Lectures and lesson plans
Provide a course schedule that outlines learning goals, readings, and activities for the day to help students stay organized and anticipate what is coming. (Hogan & Sathy, 2022).
Impact: Helps students understand the objectives of each class, providing a roadmap to support their success. Including activities in the course, schedule helps students prepare for interactive and collaborative learning experiences by allowing them to anticipate the type of activities they will engage in during class, fostering a sense of inclusivity and active participation. This also communicates to students the instructor’s thoughts and purpose behind the class structure, introducing transparency and clarity into the classroom.
Balance the ratio of lecture to other aspects of class, including questions, discussion, and use of audio or visual materials to ensure and maintain greater overall student engagement.
Impact: Helps engage different student strengths and abilities. Balancing lecture and instruction also allows students to interact with their peers, building rapport between students to reduce anonymity and build a classroom culture predicated on mutual exchange and giving voice to everyone in the room.
Include guest speakers, such as subject experts and workers in the field, where possible, to provide multiple and authentic perspectives on a topic.
Impact: Allows students to develop links between larger context, histories, and ideas within their discipline and their manifestations in the real world. Inviting different voices from the field also presents opportunities for students to see varied representations of career paths and expertise that enable them to learn about different ways of knowing and knowledge production, including oral histories, emotions, and intuition.
Example – Include guest speakers, including subject experts and workers in the field where possible, to provide multiple and authentic perspectives on a topic
In a Civil Engineering course, a worker in the field of materials engineering might give a guest lecture on designing custom bikes for an Olympic athlete. In this lecture, the speaker might highlight:
- An Engineer’s considerations to design the perfect bike, like the use of an aluminum frame to use lightweight material to enhance speed; or heavier frame materials for accommodating elements like heavy rain or winds
- An Athlete’s considerations in designing the perfect bike, like the feeling of the handlebars in an athlete’s hands; or the use of local materials from their hometown
- Different ways of seeing and knowing a product as perfect and the validity of each perspective
- Working with clients to balance the technical, practical, and personal design considerations
References
Hogan, K. A., & Sathy, V. (2022). Inclusive teaching: Strategies for promoting equity in the college classroom. West Virginia University Press.
