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Action:
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If your course requires use of a computer, let students know what computing resources are available on campus.
- If relevant, tell students what resources exist online or in the library that they can use for free.
- Encourage students in the previous semester to loan their books or other materials to current students.
Reason:
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Students might be unable to pay for course materials, but might be unaware of alternatives that could enable them to participate.
Action:
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Disseminate information to students about what it means to do research in your field, how they can apply, what qualifications they need, and how they might benefit from the experience.
- When possible, pay students for their work on research because not all students can afford to work for free.
Reason:
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Informal application processes often favor students who have prior knowledge of research, feel comfortable asking for a job without an invitation from a faculty member, and can work for free.
Action:
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Identify the holidays for a wide range of religions to your course calendar before planning your course schedule. Avoid scheduling exams on religious holidays. For example, many Jewish people fast and do not work on Yom Kippur.
Reason:
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The school calendar typically enables Christian students to celebrate religious holidays without missing class, but for other religions this is not the case.
- Scheduling around religious holidays can make your course accessible to more students.
Action:
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Before the first class, email all enrolled students and ask them to email Disability Resource and Services about accommodations they will need to be successful in your class.
Reason:
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Official notifications from the institution that a student in your class requires an accommodation may not precede the first class session. Some accommodations, such as access to a printed copy of lecture slides for vision impaired students, is important to provide on the first day.
Action:
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Provide students the rubric you will use for grading their assignment.
Reason:
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Providing a rubric helps clarify your expectations to students.
- If receiving an A on an assignment requires students to go “above expectations,” students might have unequal cultural preparation to know what might count as meeting these unstated, undefined expectations.
- The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, UNLV, has a Transparency in Learning and Teaching Project, which documents the benefits of being transparent in our expectations of students. Additional resources and research findings are available at: www.unlv.edu/provost/teachingandlearning
Action:
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Have students write their name on the back page of exams or homework assignments so that you can easily grade students’ work without seeing their name.
- Have student use their ID number on their written papers instead of their name.
- Do not look at a student’s or match the ID# to a name until after you have finalized the grades on the assignment.
Reason:
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Implicit bias has been well documented, for example in comparing the call-back rates for resumes based upon whether the applicant’s name was stereotypically associated with a White or Black person:
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Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. The American Economic Review,94(4), 991-1013.
- The co-author of this study summarizes related research in a New York Times article.
Action:
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Articulate any course prerequisites and content knowledge that will be assumed in your course.
- For content knowledge that students students might need to review, identify resources that they can use.
Reason:
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Students’ varied preparation for the course may prevent some students from being successful. Having completed a prerequisite course may not mean that the student is currently comfortable with that content knowledge.
- As novices, students need support identifying gaps in their preparation.
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