Research tells us that first-generation college students, students of color, or students who have experienced economic disadvantage often graduate at much lower rates than other students. As faculty, there are actions we can take to impact this. Academic confidence and sense of belonging are directly correlated with high GPAs and retention rates - particularly for underserved students. Use these research-tested strategies to help your students persist and succeed. 

 ⭐ Stars mean beyond-average choices that may require more planning on the instructor’s part. 

6 Pillars of Equitable and Engaging Design

These pillars come out of research in learning science, including topics like culturally responsive teaching and Universal Design for Learning (see sources below)

Meaning -  A meaningful curriculum connects to students’ lives - their goals and dreams for the future as well as their previous experiences, background and community. A sense of meaning is a major factor in motivation.

Access / Transparency - - This pillar refers to targeted measures to remove specific barriers to access that different student populations may encounter. Transparency specifically refers to helping students peek behind the pedagogical curtain to clearly understand not only the “what” of what they are doing, but also the “why”

Scaffolding - Scaffolding refers to activities which support the processes students need to learn. Like the scaffolding on a building, they are a temporary support to buttress student learning as it’s being built.  

Autonomy/Flexibility/Power - the ability to make choices in one’s work (or education), or to impact a situation or environment can be deeply motivating. A basic principle of Universal Design for Learning, autonomy often allows students the flexibility to demonstrate their understanding, showcase their strongest skills, or work at their personal peak times.   

Belonging/Collaboration - Belonging refers to students' ability to feel comfortable and accepted “showing up” as their whole selves in class. Collaboration and belonging are two sides of the same coin. Collaboration with peers can be a key aspect of belonging, where students strive to make meaning with peers. Both are positively correlated with persistence and student success. 

Mentoring relationships - students are motivated when they feel connected to a mentor who cares. “Students are more likely to lean in and apply themselves at a higher level when they know their instructor believes in them (Gay, 2000; Hammond, 2015; Ladson-Billings, 1994).” - Michelle Pacansky-Brock

Applying the Pillars

Below are four high-leverage areas of instruction where the pillars can be applied.

Area 1 - Welcoming 

1. Meaning - ⭐ Students are helped to understand the “big ideas” of the course early. These could be key questions or real-life connections. Helps students understand why this is worth studying!

2. Access/Transparency 

1. students can easily access information that helps them get grounded in the basics of the course, including syllabus, how to reach the instructor, access technical support and information about how to get started (see our pre-semester checklist for details).

2. Make course rules, resources and accommodations explicit. The reason? Research suggests that first-generation students may not be familiar with the “hidden rules” and resources of college. These can include the practice of asking for extensions and accommodations, office hours (and why they exist!), as well as campus supports like tutoring, student services, counseling or disability services. 

3. Mentorship - a warm, enthusiastic welcome helps students meet the human who will be teaching them. A short, imperfect video sent out before classes begin, a humanizing instructor bio and/or welcome letter all can be helpful!

4. Belonging/Collaboration - activities that help students connect with peers AND indicate that all cultures, backgrounds, etc. are welcome are good for this. Ideas might include icebreakers, class introductions, and/or pre-semester survey. 

5. Autonomy/Power - ⭐ Letting student voices be heard in the classroom early on is helpful. Examples: an icebreaker that allows students to share their own stories, or the creation of a group classroom charter. 

Area 2 - Assessments 

1. Meaning- Assessments are connected to, and measure, whole-course outcomes.  

1. ⭐ Assessments are based in authentic, real-life questions, dilemmas or projects.  

2. ⭐ Opportunities for students to bring in prior knowledge, culture, community or life experiences into assessments.

2. Scaffolding -  Scaffolding in assessment can mean allowing students to assess their own progress on key skills and knowledge. Formative assessments (low-stakes assessments) that allow students to get feedback in a low-risk environment before a major assessment are particularly important.

3. Transparency - Assessments are created using the TILT Higher Ed model, with purpose, tasks, and criteria for success clearly delineated

4. Autonomy ⭐ Assessments offer aspects of autonomy and student choice (in either format or content).  ⭐ There are opportunities for student goal-setting, self-assessment, and collaboration in assessing their own learning. 

Area 3 -  Course Activities and Readings/Materials

1. Scaffolding 

1. Learners are given opportunities for guided practice, feedback, and chances to repeat instruction or information - particularly in the areas where students are known to struggle.

2. Learners have access to supports to access course readings and resources (vocabulary, translation, background information, help understanding structure, etc.).

2. Meaning 

1. ⭐ Course activities and materials are connected to “big ideas” and student goals in the course.  Activities should support whole course and unit-level learning goals. 

2. ⭐ There are opportunities for students to bring in prior knowledge or life experiences into course activities.

3. Instances of bias in the discipline, either historical or current, are addressed and discussed. A social justice lens is used to look at practical applications of theory.

4. ⭐Course readings reflect diverse voices, not just authors/creators from historically dominant demographic groups, particularly in foundational work on disciplinary theory and practice.

3. Collaboration/Belonging - 

1. Students are given opportunities to build meaning and understanding with peers.

2.  ⭐ Activities that build community and create a sense of belonging continue throughout the course. 

4. Access

1. ⭐ Course materials and tech are zero or low cost.

5. Autonomy/Flexibility/Power 

1. Activities are chosen that allow students to express themselves in different ways (examples: written reflections, exit tickets, peer work, digital bulletin boards like Jamboards, whole class discussion etc.). 

2. ⭐ Learners have some input into what they are reading and learning - for example, a student-created index or library of resources on a topic.

3. ⭐ Learners have some choice about how they interact with these course activities, or which ones.

6. Mentorship - ⭐ Students have a chance to connect individually with the instructor (for example through conferences, individualized feedback, etc.)

Area 4 - Technology 

1. Access

1.  Course materials and tech are accessible to all learners, and follow standard accessibility guidelines.

2.   ⭐ Course materials and tech are zero or low cost.

2. Meaning 

1. Course technology is aligned with and supports course goals.

3. Scaffolding

1. Technology is introduced like any new course material, and students are given instructions, opportunities to practice, and resources to troubleshoot any new technology in the course. 

4. Autonomy - ⭐ Learners have some choice or autonomy about course materials and tech (for example, which materials they access, or how). 

Further Reading

Equitable and engaging design just-in-time resources- dig deeper into these topics in 5-20 minutes

• Pacansky-Brock, Michelle. How and Why to Humanize your Online Class   - Well-sourced infographic with eight concrete strategies to create an equitable learning environment. 5-minute read.

• How to Teach a Good First Day of Class. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 5-minute read.

• Equity Unbound – OneHE - Community building activities - website sharing active learning, community building and culturally responsive class activities.  

• Honeycutt, Barbi. Episode 28: Underprepared Students in the College Classroom: Working with "At Potential" Populations with Dr. Newton Miller  - podcast episode sharing foundational equity teaching practices. by Barbi Honeycutt, Ph.D. Lecture Breakers Podcast. 50 minutes.

• Mary Ann Winkelmes Unwritten Rules for College Success 4-minute video playlist

• About Universal Design for Learning - Short video and graphic explaining some principles of UDL. CAST 2021

Sources 

• Berrett, D. (2015, September 21). The unwritten rules of college. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/The-Unwritten-Rules-of/233245

• Honeycutt, Barbi. Episode 28: Underprepared Students in the College Classroom: Working with "At Potential" Populations with Dr. Newton Miller  - podcast episode sharing foundational equity teaching practices. by Barbi Honeycutt, Ph.D. Lecture Breakers Podcast.

• Honeycutt, Barbi. Episode 44: How to Create a Culture of Connection in Your Synchronous and Asynchronous Online Courses with Chad Littlefield  by Barbi Honeycutt, Ph.D. Lecture Breakers Podcast.

• Strategies for Improving Student Retention (Hanover Research) and  How to improve student persistence and completion (Vincent Tito - Inside Higher Ed). 

• Levesque, Elizabeth Mann. Improving community college completion rates by addressing structural and motivational barriers. Brookings. October 8, 2018.

• Meyers, S.A. Do Your Students Care About Whether You Care About Them?  - This article describes recent research on the positive impacts of relationships between students and instructors, common fears and pitfalls, and practical tips. (2009). Do your students care whether you care about them? College Teaching, 57, (4) 205-210.

• Miller, Michelle. One big thing I’ll keep from my remote-redesigned courses this year (Hint: It’s got nothing to do with technology) - Education researcher and cognitive scientist Dr. Michelle Miller writes about her decision to eliminate late-work penalties, replacing them with more flexible deadlines. 

• Pacansky-Brock, Michelle. How and Why to Humanize your Online Class   - Well-sourced infographic with eight concrete strategies to create an equitable learning environment. 

• Weimer, M. Lessons on Learning - This author describes the personal, conceptual and strategic shifts that led her to rethink teaching and learning design and move in a more student-centered direction.  (2002). Learner Centered Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

• Winkelmes, Mary-Ann, Matthew Bernacki, Jeffrey Butler, Michelle Zochowski, Jennifer Golanics, and Kathryn Harriss Weavil. “A Teaching Intervention that Increases Underserved College Students’ Success.” (2016). (https://www.aacu.org/peerreview/2016/winter-spring/Winkelmes)

• Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us.

• Hammond, Zaretta. Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. (2014). Corwin. 

Further Reading: 

• Ainley, M., Hidi, S., & Berndorff, D. (2002). Interest, learning, and the psychological processes that mediate their relationship. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 545–561. 

• Cohen, G. L., & Steele, C. M. (2002). A barrier of mistrust: How stereotypes affect cross-race mentoring. In J. Aronson (Ed.), Improving academic achievement: Impact of psychological factors on education (pp. 205-331). Academic Press

• Cordova, D. I., & Lepper, M. R. (1996). Intrinsic motivation and the process of learning: Beneficial effects of contextualization, personalization, and choice. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 715–730.

• Immordino-Yang, M. H. (2016). Emotions, learning, and the brain: Exploring the educational implications of affective neuroscience. W.W. Norton & Company.

• Urdan, T., & Schoenfelder, E. (2006). Classroom effects on student motivation: Goal structures, social relationships, and competence beliefs. Journal of School Psychology, 44, 331–349.

• Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2007). A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1), 82.

• Wood, J. L., Harris, F. III, & White, K. (2015). Teaching men of color in the community college: A guidebook. Lawndale Hill. 

• Woodside, B. M., Wong, E. H., & Weist, D. J. (1999). The effect of student-faculty interaction on college students' academic achievement and self concept. Education, 119, 730–733.

Examples: 

2019 Summer Teaching Institute - Leveraging Students’ Curiosity and Prior Knowledge to Cultivate Deep Learning in High- and Low-Stakes Writing Assignments (example of infusing meaning, collaboration and autonomy into activities).

6 Pillars of Equitable and Engaging Design © 2021 by Abby Machson-Carter is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

Can your iPad read to you?! Well, yes....with a little work

How to access accessibility features....as of Oct. 2016!

Today I took yet another stab at having my iPad read to me.

I'm a sucker for learning while listening...especially since I spend a lot of time in the kitchen: cooking, prepping, cleaning, putting away dishes, etc.

This turns out to be a perfect time for me to listen to recordings, videos or podcasts!

This morning I had kind of burned out on podcasts, I knew I had reading to do for my graduate class, and I wanted to try a trick I'd learned about from my co-workers at CAST (an accessibility in education non-profit): having my iPad read to me.

Anxiety, fear & work avoidance - the missing link

 Review of "Skill-Building Approaches to Anxiety-Fueled Work Avoidance"

I love this article.  

As an executive function coach, I've been focused on strategies with my new clients.   What app can I suggest to a young person?  What kind of grid can we make to help them plan their homework?  What accessible technology can I teach them?

In this flurry of reaching for the "right" tool to share or show (and worrying that I won't remember the "right" one for them in the moment!), I'm realizing that it's easy to overlook the more important, and, in my experience, the deeper and more intuitive side of executive function issues: the mental space that goes along with success or failure.    Because at the end of the day, what is procrastination, task avoidance, task initiation problems, or lack of planning?  According to this article, it's a challenge, struggle or deficit often coupled with anxiety.   

Here's my take on CLT & constructivism:

....it's a work in progress.

Cognitive Load Theory asks the intriguing question: is it ever helpful to withhold information from students?

This question matters to this debate because, in the end, this is at the heart of constructivism.  The idea is that students uncover information & principles through their own investigation - and thus "own" this information in a way that is completely different than if they had simply been told to memorize a rule or concept by rote.

For example, I've read about teaching elementary students about calculating volume not by teaching a formula, but by having them mess around with 3-D models of buildings, shapes made of 1 cm blocks, jars of different sizes filled with water, and by having them predict & calculate volume, and, when faced with unexpected results, find their own motivation to explore more, gather more data, and develop a rule on their own.

To me, that sounds mega-cooler than simply memorizing a formula.

Constructivism & Cognitive Load Theory: fight to the finish?

So, my most recent instructor had a bunch of readings on these two theories.  (If you bothered to read this post, I'm assuming you are some kind of education nerd like me and are somewhat familiar with these....if not...may I recommend wikipedia or...Wikipedia...?)

But in any event...in many of the articles I've read about these approaches, it seems like the authors are putting them in opposition to each other.  That there is a great debate about how to teach people and Only One May Prevail.  I get this for battling academicians out to make their reputations.  But for me as a teacher...I almost can't understand how I wouldn't use both...

Constructivism, as I understand it, is tied intimately to the project of sense-making or meaning-making.  As I get it, it involves presenting learners with a problem or discrepancy, and asks them to try to a) solve the problem and b) as a result of their observations and experiences, come up with general principals or theories related to the topic. (am I getting warm, oh studiers of educational theory?)

To me, this is very appealing.  It imagines learners as active participants as opposed to recipients of knowledge - not bank accounts where information may be deposited, but rather sovereign humans, with experiences and opinions and brains, who learn through their own analysis of their world.

Cognitive Load Theory, as I've encountered it thus far, is just a different animal.  It looks at how our brains work, particularly our two different kinds of memory, and how new things are (or are not) integrated with old things that we already know.

To me, this is also very appealing.  It draws its lifeblood from carefully controlled research and statistics, and interrogates some of our treasured notions of teaching.  It looks at how we actually process information and solve problems, and challenges us as teachers to justify why we are including each element - will it really help learners understand new material?

The Cognitive folks seems, so far, to be either dismissive or...carefully neutral around constructivist teaching.   Most CLT research has been completed around simple problems in the STEM fields with correct answers and easily-testable solutions.  I think this research has brought us tremendous insight...but does not encompass the all of teaching.

The $64,000 question these days is - what about complex, unpredictable problems?  What about problems for which the very method of solving them is unknown?  How can we prepare students for that?
And of course...innovation.  Can we prepare students for "creativity" or "innovation" or are those things a bit immune to teaching?

My answer, in the next post....

Digital tools for reading & writing

Resources?  You want resources?  We got resources!

Well, after a whole summer of researching & learning about how to make a writing class "safe for all brains" - one answer I came up with was...technology.   "Productivity Tools" (so-called) can allow students to add whatever supports are necessary for them without self-identifying as "disabled" or even "different."    The truth is...we all can use support for some aspect of our workload - why force students into a certain medicalized box in order to get the support they need?   Using technology allows for students to personalize HOW they learn.  

But what tools should I be using?

The truth is, there is an endless supply of tools to help students, and more (and better!) ones are being developed all the time.   Main areas to think about are reading, writing, brainstorming/pre-writing, attention/distraction support, vocabulary support for ELL students, and ways for students aural, instead of visual processing in reading & thinking (like using voice recorders to jot down ideas, screencast tools to demonstrate understanding, or text-to-speech tools to read).   These tools can instantly make your class more accessible...if you're willing to think about how to teach technology as well as your subject matter.  (I'll report back this semester, but from what everyone says, students can get a real kick out of working with some of these tools!)

So here's a great article to get you started.   It's mostly focused on tools that can be used as part of Google Drive/Chrome browser extensions (perfect for K-12 schools using Chromebooks....less perfect for a crazy diverse BYOD environment like Higher Ed), but if you like the concept, there are apps and programs that do most of this stuff that you can find simply by using any internet browser.

Enjoy!


18 Digital Tools and Strategies That Support Students' Reading and Writing

And here is one teacher's website with links to a gosh-darn plethora of useful tools (mostly Google or Chrome-centric!) to help with pre-writing, reading, research & editing.  Totally awesome:
 Inspired Writing by Dana Levesque

What can we learn from...pre-school teachers?!

review of Hybrid Pedagogy's "LEARNING FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: HIGHER ED AND THE PROCESS OF BECOMINg"

This article, remarkably, touches on a lot of concepts that I've been thinking about as a teacher lately.  These include issues like how to encourage a growth mindset, learning as risk taking (and how to encourage it), and how to bring aspects of affect into the classroom (i.e. how to care about students as whole learners, not just a set of skills- for of course skill growth and how one feels about oneself as a learner are deeply connected!).    While the authors compare the way a pre-k teacher might give a gentle hug to a student, they list "other ways to 'hold'" students by talking to students about their own concerns, goals and intentions, and "In these ways we hope to separate our care for them as persons from assignment grades or other elements of class."   Lovely. 

Another section that struck me was in their section about respecting students as human equals, with the idea that setting ourselves up as holders of knowledge doesn't make room for knowing and learning to be a two way street, and takes away students' ability to influence a course:

 It is almost as if we make a deal with students: we will give you information if you leave your self, who you are and what you otherwise care about, at the door (and we promise we’ll do the same). Learning will be better, we imply, if it’s not mixed up with actually being people.

Yikes.  And yet....as much as I base my thinking about education on non-"banking" principles, I've come to run a very transfer-based course.   My students need so much guidance around writing that I did not feel comfortable letting them "flounder" - pursuing the same old strategies that have led to failure in the past.  At the same time, although my course doesn't leave a lot of room for students to choose their own topics, I'm trying hard to more explicitly create room for their responses and experiences in their writing.  In the end, how the hell else can students have an opinion or form an argument if it's not based on some part of their own life experience?

[To deal with this problem,] teachers can minimize traditional forms of information transfer (lecture or videos). In their stead, we can create environments where students care about practicing, feel supported in practicing, and are challenged to practice both disciplinary and soft skills.

This to me is the real challenge.   In my online courses, I have had experiences where I care about practicing.  It is always where one of two things is happening: 1) a topic I feel passionately about or 2) knowledge that moves me forward in my profession (or both!).  This week I'm excited to learn video software, read new articles, and work on a research paper on supporting neurodiversity in a writing classroom because I feel thankful to be learning these things!  Anything that feels un-relevant immediately sparks up boredom, annoyance and resistance .  In this way, I think being a student myself, and reflecting on that experience, has been the best guide for me as a teacher.  Without empathy for their experience as learners, how can we design learning that makes sense to them!?