- Start with your syllabus
- Use the Interfaith Calendar when planning important dates for the course
- Syllabus resources: The What and Why of a Syllabus, CELT Checklist Iowa State
- Consider your course resources
- Be mindful of choosing course materials (language, examples, photos) and whose voices you're highlighting
- Older materials can be an opportunity to address DEI awareness over time
- Think about your students
- Pronunciation, pronouns & consistency
- Consider everyone as individuals who are unique & don’t make assumptions about student identities (race, religion, orientation, gender)
- Address growth mindset & possible anxiety
- Be intentional in how you facilitate discussion
- Establish ground rules, guidelines, norms
- Use a random system for asking questions
- Monitor so that no one dominates
- Allow students to finish before responding
- Avoid generalizations
- Think critically about your communication
- Language matters: avoid idioms, “common” figures of speech (CSU Inclusive Language Guide), abbreviations and acronyms should be explained
- Use multiple forms of communication (seeing/hearing, and also explain key ideas in different ways)
- Gather feedback from students
- Don’t assume quiet students don’t understand – there are numerous reasons why a student may not speak up
- [Re]consider your classroom presentation/lecture/facilitation approach
- Use gender neutral language and include varied examples
- Promote a respectful classroom climate
- Encourage participation (eye contact, wait time, talk with students outside of class)
- Vary teaching methods to learning styles
- Be very cautious of humor in class
- Be intentional about setting up teams & group projects
- Heterogeneous, but avoid tokenism
- Check-in often
- Use peer evaluations
- Articulate assessment and evaluation expectations
- Make sure your expectations are clear
- Align your learning goals, content and evaluations
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