Category: Inclusive Teaching

by Chris Grabau, Instructional Developer, Reinert Center With the recent events surrounding the Stockley verdict, renewed conversations related to race, privilege, class and equity can make their way into the classroom.  Facilitating dialogue and creating an equitable learning environment can be a challenging task even for the most seasoned faculty member. Last year, the Reinert… Continue reading Resources to help facilitate difficult dialogues in the classroom

by Chris Grabau, Instructional Developer, Reinert Center The ability to practice empathy has become a popular topic lately.  As an important component for inclusive teaching and a crucial interpersonal skill necessary for a the 21st Century job market (Markham, 2016; National Research Council, 2013), empathy is often defined as a combination of behaviors that include… Continue reading Strategies to Enhance Empathy Development in College Teaching

by Debie Lohe, Director, Reinert Center The syllabus is a fraught document. It needs to do different kinds of work, for different kinds of audiences, and often these differences seem downright contradictory. Although a dominant metaphor for the syllabus is that of a contract, other metaphors also apply - and often resonate more with faculty:… Continue reading The Graphic Syllabus

by Sandy Gambill, Sr. Instructional Developer, Reinert Center The idea that individuals learn in different ways has been around for centuries. “As early as 334 BC, Aristotle said that “each child possessed specific talents and skills” and he noticed “individual differences in young children.” (Reiff, 92.) Research on learning styles in the 1970s (Kolb’s Experiential… Continue reading Learning Styles Mini-Literature Review

by Chris Grabau, Instructional Developer, Reinert Center "Learning of all kinds goes on best, lasts best, and tends to lead itself on more when it grows out of a real focus of interest in the learner."  - Carl Rogers Establishing an inclusive learning environment can depend on how well instructors encourage and maintain working relationships… Continue reading Person-Centered Perspectives on Inclusive Teaching

A new resource guide on Assessment in Diverse Classrooms [LINK] has been posted to the Reinert Center website [LINK]. If you want to talk with someone about this topic in your own classes, you may request a teaching consultation by completing this form [LINK]. If you have ideas for resource guide topics you would like to see posted, share them here [LINK].

by James Fortney, Instructional Developer, Reinert Center Queer pedagogy is an emerging area of research among scholars and instructors who are committed to creating inclusive learning environments for all students. Informed largely by queer theory and concerned with the experiences of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender learners, queer pedagogy is an interdisciplinary approach that emphasizes… Continue reading Queer Pedagogy

by Gina Merys, Associate Director, Reinert Center While it is easy to think of social media as a place for non-academic conversations or short bursts of impulsive prose, using social media can also be a way to link students’ experiences out of the classroom with what they are learning in the classroom. Not only can… Continue reading Using Twitter to Promote Inclusive Learning

by Debie Lohe, Director, Reinert Center Creating an inclusive learning environment begins with the course syllabus. In spite of how packed with information our syllabi can be, they often exclude more than they include. Disciplinary jargon and institutional abbreviations, the unwritten academic “rules of the game” we assume all students understand, the tone used when… Continue reading Features of an Inclusive Syllabus