Creating an Inclusive and Supportive Learning Environment
Duration
7 - 8 weeks
Enrollment Fee
$695.00
Course Content
7 Modules
Delivery
100% Online
Cohort-based
Path to
Certification
Overview
Create an optimal environment that supports learning, increases engagement, embraces diversity, and helps students persist in meeting academic challenges. ACUE’s Creating an Inclusive and Supportive Learning Environment course equips instructors with evidence-based teaching practices that help them start the term strong, ensure equitable access to learning, and provide feedback necessary for students to improve their performance.
In a matter of weeks, you can learn and implement practices that elevate your teaching and propel student success. Designed for all types of faculty, the evidence-based teaching practices found within this course can be implemented in an online, hybrid, or classroom learning environment.
This fully online course is offered throughout the year and is one step in the pathway to becoming certified in ACUE’s Effective Teaching Practice Framework, which is the only teaching certification endorsed by the American Council on Education (ACE). If you have interest in purchasing for a group of faculty please contact courses@acue.org.
Course Content
Competencies addressed in this course are aligned with the Effective Teaching Practice Framework.
Individuals should plan to spend 2-3 hours a week on course work.
Leading the First Day of Class
Learn how to plan ahead to ensure a successful first day, build a community of learners, and implement active learning strategies that help students understand course expectations.
Promoting a Civil Learning Environment
Learn how to work with students to set expectations for a civil learning environment. In addition, the module includes techniques for appropriately addressing low-, mid-, and high-level disruptions to the learning environment.
Ensuring Equitable Access to Learning
Learn how to assess students’ prior knowledge to inform their instruction and support and encourage the use of campus resources for academic support. In addition, the module includes techniques for effectively communicating expectations and using grading practices that fully support student success.
Helping Students Persist in Their Studies
Learn about the importance of, and techniques to build, intrinsic motivation, which include offering choice, providing targeted feedback and revision opportunities, and connecting course learning to career and life goals. It also introduces the concept and motivational impact of a growth mindset for students and faculty.
Embracing Diversity in Your Classroom
Examine how your own experiences have shaped your perspectives and the importance of valuing different viewpoints. In addition, the module addresses the power of explicit and implicit messages (microaggressions, stereotype threats) and offers techniques to create an inclusive classroom environment, as well as a curriculum, that is representative of diverse students.
Checking for Student Understanding
Learn how to check for student understanding using quality questioning techniques and whole-class formative assessment strategies including the One-Minute Paper, Muddiest Point, and In Your Own Words.
Providing Useful Feedback
Learn how to offer students effective feedback – aligned to course outcomes, timely, actionable, consequential and user friendly. In addition, the module includes techniques to help students more effectively use feedback for improvement as well as techniques to help instructors leverage technology for increasing feedback efficiency.
ENROLLMENT INFORMATION
Next Course Start Dates
- NEW! Anytime | Self-Paced
- October 19, 2024
- January 25, 2025
- March 29, 2025
- May 31, 2025
Enrollment Fee
Discounts are available for purchasing the courses required to complete the Certification or Advanced Certification in the Effective Teaching Practice Framework
-
4 Courses
$2,295
Purchase four courses at a $485 discount
-
3 Courses
$1,750
Purchase three courses at a $335 discount
-
2 Courses
$1,180
Purchase two courses at $210 discount
-
1 Course
$695
Purchase one course at full price
Complete Your Certification Pathway
Purchase the four courses that stack to the Certification in the Effective Teaching Practice Framework for a 15% discount.
Creating an Inclusive and Supportive Learning Environment
7 - 8 weeks
Self-Paced, Cohort-based
7 Modules
Online
Promoting Active Learning
6 - 8 weeks
Self-Paced, Cohort-based
6 Modules
Online
Inspiring Inquiry and Preparing Lifelong Learners
6 - 8 weeks
Self-Paced, Cohort-based
6 Modules
Online
Designing Learner-Centered and Equitable Courses
6 - 8 weeks
Self-Paced, Cohort-based
6 Modules
Online
Meet the Experts Behind Your Learning Journey
José Antonio Bowen, PhD
Saundra McGuire, PhD
Linda Nilson, PhD
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can enroll in ACUE’s Certification courses?
ACUE’s Certification courses are most impactful when you are actively teaching at least one college-level course, whether face-to-face, hybrid, or online. ACUE courses are relevant to educators across all disciplines teaching at all types of institutions.
All courses are subject to the ACUE Terms and Conditions. If you’re not sure these courses are for you, please email courses@acue.org to discuss your situation.
What happens if I need to change my enrollment?
Please review our enrollment policy page for details on managing your enrollment.
How do you enroll a group of educators from an institution?
Institutions may register a group of faculty in ACUE’s cohort-based Certification courses by contacting the program director at courses@acue.org. Depending on the group enrollment size, course-takers may be split between multiple cohorts of the same course.
Please note: Institutions that enroll course-takers in courses are subject to the cancellation, deferment, and forfeiture of fees listed on our enrollment policy page, and self-paced courses are not available for purchase by an institution.
Faculty groups should also consider ACUE’s Programs for Institutions. ACUE’s campus and system partnerships are formed through a collaborative process with a broad set of institutional stakeholders. ACUE’s Programs for Institutions include academic support, advanced reporting, impact research at both faculty and student levels, and campus culture and communications support.
Are there deadlines to purchase?
The enrollment deadline for individual purchase of a cohort-based course is 3 days prior to the course start date. The enrollment deadline for institutional small groups is 10 business days prior to the course start date, subject to course availability.
Enrollments are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Early registration is recommended.
Self-paced courses may be purchased and started at any time.
What is the difference between cohort-based and self-paced Certification courses?
Cohort-based and self-paced Certification courses each offer distinct advantages tailored to different learning preferences. Both approaches meet the requirements for ACUE’s Effective Teaching Practice Framework Certification. Both course formats include the same course content, downloadable resources, and access period.
Cohort-Based Courses | Self-Paced Courses |
Be part of a community of learners from diverse disciplines and institutions. | Be an independent learner. |
Start dates are available multiple times each year so the cohort progresses at the same pace through the course. | Course-takers may start and progress through the modules at their convenience within a set timeframe for maximum schedule flexibility. |
Share resources and gain insights from collective experiences and student success stories. |
|
How do I express interest in a specific course and start date if I’m not able to pay today?
You may express interest in a cohort-based Certification course with a future start date, even if you’re unable to pay today. Submit your application here. Confirmation of your application will include enrollment and payment details. Payment must be received before confirming your enrollment in the course. The deadline for payment submission for your chosen start date is the Friday preceding the Saturday course start date.
Do I need to be actively teaching to enroll in a Certification course?
ACUE’s Certification courses are most impactful when actively teaching at least one college-level course, whether face-to-face, online, or hybrid.
How do you earn the Effective Teaching Practice Framework Certification or Advanced Certification?
To earn the Effective Teaching Practice Framework Certification, you must complete four courses: Creating an Inclusive and Supportive Learning Environment, Promoting Active Learning, Inspiring Inquiry and Preparing Lifelong Learners, and Designing Learner-Centered and Equitable Courses. You may take these courses in either the Effective Teaching Practices (ETP) Pathway, the Effective Online Teaching Practices (EOTP) Pathway, or a combination of both modalities.
To earn the Advanced Certification in the Effective Teaching Practice Framework you must complete Creating an Inclusive and Supportive Learning Environment, Promoting Active Learning, Inspiring Inquiry and Preparing Lifelong Learners in both ETP and EOTP.
What makes ACUE’s Certification courses unique?
One aspect that sets ACUE apart from traditional development courses is that course-takers select at least one new practice to implement in each module. The opportunity to apply your learning and reflect on the impact to students leads to transformation.
“The only way you’re going to learn something new is to do it. You have to apply what you’ve learned … then reflect on what worked well, what needs tweaking in the future, what [you’ve] missed….”
—Stephen Brookfield
If you are unable to implement during the course, you will be asked to write “plan to implement” reflections where you prepare to implement a practice and reflect upon the likely future impact.
What does each Certification course include?
- Certification courses are comprised of six or seven online learning modules. Each module addresses a competency defined in ACUE’s Effective Teaching Practice Framework. Successfully completing a Certification course earns a course badge which can stack with other ACUE courses to earn the Effective Teaching Practice Framework Certification.
- The Fostering a Culture of Belonging course is a deeper dive into inclusive practices. This course contains four modules and does not apply toward the ACUE Certification or Advanced Certification in the Effective Teaching Practice Framework. This course is not available in a self-paced format.
- Modules are content rich and include demonstration videos, interviews with leading experts, curated planning guides, and other resources.
- Downloadable implementation guides and resources are provided to support learning and implementation of recommended practices.
- Cohort-based courses also include:
- A synchronous and facilitated 1.25-hour course launch on Zoom. Course facilitation is supplied by an expert in teaching and learning with whom you will share insights and ideas along with other educators in your cohort.
Which course should I take first?
There is no set order to take Certification courses. Each course description includes module titles and short descriptions that may help you determine which one is of most interest to you at this time.
Creating an Inclusive and Supportive (Online) Learning Environment, Promoting Active Learning (Online), and Inspiring Inquiry and Lifelong Learning (in Your Online Course) are structured such that you engage with the course content, identify a practice, implement this practice with your current students, and then reflect upon the student impact of the new or modified practice selected.
Designing Learner-Centered and Equitable Courses is the exception. This course is focused on working with your course documents, applying the concepts learned in the modules to those documents, and reflecting on the process and the impact on student success in your course. You may find it beneficial to take this course after the others so that you can take the knowledge from the modules in the other courses and apply it as you work on developing outcomes and assessments.
What are the policies regarding the purchase of multiple enrollments?
Discounts for purchasing multiple courses in the same order will be applied in the cart upon checkout.
When purchasing the four Certification courses, start dates for all courses must be selected prior to the start date of the first course. Course dates may be adjusted consistent with ACUE’s deferment policy. We suggest taking one course at a time when actively teaching at least one course. You have 18 months to complete the four Certification courses. Bundled courses are non-transferrable.
When purchasing multiple self-paced Certification courses in the same order, you will need to determine the order in which you want to access them. This ensures each course remains available for the appropriate duration. If you choose to take two courses concurrently, you will have 8 weeks to complete both.
How long will it take to complete a Certification course or Fostering a Culture of Belonging?
Course-takers report it takes approximately 2–3 hours to successfully complete each module. This typical time commitment includes time to review module content, engage in online discussions with colleagues (for cohort-based courses), plan and implement a practice, and complete a written reflection. Most Certification courses contain six or seven modules that will collectively require 12–18 hours to complete over a 6–8-week period. You will be given 8 weeks to complete the course.
The Fostering a Culture of Belonging course contains four modules and the estimated time to complete is 2–3 hours per week (4–6 hours per module) over an 8-week period. This course opens a new module every 2 weeks.
Can I take more than one Certification course at a time?
We strongly recommend taking one Certification course at a time. Each week you will be asked to learn new research-based practices, implement them in your courses, and reflect on your practice. The one–module–a–week pacing allows you and your students to benefit from a deep focus on that module’s practices before moving on to additional topics and practices.
Cohort-based Certification course start dates are established so it is possible to start the next course within 2 weeks of completing the previous course, allowing you to earn the Effective Teaching Practice Framework Certification within 9 months.
Are courses available to international course-takers?
Yes, courses are available to international course-takers. Please note: ACUE courses are taught, facilitated, administered, and supported in English.
What type of course support is provided?
In cohort-based courses, an ACUE instructor will provide support throughout your course, including facilitating virtual discussions in LMS discussion boards. In addition, instructors will respond to any support needs within 24 hours.
Technical assistance is also available by emailing support@acue.org. For additional information about course accessibility, please review our Statement of Accessibility.
Is there a language requirement?
ACUE courses are taught, facilitated, administered, and supported in English. To get the most out of your experience, proficiency in written and spoken English is essential.
How is the course assessed?
To satisfy module requirements and earn a badge, course-takers complete a written reflection that meets specified criteria outlined in a rubric made available to all course-takers.
Who do I contact with questions?
Please contact courses@acue.org with questions about cohort-based Certification Courses.