New Video on Teaching for Equity: U-M Faculty Perspectives Thu, 04/29/2021 This week, CRLT kicks off our Inclusive Teaching at Michigan 2021 May Series. Our theme for this year, "Widening the Lens: Equity Focused Teaching," emphasizes the need for instructors to more clearly focus on developing an equity-driven teaching practice. We will offer a range of workshops designed to help U-M instructors think beyond inclusion in order to explore and develop equity-focused commitments and practices in their teaching. Register now to attend some or all of the workshops in the series. Read more |
An Invitation to the 2021 Inclusive Teaching @ Michigan series: Widening the Lens: Equity Focused Teaching Tue, 04/06/2021 Click HERE to register for the 2021 Inclusive Teaching @ Michigan series.
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Helping Students Navigate Ramadan and Final Exams Tue, 03/16/2021
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Promoting the Success of Students Who Are Parents Mon, 01/25/2021 By: Lyss Shumaker In this guest post, our partners from the Student Parent Excellence Committee offer key insights into the experiences of student parents and strategies that can be applied in the classroom to support their excellence. To learn more about this cross-campus committee, please visit: http://www.cew.umich.edu/advocacy-initiatives/student-parents/ During the Covid-19 pandemic, many instructors have found themselves balancing a disproportionate workload, where the intersection of work and personal boundaries are blending together. The current remote learning landscape has also given instructors a window into students’ lives and the complex commitments they are balancing–especially those with caregiver responsibilities, including parents. Based on financial aid data alone, we know that there are over 700 student parents actively enrolled at U-M. This blog post will provide context for the challenges student parents face in the classroom and strategies for how you can support the learning of student parents enrolled in your courses. Read more |
The U.S. Presidential Inauguration: Teaching Strategies and Resources Wed, 01/13/2021 ![]() Read more |
Fall 2020 Course Evaluations: Creating Useful Questions Fri, 11/06/2020
In this blog post, we review the university-wide questions that appear on end-of-semester evaluations, as well as those added for Fall 2020 in particular, and we offer guidance on how to make the most of instructor-created questions. These principles can also be used to create questions for feedback that you collect at other times of the semester. In addition, this previous CRLT blog post provides strategies for increasing student response rates, and this Registrar's site contains details about the course evaluation process. Read more |
After Election 2020: Moving from Reaction to Action Thu, 10/29/2020 This is the third of a three-part series by CRLT and the Ginsberg Center outlining strategies and resources that instructors can use to plan, frame, and facilitate conversations about the 2020 Election. After the election, students may experience a range of reactions that may impact their ‘bandwidth’ for learning and participation in your course. Regardless of political affiliation, students may be focused on managing the impacts of the election on their own lives and thinking about ‘what happens next.’ One way that you can support students in this moment is to highlight civic engagement as an ongoing, active practice that includes, but is not limited to, voting in an election. Read more |
Structuring Classroom Discussions about the 2020 Election Thu, 10/22/2020 This is the second of a three-part series by CRLT and the Ginsberg Center outlining strategies and resources that instructors can use to plan, frame, and facilitate conversations about the 2020 Election. In Part 1 of this CRLT/Ginsberg Election Resource series, we encourage instructors to spend time thinking through some important pedagogical questions about disciplinary investments in the election, as well as what is at stake for students and instructors during any classroom conversation about the 2020 Election. This guide builds from Part 1 to outline a process for planning the actual structure and facilitation of any discussions about the election, before or after November 3rd. We’ve curated important resources from CRLT and Ginsberg on high stakes discussions, ‘hot moments’ in the classroom, and civic learning into this step-by-step planning guide. While there are other ways to approach discussion planning, we aim to help you visualize a planning process that you can adapt to your own teaching context. Read more |
Preparing to Teach About the 2020 Election (and After) Mon, 10/12/2020 This is the first of a three-part series by CRLT and the Ginsberg Center outlining strategies and resources that instructors can use to plan, frame, and facilitate conversations about the 2020 Election. Many of the strategies and commentary in this post are drawn from previously published work on the 2016 Election by CRLT that remain applicable to this election season. The 2020 Presidential Election, with its high stakes and controversy, is adding even more tension to an already fraught year that has highlighted and exacerbated racial, social, health and economic inequities across the country. In 2016, many instructors were unprepared for the strong emotions and reactions that bubbled up after election results were announced and in the days that followed. In some courses, discussions about the election were directly related to course content, theme, or focus. In other classes, discussion arose because students and instructors recognized the election as a part of the broader conditions that shape teaching and learning. For this reason, we encourage all instructors to be prepared by proactively thinking about how the 2020 Election may impact their students, their classrooms, and themselves. Read more |
Leading the Classroom in Tumultuous Times: A Video Resource for Instructors Tue, 09/22/2020 What can and can’t I say to my students regarding the upcoming US elections? How, if at all, can I encourage my students to vote? Is the classroom a free speech zone? What can I do if a student won’t wear a mask during in-person classes? How can I protect my own and students’ privacy in the remote classroom? These are just a few of the questions with which U-M instructors have been grappling this fall as they prepare to teach in the midst of the upcoming U.S. Presidential election, the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the labor movements on campus, and the continued activism and protests against racism and police violence. A recent conversation between Dr. Angela Dillard, Richard A. Meisler Collegiate Professor of Afroamerican & African Studies, and U-M Associate General Counsel Jack Bernard offers an excellent resource for instructors on how to navigate their approach to these issues. It includes insights into topics ranging from classroom disruption and management, to student and instructor privacy, and free speech considerations in and beyond the classroom. The kinds of questions instructors are asking often do not have easy or straightforward answers, and Dillard and Bernard expertly highlight the complex and nuanced nature of these kinds of classroom concerns. Read more |