EOTP - Using the Active Learning Cycle

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Rationale

“Being mindful of diversity and inclusion in the online environment is equally important to or even more important than in the classroom environment. Online learning is so much more accessible to a wider variety of people, therefore students in our online courses tend to be more diverse than in our classrooms . . . this then requires a more intentional effort to ensure that all students in your course can learn, are engaged, and feel a sense of belonging.” —Marlo Goldstein Hode

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

To embrace diversity in online learning, we’ll discuss practices you can use to:

1. Examine how implicit bias affects your understanding, actions, and decisions

Become aware of your implicit biases
Consider how your implicit biases may impact students
Mitigate the impact of implicit bias in assessment and feedback practices
Use student feedback to reflect on your role as an inclusive educator

2. Create an inclusive online course and learning environment

Create an inclusive syllabus
Ensure your curriculum incorporates diverse perspectives and experiences
Ensure your course examples reflect a diverse society
Share resources that demonstrate attentiveness to students’ diverse needs
Foster respect for diverse student identities
Set expectations and manage for respectful dialogue
Explicitly invite diverse perspectives and viewpoints

3. Understand and mitigate the impact of stereotype threat and microaggressions

Understand the impact of stereotype threat and implement practices to reduce it
Recognize, avoid, and mitigate the impact of microaggressions
Teach students to recognize and address microaggressions
Use language to validate student identities

SKELETAL OUTLINE

Download a skeletal outline to take notes on the key practices included in this module.

Course Demonstration

Each of the videos below addresses a substantive topic connected to the work of ensuring our course design and the learning communities we form are inclusive— or, more specifically, welcoming and engaging for all students, which ensures all students feel they belong in our course and in college. Because this work is so very important, we are hopeful each course-taker might devote the time necessary to engage with all four videos and then choose one on which to focus for implementation. If you simply don’t have the time to engage with all four, please choose the objective you feel will be most beneficial to your students and come back when you can to view the others.

Understanding and Mitigating the Impact of Stereotype Threat and Microaggressions

Download the transcript for this video.

Expert Insights

Both of these resources offer you important and different perspectives on creating an inclusive online course and learning community. If you can, please consider engaging with both—you won’t regret it 🙂.

Video

In this video, you’ll hear from a number of scholars in inclusive pedagogy, diversity officers, and a college president. Each person brings their unique voice to this work, and we wanted to put into practice a theme common among them—the need to hear and honor the diversity of thoughts and ideas for building inclusive online courses and learning communities. In this video you will hear from José Antonio Bowen, PhD; Suzanne Walsh, MS, JD; Jennifer Imazeki, PhD; Santiba Campbell, PhD; Lilisa Williams, MBA; and Sharoni Little, PhD, EdD. You can view their full titles within the video and in the References.

Download the transcript for this video.

Common Challenges & Misconceptions

In this section, you’ll read about some common challenges and misconceptions associated with practices designed to embrace diversity in online learning.

Read each challenge or misconception and give a thumbs up if it is a challenge or misconception you have encountered or thumbs down if it’s not.

CHALLENGE : Since my course is fully online, diversity issues are irrelevant.

Have you encountered this misconception? Yes No

Clarification:

The number of students engaging in online education has rapidly increased in the last two decades in most colleges and universities across the United States (Allen & Seaman, 2017). Larger numbers of students bring more diversity to the online learning environment, with different cultural, educational, and social experiences that can enrich learning in all content areas. Addressing the diversity in online courses can promote student growth, help students begin to foster a sense of empathy for others, and bring about more open-mindedness (Hollister, 2020). Therefore, keeping diversity in mind while planning and facilitating coursework and working to create an inclusive and welcoming course benefits all students.

Suggestion:

To ensure all students feel welcome and to fully engage the diversity of students in your courses, share your commitment to supporting an inclusive environment by including a diversity statement in your syllabi. Review your course resources and consider the examples you use to ensure they represent a diverse society as well.

Watch this video of Kelly Hogan and Viji Sathy sharing their thoughts on creating a more inclusive syllabus.

Download the transcript for this video.

CHALLENGE : I would never engage in a microaggression or stereotype threat.

Have you encountered this misconception? Yes No

Clarification:

Unintentional microaggressions and stereotype threats are often the result of implicit bias. Implicit bias refers to the attitudes and assumptions that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner (De Houwer, 2019). These biases develop over the course of a lifetime, beginning at a very early age through exposure to direct and indirect messages (De Houwer, 2019).

Even those of us with the best of intentions have implicit biases and can create microaggressions (Clay, 2017). Microaggressions are brief statements or behaviors that—intentional or not—communicate a negative message about a non-dominant group, and they tend to happen quite frequently. For example, in a recent study, microaggressions were observed in almost a third of the 60 community college classrooms being studied, and most were committed by instructors (Clay, 2017).

Suggestion:

Ask students for anonymous feedback, including examples of where and how your course could be more inclusive and affirming of all students. Also ask for feedback on how you invite participation in the course and how your language and actions have affected them. Finally, ask them to share if they have experienced a microaggression during any aspect of your course.

CHALLENGE : I teach in STEM so diversity and inclusion really don’t matter as much.

Have you encountered this misconception? Yes No

Clarification:

Some courses lend themselves to exploring diversity more readily than others. However, it is important that every course is representative of diverse viewpoints whenever applicable. Furthermore, because students need to be prepared to work in diverse settings and will be expected to regularly interact with individuals from different backgrounds, it is important that their education equips them with a greater appreciation for a variety of perspectives (J. Williams, personal communication, February 4, 2016).

There are several reasons why science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty seek to provide a more inclusive environment for all students. One of the most regularly cited reasons is the attrition gap between students from historically disenfranchised groups and White students. National data continue to show a disparity in STEM degree attainment of underrepresented minority (URM) students. While underrepresented minorities represent 29.3% of the U.S. population, only 14.7% of STEM bachelor’s degrees in 2010 were awarded to URM students. At the doctorate level, the percentage drops to 7.3% (Estrada et al., 2016). Feelings that they don’t belong in STEM courses, as opposed to their preparedness to handle college-level material, have been found to impact the departure of underrepresented students from STEM majors (Wilson et al., 2015).

Suggestion:

Watch this video of José Bowen discussing the importance of diversity in the STEM fields.

Download the transcript for this video.

CHALLENGE : I teach a launched, online, asynchronous course, and I am not sure how I can implement any of the module practices.

Have you encountered this misconception? Yes No

Many practices listed under learning objective #1 can be implemented at any time and do not require any changes to the course design. For example, reflecting on your implicit biases and how that bias might impact students is a reflective activity that can be done at any time. See below for additional ideas for implementing other practices from this module.

Things to Do When Class is in Session

Use the stop, start, continue feedback form to gather anonymous feedback at any point in the course.
If you have not already done so, share your own pronouns and invite your students to do the same. Review student names to be sure you are using their preferred names and that you are pronouncing them correctly.
Invite diverse viewpoints during asynchronous or synchronous discussions by asking if anyone has a different opinion they would like to share. Play “devil’s advocate” by asking, “What if…” questions.

Things to Do to Prepare for the Next Course

Follow the guidance in the implementation guide to make your syllabus more inclusive for the next time you teach the course.
Review your course resources now to prepare for the next time you teach this class.
Provide a resource list in your course for your students and draw their attention to resources that may be useful for them.
Learn more about microaggressions, stereotype threat, and imposter phenomenon so that you will be more prepared to address them with your students.

For additional suggestions on how to implement the practices highlighted in this course, please see the implementation resources.

OBSERVE & ANALYZE

In the Observe and Analyze (OA) section, you’ll view the video depicting developing practice where an instructor implements some of the module practices effectively, while other practices may need slight adjustments or improvements. Analyze how effectively Dr. Hirsch handles the challenges his students experience in the course discussion forums.

Watch

#Download the transcript for this video.

IMPLEMENTATION RESOURCES

Online Instructional Practices
F2F Instructional Practices
Additional Resources

This section includes resources to support your implementation of the practices presented in the module.

Download the online instructional practice implementation resources for this module.

Examine how implicit bias affects your understanding, actions, and decisions

Become aware of your implicit biases

In an online environment, there are fewer physical cues about students’ backgrounds and identities than in a face-to-face setting. However, research suggests that implicit or unconscious biases can still be triggered simply by seeing a name and can impact how students are evaluated and judged.

Download a resource to help you reflect on implicit biases.

Consider how your implicit biases may impact students

Implicit or unconscious biases often lead to microaggressions, which are the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults (whether intentional or unintentional) that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based upon their marginalized group membership (Sue, 2010).

Download a resource you can use to take steps to mitigate the impact of implicit bias on your students.

Mitigate the impact of implicit bias in assessment and feedback practices

The grading process can be impacted by implicit bias through your knowledge of students’ previous scores, work ethic, and race or ethnicity (Malouff, 2008; Malouff et al., 2013). Fortunately, there are grading practices, such as anonymous grading, that can be used to reduce the impact of implicit bias on student grades.

Download a resource you can use to mitigate the impact of implicit bias in your grading and feedback practices.

Use student feedback to reflect on your role as an inclusive educator

The goal of asking for student feedback is to gauge student perceptions of the impact of your use of inclusive practices. Seeking feedback early in your course can allow you to make adjustments for your current group of students.

Download a resource you can use to gain feedback on your role as an inclusive educator.

Create an inclusive online course and learning environment

Create an inclusive syllabus

Creating an inclusive classroom or online environment means making intentional and ongoing efforts to ensure that all students feel they belong and can thrive in the learning environment. One step you can take right at the beginning of your course is to set the tone for diversity and inclusion in your syllabus.

Download a resource to help you create an inclusive syllabus.

Download a resource on helping students overcome imposter syndrome.

Ensure your curriculum incorporates diverse perspectives and experiences

Critically examining your course from multiple viewpoints to ensure it includes materials that accurately represent various perspectives can help your students feel more motivated, with a greater sense of belonging.

Download a resource to help ensure your curriculum incorporates diverse perspectives and experiences.

Hold both individual and group virtual office hours

Since many online courses are asynchronous and can sometimes be isolating, virtual office hours are a good way to give students an opportunity to connect with you and their peers to create a supportive learning environment (Nilson & Goodson, 2018).

Download a resource on holding both individual and group office hours.

Ensure your course examples reflect a diverse society

Meaningful examples that are relevant to your students and reflect a diverse society can contribute to students’ sense of belonging and increase their motivation.

Download a resource to help ensure your examples reflect a diverse society.

Share resources that demonstrate attentiveness to students’ diverse needs

Including information in your syllabus or course shell that supports students from different identity groups communicates to them that you are aware and that you care.

Download a resource that will help you develop resources that support all students.

Foster respect for diverse student identities

Diverse campuses give college students the opportunity to learn from peers with different perspectives shaped by a variety of life experiences. Provide opportunities for students to engage with people of different backgrounds and help them develop an appreciation for people different from themselves.

Download a resource that will help you foster respect for diverse students.

Set expectations and manage for respectful dialogue

Working with your students to set clear expectations for how they should interact with each other early in the course helps to create a productive learning environment. Introduce a basic set of community norms for students and facilitate a discussion about them. Use them to address any offensive comments or other incidents that disrupt the learning environment.

Download a resource that will help you and your students create community norms that can be used should hot moments arise.

Explicitly invite diverse perspectives and viewpoints

Encouraging students to share their diverse viewpoints enriches discussions, encourages creative problem solving, and helps students develop critical thinking skills. Students also learn to respectfully listen and respond to various viewpoints, a key career-ready skill.

Download a resource that will help encourage your students to share diverse viewpoints.

Understand and mitigate the impact of stereotype threat and microaggressions

Understand the impact of stereotype threat and implement practices to reduce it

Stereotype threat is defined as a phenomenon in which a person’s concern about confirming a negative stereotype of one or more of the groups with which they personally identify can lead that person to underperform (Spencer, 2016).

Download a resource that will help you understand and mitigate the impact of stereotype threat in your course.

Recognize, avoid, and mitigate the impact of microaggressions

Microaggressions are the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership (Sue, 2010). Microaggressions can have a negative impact on students. However, there are steps we can take to mitigate their impact.

Download a resource that will help you understand and mitigate the impact of microaggressions.

Teach students to recognize and address microaggressions

It is important that as instructors we do not ignore microaggressions as they happen, which can further marginalize students from underrepresented groups. In doing so, we can also miss an opportunity to promote understanding of the impact of microaggressions (Sue et al., 2009).

Download a resource that will help you teach students to recognize and address microaggressions.

Use language to validate student identities

As instructors, the language we use can work toward or against building an inclusive learning environment. For example, research has shown that using “he” to indicate “he or she” in professional settings affects women’s sense of belonging and lowers motivation (Sczensy, Formanowicz & Moser, 2016).

Download a resource that will help you use language to validate student identities.

This section includes additional resources to support your implementation of these and similar practices in a face-to-face course.

Implementation Resources

Download or print the following resources to practice our techniques for embracing diversity in your classroom:

Download this handout of tips for establishing ground rules for productive discourse and examples of ground rules.
Part of establishing ground rules is defining for students what good participation looks like and how students can earn high participation grades (S. D. Brookfield, personal communication, January 25, 2016). Review Brookfield’s class participation grading handout for specific examples of good participation.
Review this table of microaggressions to learn about the themes of common microaggressions, along with examples and the messages they could convey.
Learn more about how to reduce stereotype threat
Download this handout of suggestions for effectively managing “hot moments” in the classroom.
Read about and take Implicit Association Tests to gain key insight into implicit attitudes that you may be unaware of.
Download these suggestions for ensuring your syllabus sets the tone for diversity and inclusion.

Below are additional resources to further explore the module topics.

Video Resource

Claude M. Steele – Stereotype Threat: How It Affects Us and What We Can Do About It

Resources for Further Reading

Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Consult a comprehensive list of references for this module..

Community Connections

Amer F. Ahmed and Shayla Harndon-Edmunds: “Classroom Diversity and Inclusive Pedagogy”
Amer F. Ahmed: “Diversity and Inclusion: How Does Higher Ed Rate?”
Jerome Williams: “Rutgers-Newark Administrator Talks Campus Diversity”
José Bowen: “Teaching Naked Techniques”
Kelly Hogan and Viji Sathy: “Interactivity and Inclusivity Can Help Close the Achievement Gap”
Kelly Hogan and Viji Sathy: “Virtual Office Hours with Kelly Hogan and Viji Sathy: Including Diversity Statements on the Syllabus”
Kelly Hogan and Viji Sathy: “Virtual Office Hours with Kelly Hogan and Viji Sathy: What should instructors be doing to set the tone of an inclusive environment for the semester on the first day of class?”Links to an external site.
Michael Wesch: “Michael Wesch: What Inspired Me to Redesign My Syllabus”
Stephen Brookfield: “The Skillful Teacher”
Terri Jett: “Insights: The Complexity of the Inclusive Classroom Dynamic”

References

INSTRUCTOR CREDENTIALS

Sridhar Balasubramanian, PhD
Professor of Marketing
UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

EXPERT

Judith V. Boettcher, PhD

Founder and Principal, Designing for Learning
Author, The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips and Faculty Guide for Moving Teaching and Learning to the Web
Blogger, Thoughts on Teaching at http://designingforlearning.info/tips/Links to an external site.

MODULE REFERENCES

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R.-M. (2016)
The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.

Darby, F., & Lang, J. M. (2019)
Small teaching online: Applying learning science in online classes. Jossey-Bass.

Deslauriers, L., McCarty, L. S., Miller, K., Callaghan, K., & Kestin, G. (2019)
Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(39), 19251–19257.

Deslauriers, L., Schelew, E., & Wieman, C. (2011)
Improved learning in a large-enrollment physics class. Science, 332(6031), 862–864.

Medina, J. J. (2014)
Brain rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school (2nd ed.). Pear Press.

Moore, M. G. (2013)
Handbook of distance education (3rd ed.). Routledge.

Nilson, L. B., & Goodson, L. A. (2018)
Online teaching at its best: Merging instructional design with teaching and learning research. Jossey-Bass.

Pollard, J. (2014, June 9)
Teaching students how to think [Video]. The University of Arizona UA News. http://uanews.org/videos/teaching-students-how-think

Sousa, D. (2012, January 27).
The power of transfer. How the Brain Learns: The Blog. https://howthebrainlearns.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/the-power-of-transfer/

EOTP - Using the Active Learning Cycle

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Rationale

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Examine how implicit bias affects your understanding, actions, and decisions

2. Create an inclusive online course and learning environment

3. Understand and mitigate the impact of stereotype threat and microaggressions

SKELETAL OUTLINE

Course Demonstration

Examining the Impact of Implicit Bias

Creating an Inclusive Online Course

Creating an Inclusive Online Learning Environment

Understanding and Mitigating the Impact of Stereotype Threat and Microaggressions

Expert Insights

Video

Common Challenges & Misconceptions

CHALLENGE : Since my course is fully online, diversity issues are irrelevant.

Clarification:

Suggestion:

CHALLENGE : I would never engage in a microaggression or stereotype threat.

Clarification:

Suggestion:

CHALLENGE : I teach in STEM so diversity and inclusion really don’t matter as much.

Clarification:

Suggestion:

CHALLENGE : I teach a launched, online, asynchronous course, and I am not sure how I can implement any of the module practices.

Things to Do When Class is in Session

Things to Do to Prepare for the Next Course

OBSERVE & ANALYZE

Watch

IMPLEMENTATION RESOURCES

Online Instructional Practices

F2F Instructional Practices

Additional Resources

Examine how implicit bias affects your understanding, actions, and decisions

Become aware of your implicit biases

Consider how your implicit biases may impact students

Mitigate the impact of implicit bias in assessment and feedback practices

Use student feedback to reflect on your role as an inclusive educator

Create an inclusive online course and learning environment

Create an inclusive syllabus

Ensure your curriculum incorporates diverse perspectives and experiences

Hold both individual and group virtual office hours

Ensure your course examples reflect a diverse society

Share resources that demonstrate attentiveness to students’ diverse needs

Foster respect for diverse student identities

Set expectations and manage for respectful dialogue

Explicitly invite diverse perspectives and viewpoints

Understand and mitigate the impact of stereotype threat and microaggressions

Understand the impact of stereotype threat and implement practices to reduce it

Recognize, avoid, and mitigate the impact of microaggressions

Teach students to recognize and address microaggressions

Use language to validate student identities

Implementation Resources

Video Resource

Resources for Further Reading

Community Connections

References

INSTRUCTOR CREDENTIALS

EXPERT

MODULE REFERENCES