Inclusive Course Design

Essentials of Inclusive Courses

Infusing Equity

Watch the Beyond Pedagogy: Infusing Equity into Your Syllabus, Assignments, and Course Content video to learn about infusing equity into your syllabus, assignments, and course content (if prompted, use your RIC login information).

Components of Inclusive Courses

Take a look at Know how your own background influences your teaching, a web resource from Tufts University, and consider these components of inclusive courses:

Equitable Access

Ensure that technology and content (e. g., videos, readings) are accessible to all learners. Examples of accessible content include video captioning, materials that can be read by a screen reader for students with visual impairments, and appropriate use of colors for students with colorblindness.

Content and Representation

ensure that your course content includes voices of diverse scholars, criticisms, and perspectives
ensure imagery of people in lecture slides and other materials is representative of diverse identities
ensure that examples you use in class, assignments, and on exams are representative of diverse identities.

Foster a Growth Mindset in Students

Students mistakenly believe that learning is easy. When they struggle to learn something, they mistakenly believe that they are not suited for college and not able to succeed. Normalize the idea of "struggle" for students by having them understand that struggle is normal, they are not alone, and the struggle indicates that they are engaging in deeper learning. Read more about how to foster a growth mindset in students.

Cultivate Academic Belonging

Academic belonging is described as "... the extent to which students feel personally accepted, included, and supported at school, and includes school-based experiences, students’ relationships with teachers and peers, and students’ general feelings about school." (from the Institutes of Education Sciences.) Read more about class practices and interventions to cultivate academic belonging in students.

Flexible Course Policies

RIC students are multicultural and have multiple responsibilities (school, caregiving, work, etc). To meet their learning needs, consider how to build flexibility into your policies regarding attendance/participation, religious and cultural observances, late work, missed exams, etc. Building these policies into your course design and stating them on your syllabus is a more equitable approach than granting individual allowances on a case-by-case basis.

Include Students in Decisions

When possible, include students in decisions about the course. Involving students in aspects of decision-making about a course creates a greater sense of equity, belonging, and ownership of their learning. While not possible for all aspects of a course, consider when you might allow students opportunities to share in decision-making, such as setting ground rules for discussions; choosing assignments or topics for assignments; or shared expectations for completing group projects.

Additional Resources

Inclusive Teaching (Brown University)
Inclusive Course Design (Harvard University)
Inclusive Teaching Resources (Marquette University)

Understanding diverse learners

RIC students identify in many ways: First-generation students, Students with disabilities, Racially and ethnically diverse, Diverse genders and sexualities, Traditional college-age and adult learners, Active military and veterans, Commuter and residential students, Caregivers, and more.

To learn more about these diverse identities and how it informs your teaching, review these resources:

Reaching Neurodiverse Students: Course Creation Strategies

Creating a Sense of Belonging for BIPoC in a College Course

Simple Strategies to Create an Inclusive Classroom for Gender Variant Students

How Do I Design Courses to Enhance Student Veterans' Success?

Accessibility & accommodations

When designing a course, an important consideration is ensuring that the course is inclusive and accessible for all learners. On the whole, faculty have heard the term “accommodations” in relation to their courses; however, many do not realize the distinction between accommodations and accessibility.

Course Accommodations

Accommodations: are modifications made after a course is created that meet the individual needs of a specific student.

Among the most common course accommodations RIC students are likely to receive are: Testing accommodations (e.g., separate location, extended time); Preferred seating; Extra time for assignments; and Assistance through outlines, notetakers, and recordings. Students who are eligible for accommodations work with the RIC Center for Disability Access (CDA) to document their eligibility for an accommodation. The CDA then identifies appropriate accommodations for the students' needs and communicates it to the instructor. Instructors are required by law to provide those accommodations unless it would be a fundamental alteration to the course or program. In those instances, the instructor and or program needs to contact the disability services office to discuss the fundamental alteration (although they are required to provide the accommodation while the request is being reviewed).

Learn More about the CDA

Designing for Accessibility

Accessibility: refers to proactive considerations given when creating a course. These considerations include multiple ways of presenting material (e.g., print, video, audio) that allows students to access the material in the way that is best for them.

Ideally, faculty will give this proactive consideration to make their courses accessible from the outset. It not only serves students with disabilities, but all students benefit from having multiple opportunities to interact with the material. Some key aspects of accessibility include:

Visual Accessibility

Provide alternate copies (e.g., .doc and .pdf) which can be read by a screen reader; Create Alt-text for all pictures and graphics; Pay attention to colors and contrast for people with low vision or color blindness; Make sure everything is keystroke accessible because many who have visual impairments do not use a mouse.

Auditory Accessibility

Videos are closed captioned, which also helps English language learners; Offer an ASL interpreter for people who are deaf; Provide a script either pre- or post-training.

Cognitive Accessibility

Flexibility with timed activities/exams and deadlines; Deliver the same information in multiple ways such as speaking the information, having a picture/graph/video, having a hands-on activity or group activity that supports one concept;

Physical Accessibility

Ability to physically access a building and room; Assistive technology needs; Extra time for transitions and assignments.

Ways to Make Course Materials Accessible video set

Navigating Conflict & Difficult Conversations

Interpersonal conflict appears to increasingly be a part of people's daily experiences. In the course of a day, any given person may be an initiator, recipient, or witness of interpersonal conflict. Reactions to these experiences can include wanting to escape quickly from it, working to diffuse the situation, or actively engaging in the conflict. Conflict can be productive if it is managed in a certain way and leads to solutions; however, it often leaves people feeling angry, unheard, and devalued. Like many skills, conflict management requires learning about and practicing techniques for diffusing such situations.

Bystander Intervention

Bystander Intervention involves recognizing a potentially harmful situation or interaction and choosing to respond in a way that could positively influence the outcome. Research shows that you will help 80% of the time if you are alone but, if others are present, you will help only 20% of the time because of the diffusion of responsibility - you think someone else will do something. As stated in the American Psychological Association's (APA) bystander intervention tip sheet, "when someone witnesses and ignores a prejudiced attack, whether through choice or ignorance of the discriminatory nature of the situation, they can appear to be condoning or reinforcing the offender’s behavior and add to the alienation of the targeted individual. These individuals are referred to as “bystanders”. Violence and aggression, whether macro or micro, perpetuate discrimination based on any characteristic, including age, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, some combination of these, or something else. By finding ways to inform and encourage individuals to respond to prejudiced behavior and speak out against discriminatory words or actions in the moment they occur, we can motivate a society of Upstanders who will make anti-discriminatory behavior the social norm, and create a safer, more inclusive society." Also, read APA's information on how to Intervene when witnessing microaggressions.

Navigating Difficult Conversations

Difficult conversations are often characterized by emotions such as fear, anger, frustration, conflict, and other strong dividing — not unifying — emotions. Even seemingly ordinary conversations can escalate into conflict rather quickly when they are emotionally charged. In our roles as faculty, difficult conversations may arise in any number of circumstances, e.g., talking with a student who has plagiarized, a class discussing a highly charged topic such as racism, or within faculty department or committee meetings. The ability to navigate difficult conversations requires skills that need to be actively cultivated including: Knowing the purpose of the conversation and what you hope to accomplish; Understanding assumptions you are making about the other person's intentions; Understanding your own emotional push-buttons; Listening openly and receptively; Acknowledging the other person's stance; and Maintaining a problem solving perspective, among others. The FCTL has training specific to this topic; please contact us to discuss it further.

Principles for Embracing Productive Conflict

The Illusory Danger Principal. If you can think of a question, you can ask it. The only dangerous question is the belief that dangerous questions exist.
The Benevolent Intention Principal. Encourage others to speak by letting them know that you will work hard to react with charity, curiosity, and the assumption of positive intent.
The likability principle. Reduce the impact of how much you like or dislike people when it comes to making judgments about the content of their messages and how you treat them.
The individual differences principle. Resist treating individuals as representatives of their groups. There is often more heterogeneity within groups than between groups.
The open minded principle. Balance the pressures for conformity with a willingness to explore alternative ideas and perspectives.
The broad diversity principle. Broadened definitions of diversity to go beyond what is visible to include categories of class and socioeconomic status, adversity, neurodiversity, and individual differences in temperament and personality.
The ad hominem principle. Resist the temptation to label people as simply “bad” or a sexist, racist, homophobic, elitist, an ideologue, a snowflake, or the like. Instead, engage in the more nuanced task of grappling with the quality of their ideas and solutions.
The independent thinking principle. Be aware of cognitive biases that afflict everyone, especially confirmation bias and motivated reasoning. Hold the same standards for evidence whether it agrees or disagrees with your initial and preferred positions.
The behavioral evidence principle. Rely on evidence as much as possible, even if this leads toward answers that conflict with your assumptions and preferences.
The personal evolution principle. Each person must commit to learning and growing. This means being willing to let go of ideas that are no longer working or that fail to survive empirical scrutiny

Ten Principles for Embracing Productive Conflict, by Todd Kashdan