Opportunities
A page within Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning (CATL)
Giving students the same opportunities for achievement promotes a positive learning environment. When students perceive fairness in the classroom, they are likely to feel more motivated and engaged, which can improve academic performance. By acknowledging diverse backgrounds and providing necessary support, instructors can foster a sense of belonging, equity, and commitment. Such opportunities can lead to increased effort and academic success. In classrooms where equity is prioritized, students learn to value diverse perspectives in society as well as in the field of study. Educators can play a crucial role in addressing barriers and leveling the playing field.
Understanding Student Responses
Students may indicate they feel they have the same opportunities as others for various reasons:
- Fair and Equitable Treatment: Feeling that the instructor treats all students fairly and without bias. When bias exists, steps are taken to mitigate it.
- Adequate Resources: Having access to necessary resources and support, including technology, study materials, and tutoring services.
- Cultural and Language Inclusivity: Effective accommodation of cultural differences and language proficiency, enhancing understanding and participation.
- Diverse Learning Needs Met: Teaching methods and materials that cater to students’ different background knowledge, experiences, and goals.
- Support for the Whole Student: Recognition of and support for socioeconomic and related challenges, enabling full engagement with the course.
- Universal Design: Comprehensive accommodation for physical or learning disabilities, ensuring equal participation and achievement opportunities.
Teaching Strategy Toolbox
Instructors can improve opportunities for students to achieve in a course through the strategies listed below. We recommend building on what you are already doing and incorporating strategies selectively.
Practice Inclusive Teaching
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Implement Universal Design for Learning principles by providing multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression. This approach accommodates a wide range of learners by offering various ways to access content, participate in activities, and demonstrate understanding.
- Varied Content Delivery: Use a mix of teaching methods, such as lectures, visual aids, hands-on activities, and group discussions, to cater to different learning preferences. This variety ensures that students have the maximum opportunity to engage with the material.
- Flexible Assessment Methods: Offer flexibility in assessment methods, allowing students to demonstrate their understanding in different ways. For example, students could choose between writing an essay, creating a presentation, or completing a project.
- Culturally Responsive Teaching: Incorporate culturally responsive teaching practices by including diverse perspectives and materials in your curriculum. This approach helps ensure that all students see their experiences and backgrounds reflected and valued in the course content.
- Encourage Different Forms of Participation: Recognize that participation can take many forms, from speaking in class to contributing to online forums or working in group projects. Provide various opportunities for students to participate in ways that they are comfortable with, ensuring that all voices have a chance to be heard.
Provide Adequate Resources
- Comprehensive Resource List: Compile and provide a comprehensive list of resources available to students, including textbooks, online materials, library resources, support services, tutoring, and technology support. Ensure this list is easily accessible, perhaps through the course website or a digital learning platform.
- Leverage Open Educational Resources (OER): Utilize Open Educational Resources, which are freely accessible and openly licensed educational materials. OERs can help alleviate the financial burden of expensive textbooks and provide a wider array of learning materials.
- Technology Access and Support: Ensure that all students have access to the technology necessary for the course. This might involve lending out equipment, providing information on where to access free or low-cost technology, and offering technical support for students unfamiliar with required software or platforms.
- Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: Work closely with your institution’s disability services to provide necessary accommodations for students with disabilities. This could include providing course materials in accessible formats, ensuring physical accessibility in the classroom, or making accommodations for assessments.
- Regular Check-Ins on Resource Needs: Regularly check in with students, either through surveys or informal conversations, to assess their access to and needs for additional resources. Be proactive in addressing any gaps or challenges students report.
Address Bias
- Self-Reflection and Education: Regularly engage in self-reflection and seek education on implicit biases. Understanding your own biases is the first step in preventing them from influencing your interactions with students, your teaching methods, and your assessment practices.
- Diverse Representation in Course Materials: Ensure that your course materials represent a diverse range of perspectives and voices. This includes selecting readings, examples, and case studies that reflect a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and cultures.
- Equitable Participation Opportunities: Actively monitor who is participating in class discussions and activities and encourage input from all students. Be mindful of dynamics that may prevent some students from participating, such as language barriers or cultural differences.
- Anonymous Grading Practices: Where possible, use anonymous grading to assess student work. This can help prevent unconscious biases from affecting how you evaluate student performance.
- Inclusive and Fair Feedback: Provide feedback that is constructive, fair, and focused on the work rather than the individual. Be consistent in the way you provide feedback and assessments across all students to ensure fairness and equity.
Support Diverse Needs
- Regular Check-Ins and Feedback Loops: Establish regular check-ins with students to understand their ongoing needs and challenges. Create an environment where students feel comfortable providing feedback about the course's accessibility and their individual needs, allowing for timely adjustments and accommodations.
- Inclusive Teaching Practices: Adopt inclusive teaching practices that consider the diverse needs of all students. This can involve using clear, accessible language for instruction, providing visual aids for complex concepts, and offering various methods for students to engage and demonstrate their understanding.
- Language Support for Non-Native Speakers: For students who are non-native speakers of the course's language, provide additional support such as glossaries of key terms, refer to language tutoring, or consider the option to use translation tools. Students might need extra time for these students to process and respond in class discussions.
- Cultural Sensitivity in Course Content and Discussions: Be culturally sensitive in your course content and classroom discussions. Acknowledge and respect the diverse cultural backgrounds of your students and incorporate global perspectives into your curriculum.
- Flexible Assessment Methods: Offer flexible assessment methods to accommodate different needs. This could include alternative formats for assignments, oral presentations instead of written reports for students with dyslexia or allowing students to demonstrate their learning in the format most comfortable for them.
Encourage Open Communication
- Learning and Using Students' Names: Make an effort to learn and correctly pronounce each student's name. This personal touch can significantly impact students' sense of belonging and comfort in communicating with you.
- Open Door Policy: Establish an open-door policy, indicating that you are available and approachable for students to discuss their needs and challenges. This can be literal open office hours or a virtual equivalent, such as scheduled one-on-one video calls.
- Regular Check-Ins: Proactively check in with students, both in group settings and individually. This can be done through informal conversations before or after class, or through structured feedback sessions or surveys.
- Creating a Safe Space for Dialogue: Foster a classroom environment that is respectful and non-judgmental. Encourage open discussions and assure students that their opinions and concerns are valid and will be heard without negative repercussions.
- Encouraging Peer Support: Promote a peer-supportive environment where students feel comfortable turning to each other for help and advice. This can be facilitated through group work, study groups, or peer mentoring programs.
Monitor and Adjust Practices
- Student Feedback Surveys: Regularly distribute anonymous feedback surveys to students, asking for their input on various aspects of the course, including teaching methods, materials, and classroom dynamics. Use this feedback to identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments.
- Peer Observations and Collaboration: Engage in peer observations where fellow instructors observe your class and provide feedback. Collaborate with colleagues to share teaching strategies and insights.
- Reflective Teaching Practice: Regularly reflect on your teaching practices. After each class, take time to consider what worked well and what didn’t, and think about how you can modify your approach to better meet the needs of all students.
- Assessment Data Analysis: Analyze the results of assessments and assignments for patterns that might indicate inequities or gaps in understanding. Adjust your teaching strategies accordingly to ensure that all students are grasping the material.
- In-Class Participation Monitoring: Pay attention to who is participating in class discussions and activities. If certain students are less engaged, consider altering your approach to encourage broader participation, such as changing discussion formats or incorporating more interactive elements.
Contact Us
CATL staff members are here to support your teaching improvement efforts and would enjoy meeting with you to discuss how to tailor strategies for your unique learning environments. Contact us to arrange a consultation.