Inclusive College Classrooms

Research-based practices for inclusive and effective teaching

Inclusive College Classrooms: Teaching Methods for Diverse Learners

book cover

How might our current teaching methods exclude learners? How are we fostering equity through our teaching?

Inclusive College Classrooms features research-based tools for creating an effective and inclusive learning environment. Inclusive teaching encourages instructors to be self-reflective in our teaching: How might our current methods exclude learners? How are we actively fostering equity through our teaching?

We discuss four core principles for inclusion––access, representation, agency, and community––and demonstrate how instructors can implement these values through their teaching methods and assessments. To help instructors envision these methods in their own classrooms, we offer 200 example lessons from a range of disciplines.

What is Inclusive Teaching?

Inclusive teaching supports learning and belonging for all students. It is an intentional critical process that seeks to disrupt systemic inequities in education and in our larger communities. In our practice of inclusive teaching, we center the values of access, representation, agency, and community.

Anne-Marie Womack presenting on false assumptions about disability

Teaching Methods

In Inclusive College Classrooms, we illustrate ways to build inclusive values into our teaching practices, focusing on six different methods:

  1. Lecture
  2. Flipped
  3. Seminar
  4. Group Work
  5. Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL)
  6. Experiential Learning

Inclusive Assessment

Our chapter on Inclusive Assessment offers research-backed strategies for measuring learning in an equitable, student-centered way:

  1. Multiple Means of Expression
  2. Low-Stakes Assignments
  3. Constructive Feedback
  4. Revisionary Assignments and Portfolios
  5. Student Self-Reflections
  6. Backward Design
  7. Forward-Looking Assessment
  8. Grading Contracts and Laboring to Learn
  9. Specifications Grading
  10. Ungrading

Additional Features

Our appendices feature a variety of examples and strategies for making class materials, lessons, and in-class activities more accessible:

  1. Accessible Video Lectures
  2. Inclusive Discussion Questions
  3. Sample Team Charter
  4. Annotated Grading Policy
  5. Lesson Planning Strategies
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