Inclusive Teaching Strategies

“Multicultural teaching” means different things according to one’s course goals and one’s discipline. The following links provide useful information for a wide range of college teaching contexts. If you want to suggest other web-based sources for this page, please email crlt@umich.edu and put “Multicultural Teaching” in the subject line.

Key teaching strategies that help engage students from a range of academic or social backgrounds

• Interactive lecturing
• Active learning
• Using cases
• Sustained small group work and team research
• Rapport on the first day of class

Information on course planning

• Recommendations
• Key principles

For specific contexts

• Facilitating cross-cultural group work
• Teaching international students
• Teaching students who have disabilities
  • What Faculty Can Do
  • Information from the Office of the General Counsel
  • Making Accommodations For Students with Disabilities: A Guide for Faculty and Graduate Student Instructors
• ​CRLT Occasional Paper #7: Perceptions of Faculty Behavior by Students of Color (Chesler, 1997)
  This paper reports the findings of a series of 15 focus groups with undergraduate students of color in which participants were asked to describe positive as well as uncomfortable interactions they had with majority group instructors. Suggestions for how faculty members can address students’ concerns are offered.

• CRLT Occasional Paper #8: Academic Support for Women in Science and Engineering (Montgomery & Barrett, 1997)
  Women continue to be underrepresented in a number of science and engineering disciplines. This paper describes factors that have been found to influence the learning and persistence of undergraduate women in science and engineering. Suggestions are offered for how faculty members can improve the academic environment to create a more positive learning climate for all students.

Reflective strategies for faculty

• Diversity Issues for the Instructor: Identifying Your Own Attitudes
• CRLT Occasional Paper: Instructor Identity: The Impact of Gender and Race on Faculty Experiences with Teaching [PDF]