Introduction to Inclusive Teaching

Think about an ideal classroom experience: You have a classroom filled with students with various backgrounds, experiences, learning styles, and interests together in the same room, focused on the course content. Through discussions students get to learn from one another on the subject, adding a multifaceted approach through the diversity of the perspectives in the room. The classroom becomes a space where students feel comfortable sharing with one another, and receiving consistent feedback from one another and the professor. During the discussions, the instructor is there to help guide the learning with their expertise but allow the students to drive the conversation. For the assessment students showcase their learning in the class by doing project work related to the course content but focused around a topic or format of their interest.

At the core of that ideal classroom experience is Inclusive teaching. Inclusive teaching is a broad term focused on creating a classroom that empowers both the students and the instructor to create a productive learning environment. We wanted to create this introductory guide to this model to help get you started, but this model isn’t linear, or one size fits all and will need to be an iterative, continuously developing process to match the needs of your students. We have also created a Lehigh-specific resource section to help connect you with relevant offices on campus to help guide your understanding and learn what inclusive teaching means for your field and your class.

Here are 5 steps to help get you started on thinking about Inclusive Teaching in the classroom (Note: Though these steps are numbered, the order is not in order of importance.)

5 Steps & Resources for Inclusive Teaching

1. Share your “why” for assignments, assessments, and 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.

2. Frequent and consistent feedback, 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 coursework 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.

3. 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.

4. Approaching your students with empathy and understanding, 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.

5. 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.

Looking for Suggested Readings on Inclusive Teaching?

CITL staff are currently working with Lehigh’s Outreach Librarians and the Lending Services team on a Libguide with suggested books for Teaching and Learning. One of the areas of focus of this guide will be Inclusive Teaching. The focus of this guide will also be community-driven, and open to suggestions from Lehigh Faculty & Staff. In the meantime, if you have suggestions for materials please email the Instructional Technology team @ initt@lehigh.edu

If you’re looking for a resource to read right now we suggest “Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom“ available through the Lehigh library digitally.

Additional Resources from External Entities and Institutions

• Microsoft Inclusive Design Resources

• Transforming Educational Environments for Neurodiverse Learners in the US (1/31/2024)

• How to Teach Your (Many) Neurodivergent Students (3/29/23)

• Neurodiversity in Engineering

• CAST UDL Guidelines

• Chronicle of Higher Education,  "The Case for Inclusive Teaching" (2/27/18) 

• Facilitating Difficult Race Relations (Wiley white paper) 

• Cornell University’s Inclusive Teaching Strategies

• Yale University’s Inclusive Teaching Strategies.

• Harvard’s Equitable and Inclusive Teaching

• Creating Inclusive College Classrooms Developed by the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching at the University of Michigan. This resource addresses issues related to course content, assumptions and awareness of potential issues, planning of class meetings, and the instructor’s behaviors during class meetings.

• Oxford Brooks University Guide to Inclusive Teaching (pdf)

• “Are College Lectures Unfair?” (Anne Murphy Paul, New York Times, 9/12/2015)

• “Inclusive learning and teaching in higher education: a synthesis of research” Professor Christine Hockings, April 2010

• “How Black Students Tend to Learn Science” (Terrence Ross, The Atlantic 2014)

• “Small World: Crafting an Inclusive Classroom (No Matter What You Teach)" by Mary A. Armstrong

• Implicit Bias, Stereotype Threat & Teaching Strategies that Mitigate their Impact (K. McLaughlin. PPT slides)

• Jo Handlesman Scientific Teaching 

• Understanding Interventions That Encourage Minorities to Pursue Research Careers

• But I Don’t Like Beer: A Guide to Identifying and Reducing Stereotype Threat to Maximize Student Performance. Weslee S. Glenn, Elizabeth M. V. Taylor, and Catherine L. Drennan.

• Ethical Dilemmas in the College Classroom: A Casebook for Inclusive Teaching (Center for the Integration of Teaching, Learning, and Research). 

• University of Denver’s Microaggressions in the Classroom

• Increasing Diversity in the Geosciences

• AI-Detectors Biased Against Non-Native English Writers May 15, 2023 | Andrew Myers University