Module 6: Inclusive Teaching
Inclusive Teaching
New! Inclusive STEM Teaching MOOC
From some of the same developers of the CIRTL MOOC, this six-week course is designed to advance the awareness, self-efficacy, and ability of STEM faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and staff to cultivate inclusive learning environments for all of their students.
Learn more about this new MOOC at https://www.edx.org/course/the-inclusive-stem-teaching-project
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This module, designed by astronomy graduate student Claude (Trey) Mack, will discuss the importance of inclusive teaching and many of the issues instructors can face when teaching classes composed of students of varying ethnicities and genders. We provide you with examples of teaching practices and language that can isolate certain student populations along with strategies to avoid these practices.
Please see the Facilitator Guide 2015 for Module 6 for some suggestions of activities you can do in your MCLC or classroom to dive deeper into these topics.
Examples and Discussions of Inclusive Teaching
Week 6 Introduction (6.1.0)
Dr. Derek Bruff from Vanderbilt University and Dr. Trina McMahon from the University of Wisconsin Introduce the concept of inclusive teaching.
In the videos 6.2.1-6.2.6 below, Trey Mack interviews Dr. Alice Pawley, Professor of Engineering Education, Purdue University, about a dramatization depicting interactions in a classroom between a teaching assistant and physics students. These interactions between students and the TA provide examples of teaching behavior that do not promote inclusion. The dramatization video is no longer available. The text at the link below captures some of the exchanges between the teaching assistant and students and provides context for the interviews that follow.
Dramatization of a Physics TA’s First Day of Class (6.1.1) [Video no longer available]
Trey Mack, a graduate student from Vanderbilt University, presents a dramatization which gives examples of how a TA can make students feel isolated or uncomfortable in the classroom.
Avoiding Spotlighting and Starting to Leverage Classroom Diversity, Class Welcome (6.1.2)
Trey Mack, a graduate student from Vanderbilt University, has a discussion with Dr. Alice Pawley from Purdue University about the dramatization in the first video in this module. Specifically the mistakes the theoretical TA makes during welcoming the students to the class and how those mistakes can be corrected in order to create an inclusive classroom.
Avoiding Spotlighting and Starting to Leverage Classroom Diversity, Pre-test (6.1.3)
Trey Mack, a graduate student from Vanderbilt University, has a discussion with Dr. Alice Pawley from Purdue University about the dramatization in the first video in this module. Specifically the mistakes the theoretical TA makes during while describing the pre-test for the course and how those mistakes can be corrected in order to create an inclusive classroom.
Discussion: Was this your first encounter with the notion of stereotype threat? If so, what’s your reaction to the idea that activating a negative stereotype can significantly reduce a student’s performance? If you were familiar with stereotype threat, how has this notion affected how you think about classroom dynamics?
Avoiding Spotlighting and Starting to Leverage Classroom Diversity, Pen Policy (6.1.4)
Trey Mack, a graduate student from Vanderbilt University, has a discussion with Dr. Alice Pawley from Purdue University about the dramatization in the first video in this module. Specifically the mistake the theoretical TA makes by highlighting a specific gender during his introduction and how those mistakes can be corrected in order to create an inclusive classroom.
Avoiding Spotlighting and Starting to Leverage Classroom Diversity, Language Barrier (6.1.5)
Trey Mack, a graduate student from Vanderbilt University, has a discussion with Dr. Alice Pawley from Purdue University about the dramatization in the first video in this module. Specifically the mistakes the theoretical TA makes when interacting with a heavily accented student and how those mistakes can be corrected in order to create an inclusive classroom.
Avoiding Spotlighting and Starting to Leverage Classroom Diversity, Workload (6.1.6)
Trey Mack, a graduate student from Vanderbilt University, has a discussion with Dr. Alice Pawley from Purdue University about the dramatization in the first video in this module. Specifically the mistakes the theoretical TA makes when describing the workload of the course and how those mistakes can be corrected in order to create an inclusive classroom.
Avoiding Spotlighting and Starting to Leverage Classroom Diversity, Physics Majors (6.1.7)
Avoiding Spotlighting and Starting to Leverage Classroom Diversity, Physics Majors – Trey Mack, a graduate student from Vanderbilt University, has a discussion with Dr. Alice Pawley from Purdue University about the dramatization in the first video in this module. Specifically the mistakes the theoretical TA makes by assuming everyone in the class is in the same major and how that mistake can be corrected in order to create an inclusive classroom.
Discussion: Given what you’ve heard in the preceding videos, what would you say to a colleague who didn’t see the value in making efforts to teach inclusively? Why are these efforts important? What small steps might your recommend to your colleague to create more welcoming classroom environment?
Interviews Regarding Inclusive Teaching
Interview with STEM Faculty Discussing Social-Belonging: Dr. Kelly Holley-Bockelmann (6.2.1)
Trey Mack interviews Dr. Holley-Bockelmann from Vanderbilt University focusing on a research paper that investigates whether or not a feeling of social belonging can affect academic performance. She shares her experiences with social belonging during her education as well as how she might implement strategies from this paper in her classroom to increase a feeling of social belonging.
Discussion: Think back to a time when you transitioned from one phase of your education/career to another (for example: high school to undergrad, undergrad to grad school, grad school to faculty). What factors helped you be successful in that transition? How did you establish a sense of belonging?
Interview with STEM Faculty Discussing Social-Belonging: Dr. William Robinson (6.2.2)
Trey Mack interviews Dr. William Robinson from Vanderbilt University focusing on a research paper that investigates whether or not a feeling of social belonging can affect academic performance. He shares his experiences with social belonging during his education as well as how he might implement strategies from this paper in his classroom to increase a feeling of social belonging.
Interview with STEM Students Discussing Social-Belonging: Abraham Padilla (6.2.3)
Trey Mack interviews graduate student Abraham Padilla from Vanderbilt University focusing on a research paper that investigates whether or not a feeling of social belonging can affect academic performance. He shares his experiences with social belonging and how it affected his education as well as how he created a feeling of social belonging during his education.
Interview with STEM Students Discussing Social-Belonging: Leolene Jean (6.2.4)
Trey Mack interviews graduate student Leolene Jean from Vanderbilt University focusing on a research paper that investigates whether or not a feeling of social belonging can affect academic performance. She shares her experiences with social belonging and how it affected her education as well as how she created a feeling of social belonging during her education.
Discussion: The preceding faculty and student interviews featured a variety of perspectives on social belonging in the STEM education context. Which comments or perspectives helped you see this topic in a new light? Which ones are likely to inform how you approach teaching?
An Interview with Alice Pawley (6.2.5)
Trey Mack, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, Interviews Dr. Alice Pawley from Purdue University regarding the research group she started focusing on gender in the STEM fields, especially engineering. They also discuss the themes of some of the research their group performs.
An Interview with Alice Pawley: Current Questions (6.2.6)
Trey Mack, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, Interviews Dr. Alice Pawley from Purdue University focusing on the current topics her group is researching. She describes how her current project will provide insight into how the current employment climate in engineering may be skewed to certain races and genders.
An Interview with Alice Pawley: Diverse Perspectives (6.2.7)
Trey Mack, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, and Dr. Alice Pawley from Purdue continue their discussion about how race and gender play a role in today’s educational and employment world and how her research will illuminate some of the issues this role creates.
Discussion: Read the handout “Six Impactful Teaching Practices to Improve the Academic Achievement of Underrepresented Minorities and First Generation Students.” Identity one or two practices on the handout that you would like to incorporate into your teaching (that you haven’t already). Describe what those practices might look like in your particular teaching context. (For those not yet teaching, you might imagine a particular course you might teach one day.)
Classroom Climate
Classroom Climate (6.3.1)
Dr. Michele DiPietro from Kennesaw State University introduces the affective domain in education and how it can affect classroom climate. He goes on to discuss how classroom climate can affect student performance, especially for certain groups of students.
Classroom Climate: Climate Continuum (6.3.2)
Dr. Michele DiPietro from Kennesaw State University introduces the course “climate continuum”. This climate continuum is a useful tool for instructors to determine what kind of course climate they create in their course and how they can develop a climate that is the most conducive to effective education.
Classroom Climate: Manifestations (6.3.3)
Dr. Michele DiPietro from Kennesaw State University outlines different aspects of instructor-student communication in that can create ineffective classroom climates. He provides examples such as tone, stereotype threat, microinequities and others that can affect student performance in the course.
Classroom Climate: Strategies (6.3.4)
Dr. Michele DiPietro from Kennesaw State University outlines several strategies that will help instructors create a classroom climate that is the most conducive to learning as well as personal and educational growth.