Teach With Care

- Understanding by Design by Wiggins and McTighe (1998)-

In this episode we let you in on our conversation about the syllabus as an important document. How can we make that document as accessible or student friendly as possible?Kate Sonka shared that there are resources for creating accessible materials out there. You should definitely check out the MS Word accessibility checker. Dartmouth and Michigan State also have resources on the topic. The W3 consortium also has resources.Adam shared some of the gotcha points.Jeremy Van Hof shared the Non-designers Design Book by not that Robin Williams, and the importance of C.R.A.P. (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity).Adam shared the University of Auckland’s accessible materials infographic.Jeremy shared that you should include the required items (either explicitly via policy or implicitly via culture). Their ombudsperson requires basic course stuff. But don’t get lost in the trees! Remember you’re selling your course.Adam reiterated that the context matters. Share out extra stuff in your campus LMS.Adam made a dad joke about Jeremy’s comments not being “CRAPpy” (*drum rim shot*).Kate shared the Dartmouth Syllabus Guide. These are broken down into components.Adam mentioned that the previous template wasn’t accessible nor all that usable. They really wanted it to focus on the practices and standards that are helpful. This was also informed by the CAST UDL On Campus Syllabus resource.The Syllabus Guide is also presented during the course approvals process.Kate pointed out that Dartmouth includes a section for “Teaching Methods & Philosophy” in the syllabus guide. Adam reiterated that it’s important to orient students to the teaching methods in a course so that students are educated about things like active and experiential learning going into it. This helps students to think about their engagement and making an educated decision for course selections.Jeremy shared that a syllabus should justify the type of instruction and modalities in the course and communicate the instructor’s decisions in design.Kate pointed out that the statement on “Teaching Methods & Philosophy” also helps with inclusion. This helps students to plan their resources and make decisions. Could also help with anticipating accommodations.Adam brought up that inclusive teaching practices should be embedded throughout the document, but making a statement about it can be helpful too.Anticipating these questions can be difficult, reach out to your on-campus resource networks like your accessibility office.Kate brought up the age-old case for/against having laptops and technology in the classroom. Jeremy shared his own experiences in K12 and it’s dual capability as resource and distraction. Adam shared that it should be built more around establishing norms and avoiding othering the students who might have accommodations for these things in class. It also creates an opportunity for collaboration. This ultimately comes down to self-regulation for the learners in many ways.Jeremy came back to saying that you need to be explicit about you “Laptops and Technology” policy.Kate came back to saying that we’re ultimately modeling and integrating information literacy.Adam brought up the question of how to integrate engagement and participation into the syllabus in a way that values Universal Design. Jeremy emphasized the importance of being intentional, inclusive, transparent, and explicit about it.Jeremy added that a course outline and learner resources are important to include too. Adam mentioned that QM first introduced him to it.Adam shared that learner resources are important to communicate to students who may not be aware of the resources available to them.Kate shared that we should include course outlines for both transparency and helping to understand the “whys” of the course.

Happy Hot Dog Day!How do we present the idea of the syllabus to faculty? What do we lead with?Why inclusive teaching is important.The syllabus is foundational, creates structure for the course.The syllabus as cultural touchstone and tone setting. Is the course created with inclusivity in mind?Jeremy shares out Adam Heidebrink-Bruno’s The Syllabus as Manifesto from Hybrid Pedagogy.Adam Nemeroff shares highlights and reflections from creating Dartmouth’s Syllabus Guide this past summer.Adam shared out Monica Linden’s (Brown University) syllabus statement on Diversity and Inclusion that made the rounds on the listservs. It both sets up norms as well as processes and procedures for events in class.Adam shares out Traditional Teaching May Deepen Inequality. Can a Different Approach Fix It? From the Chronicle of Higher Education. This story charts the course of Kelly Hogan (UNC Chapel Hill) and her experiences investigating issues of diversity and inclusion in her own course. She shares out that inclusive teaching has two main components: putting more structure into a course and being more thoughtful about facilitating class discussion.Jeremy shares the challenge of not only students, but teachers who are “thrown into the deep end” and the role of us as coaches supporting them.Kate shared her experience designing a first year seminar and how to help all students to do better in higher ed. She spends considerable time with her students decoding her syllabus and talking about it as an agreement with everyone having roles in it and most importantly, why they should care about it.Adam shared that “the syllabus as contract” can be either good or bad. It’s a treasure trove of teaching experiences of the past. The goal with things like policies should be about creating and co-enforcing norms with the teacher and students.Jeremy and Adam talked about there being required components in some institutions, and some of those things can be really helpful.Kate shared that she’s had great experiences co-creating syllabi with her students. The goal was to convey that their voice mattered and that they were included in shaping the learning experience.Adam cautioned that the syllabus can often be an artifact and exercise of power. That conveys things to students, intentional or not. How can we build in student choice and agency into the design of the course regardless of program or department requirements.Jeremy shared that the power conveyed in the syllabus is often communicated by the ways language are used. Use positive versus negative framings for language.Kate shared that she frames language to encourage students and others to have questions and share them in a welcoming way.Adam mentioned that the topic of language would be a conversation to explore further in a follow-up episode on feedback and assessment.Jeremy asked what wins are in a syllabus.Adam shared that transparency is something he’s thought a lot about. Specifics about prerequisite knowledge and learning outcomes in the course.Jeremy moved from using the syllabus to communicate course policies to showing students the structure, the map, of the experience. Make sure to convey to students that the outline is either firmed up or subject to change.Adam shared the idea of creating a visual diagram or map for your syllabus. Helps to get out of the linearity of text.Adam and Jeremy talked about the idea of collecting feedback and tips from students about being successful in the course. Adam shared the FAQ course wiki idea that Fiona Vernal (UConn) did in her history class.Kate reiterated that learning objectives should appear in the syllabus and guide the experience. Key for their success. Explain the why.Adam shared out syllabus tips from Universal Design in Higher Education (2010) edited by Sheryl Burgstahler.Kate shared that we need to know where we are going and why we need it and the syllabus is key in aiding that.Jeremy talked about the syllabus humanizing the instructor.Next time we’ll talk about what to actually include in your syllabus and how to create it in an accessible way.

Join Adam Nemeroff (Dartmouth College), Kate Sonka (Michigan State University), and Jeremy Van Hof (Michigan State University) as they discuss how to make higher education teaching and learning environments more inclusive and accessible for all students. This first episode lays the ground work for the podcast overall.