Featuring the Fall 2021 Inclusive Instructors Academy Cohort
From left to right, top to bottom:
Monica Rizk ‘22; Professor Lauren Anderson, Chemical Engineering; Fatimata Cham ‘23; Professor Allison Lewis, Mathematics; Pelin Cetin ‘24; Professor Katherine Stafford, Foreign Languages and Literatures; Hamna Younas ‘22; Professor Joseph Woo, Chemical Engineering; Chidi Nwankpa ‘22; Professor Tamara Stawicki, Neuroscience
The fall 2021 semester marks the first implementation of the Inclusive Instructors Academy during in-person instruction. For the Academy, faculty partners develop and implement individual inclusive teaching plans specific to their courses. They work collaboratively with a student partner to obtain feedback on their efforts through classroom observation, mid-semester class surveys or focus groups, as well as through other means relevant to their teaching goals. Faculty partners meet monthly to discuss their teaching efforts and literature on inclusive teaching related to their goals. Student partners also meet roughly every two weeks for training purposes. The third cohort featured above consists of five faculty members and five student partners. Each faculty member experienced teaching and learning “wins” this semester that will have a lasting impact.
The faculty partners teach courses in Neuroscience, Engineering, Spanish, and Mathematics. Their inclusive teaching goals for the semester vary from increasing students’ awareness of inclusion issues within the discipline, making the field more welcoming, incorporating reflective writing to promote learning, as well as providing increased structure in classroom activities to facilitate learning.
Below are testimonials from the faculty and student partners.
I found working with a student partner through the Inclusive Instructors Academy to be incredibly useful. I’m obviously used to getting student feedback in the forms of evaluations, but this was the first opportunity I’ve had to have a genuine conversation with a student about my teaching and my class. He provided a ton of useful information about the student perspective of things that helped shape my class for this semester and the ones to come. – Professor Tamara Stawicki, Neuroscience
Participating in the Inclusive Instructors Academy has been a wonderful experience! Having a student assigned to observe my class has given me a fresh perspective so that I can see my assignments through their eyes and reflect upon whether those assignments truly align with my goal of creating an inclusive and welcoming learning environment. It has been eye-opening to see how different instructors across the campus have been digging into the issues of equity and inclusion in their various fields, and having the chance to converse with these like-minded colleagues has given me an abundance of new ideas to try in my own classroom. -Professor Allison Lewis, Mathematics
Participating in the Inclusive instructors Academy has been a rewarding experience. Getting the opportunity to collaborate with both my professors and peers on ways to make the classroom, and student experience more inclusive has been amazing. I have gained more knowledge on components to building a more equitable classroom and taking actions to implement these components. I have also gained a better understanding on how to communicate with faculty and students alike. -Fatimata Cham, ‘23
Participating in the Inclusive Instructors Academy was amazing! It was an invaluable experience to look at my teaching – from my lecture style to assignment creation – through the lens of students. My student partner helped me to create more inclusive assignments for ES 101 and identify small, yet significant, ways to ensure that all students (both first-years and non-engineers) felt welcome in my classroom and in engineering more broadly. -Professor Lauren Anderson, Chemical Engineering
The Inclusive Instructors Academy really prompted me to really dig into the fundamental thought processes behind why and how I plan and implement programming related to diversity and inclusivity into my classes. Sharing experiences with fellow instructors and working with student partners has not only educated me about better practices that will more positively impact my students, but has also emboldened me to weave concepts of equity and social justice into engineering coursework where it would not be readily obvious to do so. –Professor Joseph Woo, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
By participating in the Inclusive Instructors Academy, I have gained the skills to implement equity and inclusion in the classroom. I have been trained how to understand and use teaching protocols in higher education. It has allowed me to ensure professors are doing their best to make sure all students are learning to make it a beneficial learning environment. I especially enjoyed working one-on-one with professors to cater to their specific class and their classroom dynamics. -Hamna Younas, ‘22
The Inclusive Instructors Academy gave me a space to re-evaluate my pedagogical goals and practice and a community to learn and grow with. I have learned a lot this semester about how to make my language courses a space where all students are able to meaningfully grow and learn. I especially appreciated the accountability and perspectives that my student partner and fellow cohort members provided. -Professor Katie Stafford, Spanish
CITLS would also like to share the good news that the article, Student Pedagogical Partnerships to Advance Inclusive Teaching During the COVID-19 pandemic, co-authored by previous and current faculty and student partners of the Inclusive Instructors Academy was accepted for publication in the International Journal for Students as Partners. Lafayette faculty and student co-authors include Professor Ethan Berkove, Mathematics; Professor Michael Butler, Biology; Fatimata Cham ‘23; Professor Annie de Saussure, French; Professor Annemarie Exarhos, Physics; Professor Mark Mancuso, Mathematics; Monica Rizk ‘22; Professor Tobias Rossmann, Mechanical Engineering; Professor Christopher Ruebeck, Economics; and Hamna Younas ‘22.
The call for applications for next semester’s Inclusive Instructors Academy is open until next Friday, December 10th. See the website for more information, and feel free to contact citls@lafayette.edu if you’d like to apply and have questions.