Skip to Main Content

School of Mathematics and Science DEIB Inclusive Curriculum: Know your students

A project of the School of Math and Science (SOMS) DEIB Inclusive Curriculum subcommittee (Barbara Leitherer, Cristina Cardona, Cristina Voisei, Christine Dubowy, Zafar Waqar) with SOMS DEIB co-chairs Mike Hands and Mary Watkins and librarian Jill Burke.

Reflection Activity

The resource (see link below) is designed to help instructors reflect on a range of equity-focused teaching practices in order to reinforce practices already in use and identify new ones for exploration. The resource is based on 5 principles:·

CRITICAL ENGAGEMENT OF DIFFERENCE: Acknowledging students’ different identities, experiences, strengths, and needs; leveraging student diversity as an asset for learning

· ACADEMIC BELONGING: Cultivating students’ sense of connection to and ability to see themselves in your course, a broader community of scholars, or the discipline

· TRANSPARENCY: Clearly communicating about norms, expectations, evaluation criteria

· STRUCTURED INTERACTIONS: Using protocols or processes that support equitable access and contributions to interactive elements of the learning environment

· FLEXIBILITY: Responding and adapting to students’ changing and diverse circumstances; engaging empathetically with student needs, both emerging and persistent; balancing intentional design and commitment to providing accommodations for equitable learning

Reflecting on your practice and examples full document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UK3HFQv-3qMDNjvt0fFPbts38ApOL7ghpPE0iSYJ1Z8/edit#heading=h.jpn4aqiglg05

Database

Ascertain Your Students' Background

Use formal and informal assessments to gain insight on students’ past academic experiences, goals, and concerns. Learn about what students are or are not learning, address prior and ongoing challenges students face so instructional approaches, teaching materials, and academic support can be tailored to the students' needs.

 

Introductory survey Sample: MATH Introductory Survey

 

Diagnostic assessments (identify prior knowledge, skills, and competency gaps) How to Assess students’ prior knowledge from Carnegie Mellon University

 

Assess ongoing challenges Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS) from DePaul University

 

Weekly students' feedback: gain insight on what topics students struggled with that week, what additional resources are needed to assist students. Example: Weekly questions

 

End of semester survey Sample: End of semester

Tools for creating surveys or pools: https://resources.depaul.edu/teaching-commons/teaching-guides/technology/other-teaching-tools/Pages/surveys-and-forms.aspx