Main Takeaways
All students should feel that their perspectives and experiences are valued
Students will participate in different ways and this should be supported
Participation should extend beyond simple in-class interactions to more significant engagement in the learning process
Quick Wins
Changes you can easily implement to make a difference in your teaching and in the learning and experiences of your students
- Clearly communicate that inclusion is valued: Consider adding an inclusion statement on your syllabus and discussing inclusion at the beginning the course with regular reminders of this value
- Set expectations for class interactions: Create explicit guidelines for the class community to follow during discussions that make room for students to share their perspectives and that foster an environment of mutual respect (UCSD Principles of Community)
- Be intentional with how you ask questions: Ask open-ended questions and pause to provide students with time to think together or solo before asking for responses
- Acknowledge and encourage contributions: Provide positive feedback on student contributions and frame any critique or corrections in a way that does not discourage further participation
- Create asynchronous opportunities for participation: Utilize tools like Canvas discussion boards or Padlet to encourage students to engage with course content and with each other outside of class and highlight insights from these discussions in class
Bigger Impact
What more can be done to have a long-term, positive impact in your teaching and on your students’ learning and experiences in linguistics?
Suggestion #1: Create opportunities for active learning
Rather than asking students to passively take in and then respond to information, seek ways to make learning an active process that students engage in during class.
Why?
- Actively involving students in learning can encourage them to share their unique perspectives and experiences
- Creating more opportunities for interaction in the classroom environment can help to reveal misunderstandings or gaps in students’ prior knowledge
- Active learning involves students in the process of learning, giving them greater agency in their own learning
How?
- Design opportunities for students to critically reflect on core concepts and on their own understanding both inside and outside of class (see this Getting Started with Active Learning Guide for many specific examples)
- Incorporate structured opportunities for students to engage with one another in pairs or small groups about course material through discussion or problem solving
- Consider adopting a flipped classroom for some or all class sessions by providing students with materials such as readings or pre-recorded lectures before class and then devoting class time to activities that invite students to apply the knowledge
Suggestion #2: Involve students in shaping aspects of the course
Invite students to be co-creators in learning by giving them choice and agency in shaping aspects of the learning experience, both small and large.
Why?
- Giving students an opportunity to substantively shape their learning experience disrupts the typical power imbalance between instructors and students in the classroom
- Allowing students to have a say in the design of aspects of the class can promote greater engagement
- Inviting all students in a class, rather than a selected set, to participate in co-creation of learning helps to avoid reproducing existing inequities (Bovill 2020)
How?
- Give students the opportunity to contribute to course policies, such as community guidelines for discussions and grading contracts (see the Assessment & Grading page for more information about grading contracts)
- Collect student feedback regularly through tools like exit tickets and mid-quarter feedback surveys and respond to student feedback with substantive changes
- Engage students as co-creators in the learning process through allowing them to give input on course content and the types of assignments that will be used to assess knowledge
Linked Resources
Inclusion statements for syllabus. UCSD Teaching+Learning Commons Engaged Teaching Hub.
Getting started with active learning guide. UCSD Teaching+Learning Commons Engaged Teaching Hub.
Flipped classroom. UT Austin Center for Teaching and Learning.
Co-creation in learning and teaching: the case for a whole-class approach in higher education. Bovill, Catherine. 2020. Higher Education 79(6):1023-1037.
Sample exit tickets. Brown University Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning.
Collecting and responding to early student feedback. UCSD Teaching+Learning Commons Engaged Teaching Hub.