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Additional Annotations on Best Practice 2.5
Additional Annotations on Best Practice 2.5
2.5 Foster an inclusive community and model the importance of identifying human biases in ourselves, and empower students to do the same
Identify bias together in course materials
Ask students to examine the course materials and point out any biases they notice.
Research the most prominent people in the field and notice if bias exists.
Counter the biases by highlighting the work of people from marginalized groups.
Cultural Bias & Interaction Bias
It's also important to consider the effects of bias on student success. Educators have been identifying and addressing cultural bias in various aspects of education for years. For example, cultural bias can show up in course design, such as in instructions that use confusing language (Milheim, 2014) or examples of course concepts (e.g., using an expensive hobby like scuba diving to describe pressure change in physics); or testing, such as how test questions are worded (Kruse, 2016). On a related note, there is a common phenomenon known as "test bias" in which researchers have proven that IQ tests will be biased against minoritized students as the language and situations on tests that are more familiar to middle-class white students (Zhao, 2009).
Interaction bias can take place in online discussions, including if and how the instructor replies to different students (Baker, Dee, Evans & John, 2018); In the Baker, Dee, Evans & John study through Stanford University, they determined that instructors were 94% more likely to respond to students with "white and male" sounding names in online discussions.
---OETraining - E8:Connection & Belonging - CC
How to Manage Human Bias
How to Manage Human Bias
Whether we are aware of it or not, our behavior as teachers is affected by unconscious attitudes, stereotypes, assumptions and biases. For example, "instructors may assume that students know to seek help when they are struggling" (Yale CTL, n.d.). This bias applies to all students, but other biases tied to students' identities can be equally if not more dangerous, such as assuming that students from specific ethnicity groups will be underprepared. As a teacher of an online or hybrid class, you may have to look at unconscious bias in a different light. Here are a couple of initial steps you can take to address unconscious bias:
Read (and think) more about implicit bias: In his article on the implicit biases, David Gooblar (2017) summarized different articles and workshops on this topic and outlined a few strategies to get started. Yale's Center for Teaching and Learning (n.d.) shares examples of common implicit biases. Consider which of these apply to an online or hybrid course. For example, since you may never see your students in person, which biases may not emerge? Which biases might be stronger? Are there activities that you assume students cannot do as well online, so you avoid assigning them?
Assess your own potential biases: Start with an Implicit Association Test (IAT). For example, if you teach an online or hybrid course in the sciences, you might choose the Gender-Science IAT. Reflect on the results and start an internal dialogue—if you do not agree with or are surprised by the results, ask yourself what conclusions you can draw honestly and how you can become more aware of potential biases related to your students. Some faculty identify approaches to perform anonymous grading as well.
Learn more about biases and "blind spots": The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University has posted an Implicit Bias Module Series. While it was created originally for K-12 educators, they are worth reviewing. Also, Price Waterhouse Cooper has posted a series of videos about unconscious biases. While their perspective is not focused on education, they do a good job outlining the issues. Take a look!
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