Working towards a more equitably engaged classroom requires an honest assessment and reflection of the teaching practices you are already employing in your classroom. A holistic approach to equity in the digital learning environment will ensure that all students have an equitable opportunity to succeed, no matter their background.
This article will explore three sectors in the digital classroom where equity can be established: the learning environment, the curriculum, and fair assessment. Addressing these three specific questions can point you in the right direction when it comes to creating equitable engagement in your classroom:
- Is the language I am using inclusive?
- Does my curriculum reflect and resonate with my students?
- Are my assessment practices fair and equitable?
Is the language I am using inclusive?
Masterful and purposeful use of inclusive language can set a good example and foundation for your students in the learning environment, resulting in a strong sense of belonging to the classroom community. While language can be used to exclude any and everyone, inclusive language can be used to include marginalized and underrepresented communities such as women, LGBTQIA+, and racial and ethnic groups. One easy way to change the way you use language to be more inclusive is to stop using gender-specific language in the way you address your students. Switching from “guys” or “ladies and gentlemen” to “folks” or “everyone” may not seem like a small change, but this subtle change demonstrates purposeful effort toward including everyone (Bilger, 2002). With inclusive language as the foundation for a more equitable classroom, your students of diverse backgrounds will be made to feel that the digital classroom is a place in which they are welcome to participate, lending toward more equitable engagement.
Does my curriculum reflect and resonate with my students?
Answering this question can be particularly challenging for new professors and instructors who are teaching a curriculum developed by universities and course coordinators/leads. While you may not have ownership over the development of the curriculum as a new section instructor, you can still diversify resources and projects for more equity by asking yourself, “Is my curriculum reflective of the demographics that I am teaching and are the resources as culturally diverse as the students?”
Diverse curricula are important to the success of all students, minority and majority. They create more equitable opportunities for minority and marginalized students to participate in higher education (Laird, 2014). Not only do diverse curricula create more opportunities for students from different backgrounds, it also prepares all students with the skills and knowledge that employers desire. Employers seek employees with cultural competence and the skills to be able to work cross-culturally and colleagues with different perspectives. Providing students with resources and materials which were developed by minority researchers would be a great foundation for a diversifying curricula. Guest speakers and lecturers from different backgrounds are also encouraged.
Are my assessment practices fair and equitable?
First, to ensure student success, it is important to incorporate multiple methods of assessment. Every student has an assessment style that best demonstrates their competency, and incorporating different types of assessments like research papers, group presentations, timed Q&A, etc. could allow your students to showcase their knowledge in a multitude of ways. To even take it a step further, allowing students to choose from different choices would increase student buy-in (Montenegro & Jankowski, 2017).
When designing assessments or administering ones that were created for your course, make sure to explicitly state learning objectives that you are assessing/grading in the assignment. Incorporating these objectives provide the students with formative goals they must reach when displaying their knowledge and application in various assessment forms (research papers, group presentations, video reflections, etc.) Implementing specific goals in assessments can be the first step towards a more successful assessment process (McArthur, 2016).
What does this all mean?
Making a few changes means a more equitably engaged class, and it requires a multifaceted approach. The three key areas identified in this article will help you adapt to the changing demographics of your students and give them all a sense of belonging in the classroom. While these strategies are not all encompassing, it is a positive step in the right direction with specific intention for inclusion. The next article in this series will provide further strategies to initiate for equitable engagement. Share in the comments any insights you have toward equitable engagement in your digital classrooms.
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