My co-facilitator and I will be presenting for our learning community at MSU’s Spring Teaching and Learning conference on incorporating equitable pedagogy into the classroom. We will cover practices from the readings we have done over the spring semester.

Abstract: Increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in higher education aim to cultivate learning spaces where all students have the ability to thrive and succeed. Our learning community, Equitable Pedagogy: Removing Barriers to Learning, has spent the year reviewing methods for making the classroom more inclusive. In this workshop, we want to share those practices with our participants. Many components of our course design can affect our students’ perceptions of belonging. This workshop will explore how we as instructors can choose to be more equitable in our classrooms towards the creation of more inclusive learning environments. Our focus will be on the course syllabus as a framework to discuss the many ways in which we as instructors can better address issues of equity. Topics will include language and tone of the syllabus, flexible course structure options, fair attendance and late work policies, providing opportunities for collaboration and social connectedness, instructor presence, and equitable grading policies.

Participants should bring their course syllabus to the workshop to annotate as we openly discuss practical ways to increase equity and inclusion within our courses. The workshop is relevant to in-person, online, and hybrid courses.