Teaching and Learning in the Diverse Classroom

The following resources were “mined” from Cornell’s EdX course Teaching and Learning in the Diverse Classroom. This free course is still available and is highly recommended for all Union College faculty. If you’d like to pay to upgrade to receive certification for taking the course, please contact Dean Fredricks.

Read:

• Setting Expectations for Inclusion
• Diversity Statements: Why and How
• Student Centered Teaching Methods
• Steps for Writing Learning Outcomes
• Promoting Student Engagement
• Tips and Strategies for Difficult Conversations
• Classroom Assessment Techniques

 

 

How to Create an Inclusive Syllabus

• Read: The Promising Syllabus, by Dr. Jim Lang
• Explore:
  • Tulane’s Accessible Syllabus Project, which provides four guidelines for creating a more inclusive and accessible syllabus. They created the website to help “instructors build a syllabus that plans for diverse student abilities and promotes an atmosphere in which students feel comfortable discussing their unique abilities.”
  • Include a Welcoming Diversity Statement on your Syllabus
  • Include a Welcoming Accessibility Statement on your Syllabus
• Explore: Dr. Tona Hangen’s Inclusive/Accessible Syllabi

Here you can find all of Dr. Tona Hangen’s (Associate Professor of History at Worcester State University) published syllabi. She is a pioneer in creating inclusive/accessible syllabi, sharing them freely to inspire other faculty. All her syllabi are are licensed under Creative Commons license as Open Content with attribution and with no commercial uses–which means you can us and adapt them for your courses, with attribution.

Read more about her philosophy on creative, inclusive syllabus design, including how she creates them technically. Contact the Learning Design and Digital Innovation team if you are interested in revamping your syllabi and would like some help.

Here are a few specific examples of her syllabi:

Union College hosted its first ever, virtual mini-conference, focused on inclusive pedagogies on December 3, 2021. The research shows that designing your courses to help each student feel like they belong improves student learning for everyone. Each of the six sessions spotlighted an inclusive pedagogy with concrete instructional strategies you can try in your courses.

Watch recorded sessions
Session materials