Resources

Over the past two decades, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty have been striving to make their teaching practices more inclusive and welcoming to the variety of students who enter college. However, many STEM faculty, even those at teaching-focused institutions, have been educated in a traditional environment that emphasizes research and may not include classroom teaching. This can produce a deficit in training that leaves many STEM faculty feeling uncertain about inclusive teaching practices and their essential undergirding principles. This essay describes an online, evidence-based teaching guide (https://lse.ascb.org/evidence-based-teaching-guides/inclusive-teaching) intended to help fill this gap, serving as a resource for science faculty as they work to become more inclusive, particular with regard to differences in race, ethnicity, and gender. The guide describes the importance of developing self-awareness and empathy for students as a precursor to considering classroom practices. It also explores the role of classroom climate before turning to pedagogical choices that can support students’ sense of belonging, competence, and interest in the course. Finally, the guide suggests that true inclusivity is a community effort and that instructors should leverage local and national networks to maximize student learning and inclusion.

Knowing one’s own professional and social identity is the key first step in developing a classroom built on inclusive relationships. The process of knowing oneself may force a reckoning with our previously unexamined relationships with power structures and can be emotionally uncomfortable. This is not an easy step and will require time and space to engage in the mindset shifts it may engender. For this reason, it is recommended that these steps occur outside of the teaching semester, so the instructor has an opportunity to reflect on the ways the ideas impact their classroom. The book chapters and article summarized and linked at this website can provide guidance for this process.

This is from Dr. Mia Ong’s presentation and is a product of Facing History and Ourselves. Social identity refers to your sense of who you are based on your membership in certain groups.

Carol Dweck studies human motivation. She spends her days diving into why people succeed (or don’t) and what’s within our control to foster success. Her theory of the two mindsets and the difference they make in outcomes is incredibly powerful.

High-school students may improve their science grades by learning about the personal struggles and failed experiments of great scientists such as Albert Einstein and Marie Curie, according to a study led by Professor Xiaodong Lin-Siegler.

This is the process that Dr. Newton Miller shared during his talk.

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A Liquid Syllabus (Pacansky-Brock, 2021, 2014, 2017) is a humanizing element that ensures students start a course feeling supported by their instructor. It intentionally provides students with what they need to succeed in week one of a course, including a warm, friendly face. It should be emailed to students the week prior to the start of a course. Rather than a PDF or a page locked inside a learning management system, it is a public, accessible, mobile-friendly website that opens instantly and renders beautifully on a phone. Students are greeted with a brief, imperfect welcome video at the top; a learning pact that articulates what students can expect from their instructor and what will be expected of them; a list of week one due dates; and tips for success. If policies are included, they are written in welcoming, hopeful language.

This link is to a self-paced, public Canvas course that will walk you through the steps to create a Liquid Syllabus. A Liquid Syllabus is an accessible, public website that incorporates a brief, friendly welcome video and course information written in welcoming, student-centered language (Pacansky-Brock et al, 2020; Pacansky-Brock, 2017, 2014). When used in conjunction with culturally responsive teaching pedagogy, the Liquid Syllabus contributes to creating a more equitable learning environment for all students.

These are the guiding principles we used to guide our interactions during the institute.