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5 Steps & Resources for Inclusive Teaching
Share your “why” for assignments, assessments, really any pedagogical construct in the class. This will help generate buy-in from students and help students understand that these activities are working towards relevant learning objectives.
Frequent and consistent feedback, this should work in both directions. Frequent instructor feedback will help students understand how they’re doing in the class and if they’re meeting the course work expectations. Giving students the opportunity to give feedback on the course will help you tailor your content to best match how your class learns best. This can range from feedback surveys, online discussion boards, informal formative assessments, in-class conversations, etc… Informal formative assessments such as exit tickets, muddiest point conversations or polling tools to “take the temperature” of the lesson to see if your students are understanding the content.
Student voice and choice, starting with a pre-semester survey to see your students prior knowledge, interest in the subject, how they like to learn, etc… can help you give them projects that they find relevant and want to work on. Also giving students options for the modality of the project will let them approach your class subject through their interests which will help them find more relevancy of the course materials.
Approaching your students with empathy and understanding, this will help foster a classroom environment where students that is flexible to meet your students learning needs. Also focusing on making your coursework accessible such as screen readable PDFs, captions on video content, or meeting student accommodations on assessments. Accessible course content is necessary for some students but it’s beneficial for all, if you’re interested in making your course more accessible check out MoodleAcademy’s course on accessibility.
Scaffolding your lessons and assignments with low-stakes versions of your projects and lessons earlier in the semester so students are comfortable with the flow of the course and are ready for the higher stakes assessments that come later in the semester.
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