Diversity and Identity in the Classroom

Pedagogies for Understanding Race

This term's LSA Theme Semester on "Understanding Race" provides opportunities for U-M instructors across campus to engage their students in productive exploration of questions about race. In connection with the Theme Semester, CRLT is sponsoring a panel later this month on "Pedagogies for Understanding Race."

Four U-M faculty members from a range of LSA departments will share insights they have gained from their experiences teaching courses focused on critical approaches to race. The panelists include:

  • Evelyn Alsultany of American Culture
  • Martha Jones of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS), History, and Law
  • Shari Robinson-Lynk of Social Work and the Ginsberg Center for Community Service Learning
  • Stephen Ward of DAAS and the Residential College

Participants will also hear from organizers of the Theme Semester with more information about the rich array of events, exhibits, and performances taking place across campus throughout the semester. We encourage instructors to spread the news among their students so they can take full advantage of the Theme Semester as a broad learning opportunity taking place both in and out of classrooms. The full calendar of events can be found here. 

The "Pedagogies for Understanding Race" session will take place Tuesday, January 29, 2pm-4pm in Palmer Commons. For full details, including registration information, click here. 

Submitted by tbraun on Fri, 01/18/2013 - 10:35am
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Preparing for Winter Term: Creating Inclusive Classrooms

Getting ready to meet your Winter Term classes? As you gear up for a new semester, it's a great time to make sure you're keeping a broad range of students in mind. CRLT provides many resources to help you effectively teach diverse students, no matter what your area of specialization. One of our "Preparing to Teach" resources, this page on Creating Inclusive Classrooms offers concrete guidance on several aspects of inclusive teaching, including:

  • course content
  • classroom dynamics
  • instructor assumptions

For additional resources to support your teaching of U-M's diverse student body, you can visit our Multicultural Teaching page or click on the "Multicultural Teaching" link at the bottom of any CRLT page. The printed version of our GSI Guidebook--distributed to everyone who attends one of our GSI Teaching Orientations and available to U-M instructors upon request--also contains helpful guidance on these issues, including the chapter "Diversity and Inclusion in the Classroom" from Barbara Gross Davis's book Tools for Teaching. More general resources to help you finalize your Winter Term plans can be found on our Preparing to Teach page (under the "Resources and Publications" menu above).

Submitted by tbraun on Mon, 01/07/2013 - 12:16pm
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Teaching for Retention in Science, Engineering, and Math Disciplines: A Guide for Faculty

In this CRLT Occasional Paper, we describe specific classroom strategies and teaching behaviors that have been demonstrated to improve the success of a diverse body of students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) courses. We also provide practical advice to individual faculty members who are seeking to implement these teaching strategies. Extensive research on why students leave STEM fields suggests that individual faculty can play a key role in supporting and retaining a diverse student body in STEM. Although underrepresented groups may have the most to gain, retention-conscious teaching practices are likely to have a positive impact on the persistence of all students in STEM.

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Principles for Teaching the Millennial Generation: Innovative Practices of U-M Faculty

This Occasional Paper describes some of the differences that Millennial students bring to the classroom and outlines four principles for teaching Millennials successfully. To illustrate how these principles inform specific teaching strategies, we highlight examples of innovative teaching by U-M faculty.

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Student Teams in the Engineering Classroom and Beyond: Setting up Students for Success

Our purpose in this Occasional Paper is to provide instructors with a framework for ensuring that student teams are set up for success.

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