Support for Excellence in Teaching

The CTL hosts several major events each year. Many of the events feature either a keynote speaker and/or concurrent sessions that focus on of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the classroom. Examples of recent or upcoming major events with DEI sessions are listed below.

• The Advancing Teaching and Learning with Technology (ATLT) Symposium is held each November for faculty and staff with an instructional role.
  • The 2020 ATLT featured a keynote session on Creating Equitable and Inclusive Online Classrooms by Dr. Kelly Hogan and Dr. Viji Sathy of the University of North Carolina.
  • The 2021 ATLT featured a keynote session titled Thriving in the Post-2020 Classroom: Three teaching strategies for the "new normal" by Dr. Thomas Tobin of the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

• The TA Orientation, which is held each August for graduate students with an instructional role, includes a session on Teaching Inclusively at IU Indianapolis.

• The Associate Faculty Teaching Forum is held each September for associate faculty (part-time or adjunct faculty) to explore commonly encountered teaching issues and strategies.
  • Dr. Karen Dace, IU Indianapolis Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion delivered a keynote address titled We're Here for You at the 2020 Forum.

• The E.C. Moore Symposium on Excellence in Teaching is held each spring for faculty and staff with instructional roles to examine innovative pedagogies that encourage student learning.
  
  • The 2022 Symposium featured a keynote session titled Beyond Theory: A Practical Approach to Trauma-Informed Teaching and Learning by Dr. Mays Imad of Connecticut College.
    
  • The 2021 Symposium featured a keynote session on Classroom Characteristics that May Mediate Student Inclusion, Engagement, and Learning by Dr. Kimberly Tanner of San Francisco State University.

• The Plater Institute on the Future of Learning is held each spring and provides an opportunity for the IU Indianapolis community to explore significant issues in higher education that will influence the future of learning.
  • The 2021 Institute featured a keynote address, panel discussions, and concurrent sessions on anti-racism in the classroom. View the session recordings.
    
  • The 2022 Institute featured sessions on interculturality and inclusivity. View the session recordings.

The CTL offers webinars on a variety of topics, many of which are related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the classroom. Check the CTL Event Listing for upcoming webinars and recordings of past webinars. Here are a few examples:

• Teaching Foundations: Inclusive Teaching Strategies
  
• Teaching Foundations: Designing your Course for Inclusion and Equity
• Teaching Foundations: Creating an Accessible Course
• Teaching Foundations: Translating Growth Mindset into Your Instructional Activities
  
• Drafting a Diversity Statement
• Other CTL webinars on topics such as collaborative learning, active learning, and managing classroom dynamics also feature teaching strategies that enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion.

• Curriculum Enhancement Grants
  The Curriculum Enhancement Grant (CEG) initiative provides faculty with technical and instructional support, time, and funds to implement projects designed to improve student learning and success. Faculty who are interested in developing innovative curricular materials and approaches that center DEI are encouraged to submit a proposal.
   
• Creating Racially Inclusive Classrooms
  The Creating Racially Inclusive Classrooms webinar series, offered in partnership with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, is a badged professional development opportunity for faculty interested in promoting racial equity in their courses. The yearlong, monthly webinar series helps faculty develop skills for applying an equity lens to instruction, illuminating the many ways whiteness, power, and bias show up in the classroom and curriculum. Topics discussed in this program include identifying and dealing with whiteness in instruction, classroom dynamics, handling microaggressions, managing difficult conversations, and addressing implicit bias. Applications for the program are accepted in August with each cohort beginning in the fall semester.
   
• What Inclusive Instructors Do Learning Community
  This learning community features the book What Inclusive Instructors Do, which serves as a guide to generate reflection, discussion, and practical strategies. Instructors who are interested in increasing their confidence and skill in applying inclusive teaching practices, strengthening community among teaching colleagues, and documenting professional development in teaching are encouraged to participate.
  

Feedback on teaching can be focused on instructor's goals related to diversity, equity, and inclusion through:

• Class observations
• Mid-semester feedback
• Online Course Review

CTL offers individual and group consultations on many topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion including:

• accessibility of course materials and Canvas site
• accessible technology
• alternative assessment
• being an ally for your students
• classroom dynamics
• course policies and grading
• diversity statement in syllabus
• group work
• how to handle microaggressions
• implicit bias
• representation in course materials
• sense of belonging in classroom environment
• student access to technology
• syllabi review
• talking about controversial topics in classroom
• teaching pedagogy

In addition to programs, events, and services that support faculty in creating inclusive and equitable learning environments and course design, we have relevant resources from various CTL programs, events, and the CTL Happenings Recommended Readings.

Creating Inclusive Classrooms/Learning Environments

• Inclusive Teaching Guide, CBE Life Sciences Education

• Inclusive Teaching Strategies. A 60-minute webinar that provides an overview of the diversity of IU Indianapolis students and several inclusive teaching strategies that you can implement to increase student learning and sense of belonging for all students.

• The Research Basis for Inclusive Teaching, University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT).

• Reflecting on Your Practice: Inclusive Teaching Principles in In-Person, Hybrid, and Remote Teaching, University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT). Format and some content adapted from Linse & Weinstein, Shreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, Penn State, 2015.

• Tanner, K. D. (2013). Structure matters: Twenty-one teaching strategies to promote student engagement and cultivate classroom equity. CBE Life Sciences Education, 12(3), 322-331.
  This article introduces 21 practical strategies that you can use to give your students opportunities to think and talk about your content, encourage and manage participation, build an inclusive classroom community, monitor behavior to cultivate disciplinary thinking, and teach to all the students in your courses. The Embedding Equity in Participation reflection guide provides guided prompts to identify and implement equitable student engagement strategies discussed in the Tanner article.
  
  
• Barnett, P. E. (2013). Unpacking Teachers' Invisible Knapsacks: Social Identity and Privilege in Higher Education. Liberal Education, 99(3), n3.
  This articles builds on Peggy McIntosh's article on white privilege to consider how other identities may impact the experiences of students and instructors in higher education.
  
  
• Resources for Teaching Before and After the Election. Even though the 2020 election is over, these pre- and post-election resources provide information on handling controversial issues that may be helpful at any time.

Course Design and Pedagogies

• The Peralta Equity Rubric for Online Courses
  If you're teaching a course that is hybrid or fully online, then you can use this rubric to self-assess your courses and make your students' online learning experiences more equitable. The Developing a Welcoming and Inclusive Classroom instructional guide uses the Peralta Equity Rubric and additional resources to help instructors identify how students may be navigating their course and make meaningful changes to ensure a welcoming and inclusive course experience for all students.
  
  
• ACUE Inclusive Teaching Practices Toolkit
  This toolkit includes several short videos to introduce various inclusive teaching practices along with planning guides and sample activities.
  
  
• Designing a Learning-Centered and Equity-Minded Syllabus (60-minute recording).
  A syllabus is often the first impression that students form of a course, and it serves both faculty and student as a guide to and contract for the semester. A well-designed and personalized syllabus can help faculty set the proper tone while simultaneously helping them avoid having to repeatedly answer basic student questions about expectations, policies, and deadlines. This webinar will offer tips and considerations for effective syllabus design and show examples of syllabi from various disciplines in face-to-face and online classes.
  
  
• Syllabus Rubric to Create a Learning-Centered Syllabus: This website provides a reliable and validated rubric that you can use to self-assess the extent to which your syllabus is learning-centered. It also includes examples of annotated and scored syllabi and information on the development of the rubric.
  
  
• Syllabus Review Tool: This is an online inquiry tool for promoting racial and ethnic equity and equity-minded practice and ensuring that your syllabus reflects this appropriately.

• Creating an Accessible Course: A 60-minute recorded webinar that introduces tools, resources, and best practices for developing accessible course materials is critical to support all students, particularly those with visual or audio impairments.

• How to Integrate Universal Design for Learning Principles in Your Online Courses podcast with Dr. Thomas J. Tobin. (Transcript) This podcast will give you ideas for how to keep the "rigor high and the barriers low" when designing your online course as well as tools for you to integrate UDL principles into your online course. The Universal Design for Learning Online instructional guide provides step-by-by instructions to revise course materials and remove barriers to learning by providing multiple means of engagement, representation, and/or action and expression.

• Universal Design for Learning Series from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Oakland University. This is a series of six 5-minute videos describing the main points of Universal Design for Learning and how you can apply them to your class.

• An Overview of Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) This chapter from the Online Course Development Basics eText introduces the transparency framework and describes the three major components of a TILTed assignment.

• Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) website, TILT template, and TILT assignment design checklist The TILT website includes several resources for instructors to use for their assignments, including frequently asked questions, videos, and examples of assignments. You can also use the TILT template and TILT assignment design checklist to begin drafting or revising an assignment.

CTL Happenings Recommended Readings

• Bensimon, E. M. (n.d.). Syllabus Review Guide.
  The recent protests have highlighted the institutional racism that people of color experience on a daily basis and the importance of educating ourselves in antiracist practices. As instructors, we have a responsibility to develop courses that are equitable and anti-racist, beginning with the syllabus. This syllabus review guide provides a framework for you to review your syllabi through a race-conscious lens to identify areas that can be leveraged to promote racial equity.
  
  
• Brighouse, H. (2019, May 7). Giving a voice to students' opposing views: creating conditions for respect and inclusivity in class discussions. ACUE Blog.
  Do you deal with tricky, controversial topics in your course content? This article provides two effective and easy to implement strategies to create an inclusive learning environment and foster respect for various perspectives.
  
  
• Canning, E.A., Muenks, K., Green, D. J., and Murphy, M. C. (2019, February 15). STEM faculty who believe ability is fixed have larger racial achievement gaps and inspire less student motivation in their classes.
  Growth mindset is the understanding that abilities and intelligence can be developed. This study describes how faculty mindset towards students' abilities can have important implications on their students' classroom experiences and learning outcomes, particularly for underrepresented minority students.
  
  
• Ciubotariu, I. I. (2021). Embrace and celebrate diverse names in science. Nature.
  Making the effort to learn our students’ names and pronouncing them correctly is an important first step in acknowledging their identity and creating a welcoming classroom. An international graduate student shares her experiences and provides strategies to guide others on how to pronounce your name and how you can learn to pronounce others’ names correctly.

• Cooper, K. M., Schinske, J. N., & Tanner, K. D. (2021). Reconsidering the share of a think–pair–share: Emerging limitations, alternatives, and opportunities for research. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 20(1), fe1.
  Think-pair-share is a widely used evidence-based teaching strategy to promote student engagement with content and their peers. But is this activity truly inclusive and equitable for all students? Can it have unintended consequences for student learning experiences? Read this article to reflect on common assumptions about its benefits, potential issues with inclusion and equity, and how you can modify it to address these issues.

• Darby, F. (2020, July 23). 6 quick ways to be more inclusive in a virtual classroom.Chronicle of Higher Education.
  Are you teaching partially or fully online this fall? Worried about questions of inclusion and equity? This article delineates some great ways to think about both accessibility and cultural inclusion that may not have occurred to you. You and your students will benefit greatly from these quick tips. (IU Network or IU Library Authentication Required)
  
  
• DeCuir, A. (2021, Mar 24). Advice for humanizing classrooms and practicing antiracist pedagogy, Inside Higher Ed.
  Although often narrowly defined to teaching issues of race and inequality, antiracist pedagogy itself is grounded in the work of humanizing one another. Humanizing validates students’ right to show up as they are and to claim their lived experiences as meaningful, and it recognizes them as the deeply complex individuals they are. The author shares 10 habits to humanize the online classroom to embody antiracist pedagogy.
  

• Dewsbury, B., & Brame, C. J. (2019). Inclusive teaching. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 18(2), fe2.
  This essay describes an evidence-based teaching guide on inclusive teaching that faculty can reference in order to create more inclusive courses. The inclusive teaching guide includes strategies and summaries of articles on various aspects of inclusive teaching. The guide also provides an instructor checklist that summarizes the guide and practical steps for faculty to cultivate inclusivity.

• Dittman, A., Stephens, N., & Townsend, S. (2021, July 20). Research: How our class background affects the way we collaborate. Harvard Business Review.
  This article highlights research that shows that interdependent teamwork that leverages the group’s collective expertise and skills, rather than the divide and conquer approach, enables team members from lower social-class background to perform to their fullest potential or sometimes, even outperform their typically more advantaged counterparts from higher social-class background. Consider these implications when designing collaborative learning activities for your students.

• Else-Quest, N.; Sathy, V., & Hogan, K. A. (2022, January 18). How to give our students the grace we all need. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  As we return to increasing in-person interactions and class meetings, faculty, staff, and students are still coping with physical and mental health issues. Drawing on principles of positive education and trauma-informed pedagogy, this article discusses six ways that instructors can better support students without exhausting themselves in the effort.
  
  
• Eng, N. (2022, March 9). Making mental health more visible in your course. Faculty Focus.
  As we push past the mid-semester fatigue and prepare for the final few weeks of courses after spring break, consider the five concrete strategies suggested in this article to prioritize mental health explicitly in the classroom. You may also get some ideas for self-care! Article includes examples of class activities, mid-semester feedback survey questions, and a sample check-in email.

• Fohuti, O. (2020, October 21). The need to combat a false growth mind-set. Inside Higher Education.
  Most of us think we know what it means to have a growth mind-set, but if our understanding is faulty or incomplete, we may actually be doing students more harm than good. This article explores the importance of understanding the subtleties of Carol Dweck’s concept to maximize its benefit.

• Fuentes, M. A., Zelaya, D. G., & Madsen, J. W. (2020). Rethinking the course syllabus: Considerations for promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion. Teaching of Psychology, 48(1), 69-79.
  Writing your syllabus using an equity and inclusion-centered lens can invite students into a welcoming learning space from day one. This article provides a comprehensive and useful guide for developing a syllabus that assists with the integration of equity, diversity, and inclusion to communicate your philosophy, expectations, requirements, and other course information.
  

• Gannon, K. (2018, February 27). The case for inclusive teaching. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 
  There are many reasons why teaching should be more inclusive. Perhaps the most important is that student outcomes are better when students are actively involved in their learning—and particularly among underserved student populations. Kevin Gannon makes a case for why we should teach inclusively.
  
  
• Gouvea, J. S. (2021). Antiracism and the Problems with “Achievement Gaps” in STEM Education.CBE—Life Sciences Education, 20(1), fe2. 
  While achievement gaps are often discussed in conversations about promoting equity in classes, these conversations can inadvertently perpetuate racism. This article provides an overview of three recent articles on persistent inequities in STEM classrooms to provide context around how we talk about achievement and how we measure achievement in our courses.

• Goward, S. L. (2018). First-generation student status is not enough: how acknowledging students with working-class identities can help us better serve students.About Campus, 23(4), 19-26.
  This article discussed the challenges faced by first-generation and low-income students and how this intersectionality is perceived in higher education. Various institutional strategies and programs that have been developed to increase the sense of belonging for these students are also discussed.
  
  
• Henning, J. A., Ballen, C. J., Molina, S. A., & Cotner, S. (2019, November). Hidden identities shape student perceptions of active learning environments. Frontiers in Education (Vol. 4, p. 129). Frontiers.
  In addition to promoting deeper learning, active learning strategies can also promote inclusion and equity. However, the social aspects of active learning, such as group work, may negatively impact students with stigmatized identities. This article demonstrates that students with various identities, including those who are politically conservative, commute to campus, and identify as queer, report lower inclusion in group work. The authors also discuss implications for structuring group work.

• Jaschik, S. (2018, March 7). Race and gender bias in online courses. Inside Higher Ed.
  How equitable are online courses? This article discusses a study which found instructors of MOOCs responded to comments of white males more frequently than other students. While typical online courses have more student-instructor interactions than MOOCs, this article highlights how as instructors our implicit biases influence our students' experience.
  
  
• Johnson, M. (2021, August 11). 10 Course Policies to Rethink on Your Fall Syllabus. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  The semester may have already started, but it’s not too late to take another look at your syllabus as we begin another semester during trying times. This article by Matthew Johnson brings up 10 elements of your syllabus that you may not have considered as you prepped for this fall, but that might make a huge difference for the health and well-being of your students. If you decide to make changes after the start of the semester, discuss them with your students and explain the rationale.

• Kelly, R. (2022, March 22). Equity-Minded Communications Boost Effectiveness of Early Alerts. Campus Technology.
  This article provides recommendations for crafting early warning messages to elicit more positive student responses.

• Kinzie, J., Silberstein, S., McCormick, A. C., Gonyea, R. M., & Dugan, B. (2021). Centering racially minoritized student voices in High-Impact Practices. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 53(4), 6-14.
  A strong body of literature demonstrates that High-impact practices (HIPs) are beneficial for all students, particularly historically excluded groups. However, do all students experience HIPs in the same ways? This article presents results that highlight differences in experiences of racially minoritized students in the context of time and effort, interactions with faculty and peers, engaging with diversity, and the most and least satisfying aspects of their experience. If you use or plan to use HIPs, consider how these findings can impact your course design strategies.

• Lang, J. M. (2017, September 27). A welcoming classroom.The Chronicle of Higher Education. This article reminds us that we often make a classroom more usable and welcoming for everybody when we do what we can to accommodate students with special needs. How do you make your course truly inclusive?  
  
  
• Lang, J. M. (2021, May 17). 2 Ways to Fairly Grade Class Participation. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Common approaches to awarding participation points rely on instructors’ (imperfect) memory of class sessions and is subject to unconscious bias. In this article, James Lang offers two alternative approaches for assigning participation points that rely on concrete artifacts created by students.

• Lieberman, M. (Nov. 28, 2018). Q&A: Making sense of universal design for learning. Inside Higher Ed.
  Universal design for learning (UDL) is an approach to course design and teaching and that focuses on ways to remove or mitigate barriers to student learning. In this Q&A article, Tobin and Behling, authors of a new book on UDL, discuss the motivations behind UDL, its implications for higher education, and their own experiences with faculty who have implemented UDL in their classes.
  
  
• McMurtrie, B. (2020, June 18). 'We can't ignore this issue': How to talk with students about racism. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  You may be wondering if and how you should address the recent protests and racism in your course. While you may be tempted to ignore these issues, doing so sends the message that you are uninformed or you do not care, both of which can perpetuate inequity in your course. This article includes advice for how to initiate and guide these conversations from a variety of experts and a list of resources and articles on teaching about racism. (IU Network or IU Library Authentication Required)
  
  
• Mulnix, A. (2018, November 12). The power of transparency in your teaching.Faculty Focus.
  It is sometimes difficult to articulate higher-order thinking processes to our students. This article provides an example of how a biology instructor made their thinking visible to students and simultaneously engage in metacognition about their own teaching.
  
  
• Nicolazzo, Z. (2018, October 12). Strategies for creating more trans*-affirmative classrooms. Inside Higher Ed.
  Transgender students face a number of challenges while in college, including attending classes. In this article, the author encourages instructors to take an active role in creating a welcoming environment for transgender students and discusses several strategies instructors can use in their classroom to achieve this goal.
  
  
• O’Grady, C. (2021, September 21). Words matter: Why I embrace anti-ableist language. IU Indianapolis University Writing Center Blog.
  This article introduces ableism and provides resources and strategies to use anti-ableist language in our oral and written communications, which can help in creating welcoming, inclusive, and equitable spaces and conversations.

• Parks, M. (2017, September) Simple strategies to develop rapport with students and build a positive classroom climate.The National Teaching and Learning Forum, 26(5), 4-6.
  Building rapport with students can help create a positive classroom climate and motivate students to attend class and participate. In this article, the author describes strategies instructors can use to build rapport with their students, feedback from those strategies from her students and colleagues, and suggestions for how to adapt these strategies in different teaching contexts.
  
  
• Pittman, C. & Tobin, T. (2022, February 7). Academe Has a Lot to Learn About How Inclusive Teaching Affects Instructors. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  Many inclusive teaching strategies advocate for giving students a sense of ownership and assume that all instructors are perceived to have the same level of authority in classroom spaces. Two instructors share their different experiences and results from using inclusive teaching practices. They also offer practical recommendations for how to use inclusive teaching strategies in a way that acknowledges inequities faced by instructors.

• Savini, C. (2021, January 27). 10 Ways to tackle linguistic bias in our classrooms. Inside Higher Education.
  Prejudices about how our students speak and write is an iss of equity and inclusion. Catherine Savini gives us 10 strategies to recognize and combat linguistic bias in our classrooms.
  

• Soisson, A. (2018, October 16). Seven bricks to lay the foundation for productive difficult dialogues.Faculty Focus.
  This article provides strategies for in-class dialogues that were planned but did not go particularly well; in-class hot moments that were not anticipated and that the faculty member did not feel equipped to handle; and difficult dialogues that happen during office hours or outside of class.
  
  
• Souza, T. (2018, April 30). Responding to microaggressions in the classroom: Taking ACTION.Faculty Focus.
  When students make comments that are micro-aggressive in the classroom, doing nothing is a damaging option. The ACTION framework can be a tool that is quickly retrieved by an instructor to organize thoughts and unpack the microaggression in a way that addresses the situation and cools down tension.
  
  
• Teaching the students we have, not the students we wish we had. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  With broader participation in college, more of our students are overburdened and under-supported. This requires educators to use pedagogical approaches that are responsive, inclusive, adaptive, challenging, and compassionate.

• Twyman-Ghoshal, A., & Lacorazza, D. C. (2021, March 29). Strategies for antiracist and decolonized teaching. Faculty Focus.
  Although there have been many calls to action for integrating antiracist pedagogies in the classroom, there has been little progress in curricular revisions. In order to begin and sustain this process, instructors must continually educate themselves about antiracist pedagogy. This article describes five key areas of action for antiracist and decolonized teaching and includes a series of questions to guide instructors in their adoption of these practices.

• Vecellio, S. (2021, October 8). The appreciative close: A strategy for creating a classroom community. Faculty Focus.
  The classroom of students who view themselves as a mutually-supportive community engaged in a shared endeavor learns better than the classful of students who don't feel connected to one another in this way. Shawn Vecellio suggests a way to remind the class of the contributions that individual students have made to help one another’s learning, thereby creating a more inclusive and welcoming setting for students and for learning.