleges & Universities, inclusive classrooms are learning spaces where “active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity” occurs “in ways that increase awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathetic understanding of the complex individuals interact within systems and institutions.”
So, as an instructor concerned about inclusive teaching, I encourage you do consider how your course content and assignments both represent a diverse (for example, gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, nationality, epistemological perspectives) set of scholarly voices and how you can hold yourself – and your students—to more inclusive standards of behavior and discourse in the classroom.
Inclusive Classrooms Require Intentional Thought and Not “Extra Work”
Graduate students and other beginning instructors are often overwhelmed by the volume of things they need to learn about teaching in a college classroom or lab. Creating an inclusive environment in your classroom does not require “extra work” – what it requires is “intentional thought” in how you plan and implement your classes. This involves a deliberate awareness of the decisions you’re making and the impact they have on how you represent your discipline and the multiple voices connected to it. I’d argue that this level of intentionality is a key hallmark of curriculum design across disciplines. To help with this intentionality toward more inclusive classrooms, I provide the following four tips below.
Four Tips Toward Inclusive Curriculum Design
(1) Select the work of scholars from different cultural or paradigmatic backgrounds
Make sure you are presenting a variety of voices and perspectives across the course readings, videos and material you select. Additionally important is presenting a full spectrum of disciplinary paradigms in the field so that students have a full picture of disciplinary conversation(s).
(2) Acknowledge the limitations of course material with regards to demographic representation
Frame what you are providing and point out the potential limitations of your materials. This can help students see how and why you have made the decisions you did. This can also help students to get a better window into your teaching decisions and engage alongside you critically.
(3) Pay attention to WHO and HOW you represent in your presentation slides, case studies, videos, and guest panels
As with our tips above, it’s important that the slides, case studies, and videos you use reflect multiple voices and backgrounds. Additionally, it’s important to pay attention to how various individuals and groups are portrayed in these materials. In their portrayals, are you sending the messages you want sent to a diverse group of students?
(4) Maximize the inclusion of all student voices in instructional activities
Make sure you provide multiple opportunities and safe spaces in your classroom for all student voices. Not all students will immediately respond to one way of engaging in the classroom, so make sure your approaches vary and respond to what you have come to know about the different students in class. We will share more specific tips about instructional activities in later posts.
Additional Resources
The goal of the Inclusive Teaching Workshop, in addition to soliciting student questions, was to present a Framework for Inclusive Teaching, modified from resources from both a resource from the Center for Research on Teaching and Learning at University of Michigan and a paper produced by the Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard.
We’d like to know: What have you done to make your course content and curriculum more inclusive? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or with us on social media using the hashtag “#iteachmsu.”
Originally posted at “Inside Teaching MSU” (site no longer live): McDaniels, M. Cultivating Inclusive Classrooms: Inclusive Curriculum Design. inside teaching.grad.msu.edu
How do I encourage students to bring diverse perspectives to the subject matter I teach? How can I promote inclusive behavior of students working in groups? These were just a few questions posed by approximately 45 doctoral students and postdocs at the “Cultivating an Inclusive Classroom” workshop I ran last year with Dr. Sheila Contreras. To begin answering them, Inside Teaching posts over the next few weeks will address different areas for you to focus on toward a more inclusive classroom. In today’s post, I’ll discuss where to begin: making your curriculum design choices more inclusive.
What Do I Mean By “Inclusive”?
Before I start discussing how your content and curriculum design choices can be more inclusive, let’s start with a working definition for an inclusive classroom. According to the Association of American Colleges & Universities, inclusive classrooms are learning spaces where “active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity” occurs “in ways that increase awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathetic understanding of the complex individuals interact within systems and institutions.”
So, as an instructor concerned about inclusive teaching, I encourage you do consider how your course content and assignments both represent a diverse (for example, gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, nationality, epistemological perspectives) set of scholarly voices and how you can hold yourself – and your students—to more inclusive standards of behavior and discourse in the classroom.
Inclusive Classrooms Require Intentional Thought and Not “Extra Work”
Graduate students and other beginning instructors are often overwhelmed by the volume of things they need to learn about teaching in a college classroom or lab. Creating an inclusive environment in your classroom does not require “extra work” – what it requires is “intentional thought” in how you plan and implement your classes. This involves a deliberate awareness of the decisions you’re making and the impact they have on how you represent your discipline and the multiple voices connected to it. I’d argue that this level of intentionality is a key hallmark of curriculum design across disciplines. To help with this intentionality toward more inclusive classrooms, I provide the following four tips below.
Four Tips Toward Inclusive Curriculum Design
(1) Select the work of scholars from different cultural or paradigmatic backgrounds
Make sure you are presenting a variety of voices and perspectives across the course readings, videos and material you select. Additionally important is presenting a full spectrum of disciplinary paradigms in the field so that students have a full picture of disciplinary conversation(s).
(2) Acknowledge the limitations of course material with regards to demographic representation
Frame what you are providing and point out the potential limitations of your materials. This can help students see how and why you have made the decisions you did. This can also help students to get a better window into your teaching decisions and engage alongside you critically.
(3) Pay attention to WHO and HOW you represent in your presentation slides, case studies, videos, and guest panels
As with our tips above, it’s important that the slides, case studies, and videos you use reflect multiple voices and backgrounds. Additionally, it’s important to pay attention to how various individuals and groups are portrayed in these materials. In their portrayals, are you sending the messages you want sent to a diverse group of students?
(4) Maximize the inclusion of all student voices in instructional activities
Make sure you provide multiple opportunities and safe spaces in your classroom for all student voices. Not all students will immediately respond to one way of engaging in the classroom, so make sure your approaches vary and respond to what you have come to know about the different students in class. We will share more specific tips about instructional activities in later posts.
Additional Resources
The goal of the Inclusive Teaching Workshop, in addition to soliciting student questions, was to present a Framework for Inclusive Teaching, modified from resources from both a resource from the Center for Research on Teaching and Learning at University of Michigan and a paper produced by the Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard.
We’d like to know: What have you done to make your course content and curriculum more inclusive? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or with us on social media using the hashtag “#iteachmsu.”
Originally posted at “Inside Teaching MSU” (site no longer live): McDaniels, M. Cultivating Inclusive Classrooms: Inclusive Curriculum Design. inside teaching.grad.msu.edu
Posted by: Maddie Shellgren
Pedagogical Design
Posted on: #iteachmsu
Microaggressions often have macro impacts - How do we address microaggressions in the classroom? What is our role as an educator when these happen in our classroom? What do we do when we are the aggressor?
Posted by: Monaca Eaton
Pedagogical Design
Posted on: #iteachmsu
Research shows that diversity makes us smarter. Designing an inclusive classroom that allows students to share differing opinions in a brave space where people are treated with dignity can result in good learning outcomes for all. Conflict is a natural part of learning, and differences of opinion expressed in appropriate ways allow everyone to grow. An inclusive classroom allows the instructor to manage conflict in a way that harnesses differences so that they serve as learning opportunities for all.
Click the attachment below for some key elements to consider when designing an inclusive classroom.
SOURCE: MSU Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives
Click the attachment below for some key elements to consider when designing an inclusive classroom.
SOURCE: MSU Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives
Posted by: Makena Neal
Pedagogical Design
Posted on: #iteachmsu
Have you heard about MSU’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion?
"The knowledge and skills necessary to navigate an increasingly diverse campus and interconnected world are substantial. The Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion and its partners equip faculty, staff members and students with a variety of tools and resources necessary to be welcoming and inclusive of our diverse campus community through workshops, seminars, and trainings."
Submit education requests for IDI services, including educator consultations, on this Google form (https://forms.gle/acniZ9ThopU4cUhdA) or email (inclusion@msu.edu). If you have questions about education programs offered by the Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion or need to request a time-sensitive response please contact Dr. Patti Stewart at ps@msu.edu.
"The knowledge and skills necessary to navigate an increasingly diverse campus and interconnected world are substantial. The Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion and its partners equip faculty, staff members and students with a variety of tools and resources necessary to be welcoming and inclusive of our diverse campus community through workshops, seminars, and trainings."
Submit education requests for IDI services, including educator consultations, on this Google form (https://forms.gle/acniZ9ThopU4cUhdA) or email (inclusion@msu.edu). If you have questions about education programs offered by the Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion or need to request a time-sensitive response please contact Dr. Patti Stewart at ps@msu.edu.
Posted by: Makena Neal
Navigating Context
Posted on: #iteachmsu
An interesting piece this morning on Faculty Focus on creating an inclusive classroom. Here's the link:
https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/equality-inclusion-and-diversity/creating-an-inclusive-classroom-for-a-diverse-student-group/?st=FFdaily%3Bsc%3DFF220504%3Butm_term%3DFF220504
https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/equality-inclusion-and-diversity/creating-an-inclusive-classroom-for-a-diverse-student-group/?st=FFdaily%3Bsc%3DFF220504%3Butm_term%3DFF220504
Posted by: Stokes Schwartz
Pedagogical Design
Posted on: Reading Group for S...
Hello again everyone! Here are some talking points to think about in the run up our 10am meeting tomorrow (Friday, November 05, 2021).
Recurring Zoom Link: 951 4830 7886
Passcode 432210
Student Engagement in Higher Education, ch. 2-3
Chapter 2: “Engaging Students of Color”Samuel D. Museus, Kimberly A. Griffin, Stephen John Quaye [MGQ - “Magic”]
1) How would you describe the campus racial climate and/or culture of the schools where you got your degrees and/or have previously taught? Do any institutions in your background for having been successful in instilling a positive racial culture? Do any notable failures or struggles stand out in your memory? It may be helpful to recall: climate is shaped by five internal dimensions: (1) an institution’s history and legacy of inclusion or exclusion, (2) compositional diversity, (3) psychological climate, (4) behavioral climate, and (5) organizational/structural diversity (Milem, Chang, & Antonio, 2005). [p. 19]
2) Museus, Griffin, and Quaye note that “two concepts provide a useful backdrop for the current discussion: campus racial climate and campus racial culture” (18). What knowledge or familiarity do you have of/with the racial climate or culture at MSU? How would you describe the local manifestation of the framing concepts Museus, Griffin, and Quaye provide?
3) What concrete steps could you take to alleviate cultural incongruence (21) and cultural dissonance (ibid) while boosting cultural engagement (22) for Students of Color in your courses?
4) The “proactive philosophies” indicator of the CECE model describes “Educators who use proactive philosophies [to] go above and beyond to actively reach out, encourage, and sometimes pressure students to take advantage of available information, opportunities, and support” (23). What does being such a faculty member/administrator look like? How does one responsibly and equitably pressure students to pursue opportunities?
5) Practical question: In several places, MGQ advocate for community-based opportunities, but also caution against the tendency towards siloing. Practically, what does/should it look like to provide opportunities for this type of contact among students that is supportive and culturally responsive, without siloing them, or making students of color serve as “ambassadors of their community”?
Chapter 3: “Engaging Multiracial Students”
C. Casey Ozaki, Marc P. Johnston-Guerrero, Kristen A. Renn [OJGR - “Jogger”]
1) It seems like today’s college students often have to enter the classroom already knowing who they are and who they will be. We can likely point to any number of institutional practices/requirements that reinforce that pressure. How can we create spaces for hybridity, ambiguity, uncertainty in our students’ perceptions of self?
2) OJGR note that “median age of the mixed race individuals is 19, compared to single-race individuals with a median age of 38” (39), which means that our students represent the age cohort closest to the “center,” so to speak, of multiracial identity discourse. What pressures might this present to college-aged students? What opportunities?
3) Studies show that “biracial students at HBCUs and non-HBCUs had poorer quality of interactions with faculty, staff, and students than Black and White students at both institutions” (40). What incentive/impetus/motivation does/should a finding like this make for us as educators? How could we productively address situations in which multi-racial students might approach us with complaints about feeling isolated and alienated from classmates in our courses?
4) The most provocative element of OJGR’s chapter comes in their final suggestion, which is to “Create a Campus Culture of Boundary Crossing.” What does this mean for you, and what would it look like at Michigan State?
Recurring Zoom Link: 951 4830 7886
Passcode 432210
Student Engagement in Higher Education, ch. 2-3
Chapter 2: “Engaging Students of Color”Samuel D. Museus, Kimberly A. Griffin, Stephen John Quaye [MGQ - “Magic”]
1) How would you describe the campus racial climate and/or culture of the schools where you got your degrees and/or have previously taught? Do any institutions in your background for having been successful in instilling a positive racial culture? Do any notable failures or struggles stand out in your memory? It may be helpful to recall: climate is shaped by five internal dimensions: (1) an institution’s history and legacy of inclusion or exclusion, (2) compositional diversity, (3) psychological climate, (4) behavioral climate, and (5) organizational/structural diversity (Milem, Chang, & Antonio, 2005). [p. 19]
2) Museus, Griffin, and Quaye note that “two concepts provide a useful backdrop for the current discussion: campus racial climate and campus racial culture” (18). What knowledge or familiarity do you have of/with the racial climate or culture at MSU? How would you describe the local manifestation of the framing concepts Museus, Griffin, and Quaye provide?
3) What concrete steps could you take to alleviate cultural incongruence (21) and cultural dissonance (ibid) while boosting cultural engagement (22) for Students of Color in your courses?
4) The “proactive philosophies” indicator of the CECE model describes “Educators who use proactive philosophies [to] go above and beyond to actively reach out, encourage, and sometimes pressure students to take advantage of available information, opportunities, and support” (23). What does being such a faculty member/administrator look like? How does one responsibly and equitably pressure students to pursue opportunities?
5) Practical question: In several places, MGQ advocate for community-based opportunities, but also caution against the tendency towards siloing. Practically, what does/should it look like to provide opportunities for this type of contact among students that is supportive and culturally responsive, without siloing them, or making students of color serve as “ambassadors of their community”?
Chapter 3: “Engaging Multiracial Students”
C. Casey Ozaki, Marc P. Johnston-Guerrero, Kristen A. Renn [OJGR - “Jogger”]
1) It seems like today’s college students often have to enter the classroom already knowing who they are and who they will be. We can likely point to any number of institutional practices/requirements that reinforce that pressure. How can we create spaces for hybridity, ambiguity, uncertainty in our students’ perceptions of self?
2) OJGR note that “median age of the mixed race individuals is 19, compared to single-race individuals with a median age of 38” (39), which means that our students represent the age cohort closest to the “center,” so to speak, of multiracial identity discourse. What pressures might this present to college-aged students? What opportunities?
3) Studies show that “biracial students at HBCUs and non-HBCUs had poorer quality of interactions with faculty, staff, and students than Black and White students at both institutions” (40). What incentive/impetus/motivation does/should a finding like this make for us as educators? How could we productively address situations in which multi-racial students might approach us with complaints about feeling isolated and alienated from classmates in our courses?
4) The most provocative element of OJGR’s chapter comes in their final suggestion, which is to “Create a Campus Culture of Boundary Crossing.” What does this mean for you, and what would it look like at Michigan State?
Posted by: Stokes Schwartz
Disciplinary Content
Posted on: #iteachmsu
This article was shared in an academic group I'm a part of on a social networking site... it's framing is within the Canadian Higher Education setting, but the message about student mental health is relevant for all.
Here are a couple of thoughts from the article worth sharing if you can't take the time to read the entire piece:
"To fully understand the present crisis, one has to appreciate a fundamental and often overlooked fact: higher education is not what it used to be. Not only do we have a more diverse student body with equally diverse psychiatric needs, we also have an academic culture that has changed profoundly in the past six decades, making the university experience more stressful than it once was. The classic liberal conception of postsecondary institutions as places where young people take a kind of sabbatical from life—read the great books, engage in endless debates, and learn to see themselves as citizens—has given way to a new model, more narrowly vocational in focus."
"By prioritizing high achievers, Henderson argues, universities are selecting not only for diligent candidates but also for those who view scholastic success as central to their identities. For such students, a bad grade can be destabilizing. When that grade appears on an exam worth 80 percent of a final course mark, or when it comes from a harried teaching assistant who doesn’t offer in-depth feedback, students can feel like they are losing a game whose rules were never explained. Imagine being told all your life that you are ahead of the pack and that you must stay there, both to secure a stable future and to get a return on the investments that family members or granting agencies have made on your behalf. Then, imagine falling behind, for reasons you don’t understand, at the precise moment when staying on top feels more critical than ever before. Furthermore, imagine that you are contending with profound loneliness, past trauma, and financial insecurity, all while working a part-time job with the usual mix of erratic hours."
"Such stressors can lead to sleep disruption, irregular eating, and substance abuse—all of which correlate with mental illness—or they can trigger preexisting psychiatric conditions. They can deplete reserves of neurochemicals, like dopamine and serotonin, needed to sustain a sense of well-being, or they can flood the brain and body with cortisol, the stress hormone, which, in excess, can push people into near-constant states of anxiety, making it difficult to conceptualize daily challenges in a proportionate or healthy way. They can also lead to identity confusion and an acute sense of shame."
Inside the Mental Health Crisis Facing College and University Students by Simon Lewsen : https://thewalrus.ca/inside-the-mental-health-crisis-facing-college-and-university-students/?fbclid=IwAR12PokSFpCrBo1NmtpNYoGEohKf3csYHQc9X8LwFAdNPTtBF_zIRbEqwhs
Here are a couple of thoughts from the article worth sharing if you can't take the time to read the entire piece:
"To fully understand the present crisis, one has to appreciate a fundamental and often overlooked fact: higher education is not what it used to be. Not only do we have a more diverse student body with equally diverse psychiatric needs, we also have an academic culture that has changed profoundly in the past six decades, making the university experience more stressful than it once was. The classic liberal conception of postsecondary institutions as places where young people take a kind of sabbatical from life—read the great books, engage in endless debates, and learn to see themselves as citizens—has given way to a new model, more narrowly vocational in focus."
"By prioritizing high achievers, Henderson argues, universities are selecting not only for diligent candidates but also for those who view scholastic success as central to their identities. For such students, a bad grade can be destabilizing. When that grade appears on an exam worth 80 percent of a final course mark, or when it comes from a harried teaching assistant who doesn’t offer in-depth feedback, students can feel like they are losing a game whose rules were never explained. Imagine being told all your life that you are ahead of the pack and that you must stay there, both to secure a stable future and to get a return on the investments that family members or granting agencies have made on your behalf. Then, imagine falling behind, for reasons you don’t understand, at the precise moment when staying on top feels more critical than ever before. Furthermore, imagine that you are contending with profound loneliness, past trauma, and financial insecurity, all while working a part-time job with the usual mix of erratic hours."
"Such stressors can lead to sleep disruption, irregular eating, and substance abuse—all of which correlate with mental illness—or they can trigger preexisting psychiatric conditions. They can deplete reserves of neurochemicals, like dopamine and serotonin, needed to sustain a sense of well-being, or they can flood the brain and body with cortisol, the stress hormone, which, in excess, can push people into near-constant states of anxiety, making it difficult to conceptualize daily challenges in a proportionate or healthy way. They can also lead to identity confusion and an acute sense of shame."
Inside the Mental Health Crisis Facing College and University Students by Simon Lewsen : https://thewalrus.ca/inside-the-mental-health-crisis-facing-college-and-university-students/?fbclid=IwAR12PokSFpCrBo1NmtpNYoGEohKf3csYHQc9X8LwFAdNPTtBF_zIRbEqwhs
Posted by: Makena Neal
Navigating Context
Posted on: Digital Collaborati...
Hello again everyone! Marohang and I look forward to you joining us for the kick-off meeting of out learning community for AY2023-2024 tomorrow morning, 10 to 11am (East Lansing Time) Friday, September 22, 2023. We'll revisit the primary aims behind our community and see where the conversation takes us although we are very interested in a more conscious effort to bring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) pedagogy into the conversation this year, examine how a digital-collaborative approach to teaching and learning can democratize the creation and sharing of knowledge, and explore how the advent of generative artificial intelligence (AI) might have a positive role to play in our work with 21st century students. We hope you can join us!
Marohang and Stokes
Recurring Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/94545089588
Meeting ID: 945 4508 9588
Passcode: 851121
Marohang and Stokes
Recurring Zoom Link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/94545089588
Meeting ID: 945 4508 9588
Passcode: 851121
Posted by: Stokes Schwartz
Pedagogical Design
Posted on: #iteachmsu
Check out my highlights on what I learned from Gary Roloff from Fisheries & Wildlife:
𝟏 critical thinking, synthesis of ideas & information, acquisition of contextual knowledge, and informed judgment results in empowered, confident decision making in students
✌🏽 teaching philosophies change over time. focusing on contextual knowledge teaches “clear answers” which is not the same as making informed arguments and decisions using that knowledge
💡connecting students to local and agency partners is a highlight for students & builds professional networks
🌪challenges: "if we fail to recognize and adjust our content and delivery to appeal to diverse learning styles we are not being fair"
🔥hot take: changing from testing structures📝 to oral exams🎤 provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate knowledge and explain answers. More time consuming, but the payoff is worth it
#iteachmsu #educatorstories #thankaneducator
Check out the full article: https://iteach.msu.edu/iteachmsu/groups/doing-the-work-featured-educators/stories/1471
𝟏 critical thinking, synthesis of ideas & information, acquisition of contextual knowledge, and informed judgment results in empowered, confident decision making in students
✌🏽 teaching philosophies change over time. focusing on contextual knowledge teaches “clear answers” which is not the same as making informed arguments and decisions using that knowledge
💡connecting students to local and agency partners is a highlight for students & builds professional networks
🌪challenges: "if we fail to recognize and adjust our content and delivery to appeal to diverse learning styles we are not being fair"
🔥hot take: changing from testing structures📝 to oral exams🎤 provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate knowledge and explain answers. More time consuming, but the payoff is worth it
#iteachmsu #educatorstories #thankaneducator
Check out the full article: https://iteach.msu.edu/iteachmsu/groups/doing-the-work-featured-educators/stories/1471
Posted by: Kristen Lauren Surla
Pedagogical Design
Host: CTLI
Setting the Tone from the Start
The way a course begins is crucial for educators to establish an environment that fosters engagement, collaboration, and a sense of belonging. Join us for a one-hour hybrid workshop where Educator Developers with MSU's Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation will share actionable strategies that lay the groundwork for an engaging and inclusive course experience from day one including items related to syllabi, expectation setting and pedagogical transparency, checking in on learner needs throughout the term, and way to build a sense of classroom community.
In this workshop, we'll delve into practical techniques and approaches educators can employ to create a welcoming and motivating atmosphere that resonates with learners. The content in this workshop will be primarily targeted to classroom instructors and settings, but tools and strategies are relevant for adaptation and use by any educator in any context. Whether you're a seasoned educator or just embarking on your teaching journey this academic year, "Setting the Tone from the Start" is designed to equip you with actionable insights that will make a difference in your classroom.
Upon completion of this learning experience, participants will be able to:
learn how to craft an engaging and purposeful course introduction that communicates the course's relevance, objectives, and expectations
discover techniques for fostering an inclusive and supportive learning community, understanding how to encourage peer connections and embrace diverse viewpoints
be equipped with a range of interactive strategies, including icebreakers and technology tools, to effectively engage students and cultivate an active learning environment that persists throughout the course duration.
The in-person location for this session is the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation. Please join us in the Main Library, Room W207. For directions to W207, please visit the Room Locations page..
Navigating Context
EXPIRED