The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching is continuing to add to our collection of curated teaching tips and advice in our resource library. Our ideal curators, experts or among peers, will search out articles, videos, slides, and other online resources and present them with help from the CELT team. Our key requirements for curators? Passion and enthusiasm for useful, practical pedagogical content and an ability to complete their collection on a mutually identified deadline!

Interested to contribute to CELT's Pedagogy Collections & Guides? We are calling all Content Curators to collaborate with CELT! Check out the details by clicking on the following curated tips and advice form.

  • Welcome to this curation! My name is Sohana Hasan, and I’m an undergraduate intern at CELT. As an English major in my Junior year, I’ve survived countless group projects and have come to dread them with a slow, burning passion. However, I have also had some truly transformative segues into group work—projects that left me feeling empowered and intrigued by the idea of collaboration. As professors, how can you shift your students’ perspectives from one of dread to one of excitement and communal growth? This curation explores strategies for organizing, assigning, and assessing group work in the classroom.

    Taking the “I” out of Anxiety: Assigning and Supporting Student Group Work

    A strong collaboration between students is a powerful way to create connections and further their understanding of your course’s content. However, students often dread group work, shuddering at the thought of navigating the push-and-pull of collaboration. Still, a strong, focused group with clearly-outlined goals and facilitative teachers can create a magnificent opportunity for growth and collaboration. How can you use group work to create this utopia of networking and creativity?

    • Fostering strong student collaboration is the key to success in group projects. This guide considers effective strategies for implementing group work and explores tactics for preparing, designing and introducing a group assignment into your class: Implementing Group Work in the Classroom | University of Waterloo Centre for Teaching Excellence
    • Group work is valuable, but is it important enough to justify the time commitment and organization needed to make it successful? This source considers how group work can become a rewarding venture when facilitated in a supportive, transparent way. By setting clear goals, broadening students’ potential for growth and mediating potential conflicts, you can effectively facilitate group work in your classroom: Working With Students in Groups | UC Berkeley Center for Teaching & Learning
    • How can you overcome student anxieties about group work and collaboration? This article explores strategies like effectively designing group assignments, teaching students the skill of group work itself and promoting personal responsibility. For the curious teacher, this source provides key strategies for effectively implementing group work into a course: Group Work | University of Colorado Boulder Center for Teaching & Learning
    • As a professor assigning group work, is it possible to balance your role as facilitator with the need to leave space for independent student interactions? This source from Harvard Law School explores how thoughtfully constructing groups and encouraging independent conflict mediation allows for guided, student-focused group work. This article also explores six fundamentals for facilitating transformative group work: Keys to Facilitating Successful Student Group Work from the Harvard Case Studies Blog
    • The idea of collaboration can leave some students unmotivated, but establishing group norms and facilitating student’s weekly check-ins can encourage autonomy. This resource provides strategies for balancing personal autonomy with peer collaboration. While only offering three tips, this article walks through the step-by-step process of implementing them and offers examples for maximizing their benefit. From The Teaching Professor, accessed through UMass Lowell (UML) Library: How to Make Group Work Not Suck: Scaffolding the Collaborative Process through Agency and Self-Regulation

    Further Reading:

    • How can you reduce conflict and ensure that every student is contributing to a group project? Using strategies such as establishing group norms and scaffolding the elements of the group assignment can allow for maximum benefit from the project. This resource from Faculty Focus offers five creative, research-based tips for ensuring thoughtful classroom connections through group work: Group Work Strategies to Ensure Students Pull Their Weight
    • This is a longer, more research-based guide about group work, its benefits, and how to best use it in the classroom. Though on the longer side, it offers a stronger understanding of the importance of and benefits/drawbacks to assigning group assignments: Group work: Using cooperative learning groups effectively | Vanderbilt Center for Teaching

  • Hello everyone! The UMass Lowell (UML) Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT) team has curated several resources to provide useful information on the topic of ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence use in the classroom.

    AI in Classroom and Teaching

    AI and Academic Integrity

    Student Perspectives on AI

    Ethics and Policy Discussions

    Partnerships and Collaborations

    Miscellaneous Topics

    • UMass Lowell Syllabus Template (pdf). A sample syllabus that faculty can adapt to inform students’ first impression of what they can expect from the course and instructor. Faculty are not required to use this template. However, we hope that you find it helpful!
    • Equity-Minded Inquiry Syllabus Review (pdf). A resource on developing a syllabus that promotes equity in the classroom.
    • Student Absence Guidelines (pdf). Guidelines to help faculty answer questions on medical leaves and long absences in their classrooms!
    • Attendance: A great UML technology for helping you take attendance. It's fast and easy! 
      • Go to uml.edu/attendance, log in and select your class. A big 4-digit code will display on your screen. Project this screen in class.
      • On their phones, your students go to the same URL, pick your class, and type in your code, and their attendance is recorded!
      • You can do this at the beginning of class, end of class, or randomly in the middle if you want to keep students on their toes. What's great is you get a report of who's attended but also who's registered but isn't attending. Learn more on the attendance app.
      • Report "never attended students": Log into the Academic Success Alerts Portal and report students who have never attended your class. An academic advisor will reach out to all students whom you report - checking in with them to give them support and find out what's going on. 
    • UMass Lowell Testing Centers: The Testing Centers at UMass Lowell are here to provide a space where a student can take an exam in a controlled environment. We provide exam proctoring services to ensure that students receive the testing accommodations they are entitled to, in an organized and as stress-free a fashion as possible.
    • STARS: The UMass Lowell Behavioral Intervention Team: Do you have a disruptive student at your classroom? File a STARS report and get help from UMass Lowell’s professional and dedicated team who are ready to give you a hand! 
    • Office of Disability Services: provides equal access by partnering with faculty members to remove barriers, promote diversity, implement universal design and strive for inclusion. 
    • LinkedIn Learning: Earn professional development certificates or just take courses on over 16,000 "soft-skill" topics. Some of the videos are just under 10 minutes long, while others are full courses lasting several hours. These aren't specific to higher-ed, but some of these topics may be of interest. Bonus: these resources are available to all faculty, staff and students, so you may want to integrate them into your teaching if appropriate.
      • Time management
      • Communication skills
      • Video editing
      • Decision making
      • Photoshop 
        Sign in with your UML credentials

  • The following guidelines and scenarios provide a starting point for anyone interested in Copyright information:
    The answer to every copyright question is: it depends! There is no cut-and-dry answer that we can apply to every scenario. Rather, it is decided according to a framework that is periodically tested in the courts. Copyright was designed to encourage and protect creative expression, and at the same time, to provide robust opportunities for thoughtful re-use by others.
    Here are some common scenarios involving copyright in higher education:
    How do I know if using materials in the classroom is fair use?
    Fair use is the right to re-use and contextualize copyrighted material, without paying a fee or requesting permission. Courts evaluate fair use according to four factors. There are robust protections for educational sharing, so if you want to share a copyrighted item in class, you are likely able to, according to U.S. Copyright law -- but you need a documented articulation of pedagogical need. 
    The four factors are: 
    1. PURPOSE of Use (nonprofit, educational uses are generally favored over commercial uses) 
    2. NATURE of the Copyrighted Work (creative works like movies or songs, and previously unpublished works, generally receive more protections and make for a weaker fair use case) 
    3. AMOUNT of the Work used (a stronger fair use case occurs when you use as small an amount of the work as possible, for as short a time as possible) 
    4. EFFECT on the Market for or value of the work (a stronger fair use case occurs when you use material that is not easily available for purchase elsewhere)
    What do we mean by a well-documented articulation of pedagogical need? You might wish to document that you are:
    • Sharing items only in a classroom, in person or online, only to people registered in that class 
    • Using items only for a specific and stated educational use
    • Using items in a TRANSFORMATIONAL way. Annotation, comparison, and criticism are all considered forms of transformation, in that you are not using the work for its original purpose, but transforming it into part of a larger argument.
    • Having no clear impact on the market. It is not a fair use to copy material for the sole reason of sparing students the expense of purchasing it through commercially available sources – but please contact the library so that we can explore low- or no-cost solutions together.
    How can I use copyrighted material in course reserves, and support low- or no-cost course materials?
    If you are linking to materials the library has already paid for, and already licensed, you have no problem. Links pointing to articles included in library-subscribed journals or ebooks can always be included in syllabi or BlackBoard sites, as just linking to items doesn’t create new copies, simply re-uses the already-posted material. 
    For other materials that we don’t already own or license, and that you wish to copy in their entirety for students and/or to post in the learning management system, you’ll need to focus on and document pedagogical use and the four factors. For a fair use case, you’d describe a one-time use with limited and secure access, and document that you are reproducing only as much as is necessary for the pedagogical need. It's harder to make a fair use case for unpublished material, like a poem or painting.
    Please keep in mind that this is a process; finding and evaluating content for use in your class, even with library help, is time consuming. On the plus side, once you have gone through the process, your materials will be available for many semesters to come and can be revised at any time.
    Library staff can search in open access repositories for related content and submit to you for your evaluation. These sites include all types of learning objects, not just texts. We can also find quizzes and tests, illustrations, video and audio.
    You can also consider the use of multi-user ebooks that the library can purchase. Library staff can make suggestions, or you may have titles in mind. Staff can determine whether, for reasons of cost and availability, it will be possible to purchase these.
    The library can also buy print books which can be placed on Course Reserves, so that students can access the book via short-term loans. 
    For more information, see the UMass Lowell University Library guide to copyright.
    How does copyright and fair use affect my students’ own work? 
    Students, like all creators, own the copyright to their original work. They have exclusive rights pertaining to its re-use, except in the case of someone else using it via fair use or if the students have assigned their copyright to another party. Writing a paper in a class for an instructor does not transfer the student’s copyright to the instructor. As creators of original works, students are allowed to use copyrighted materials to a limited extent under the fair use provision in the law. Applying the four factors of fair use to any potential use of copyrighted material is the best way to determine if a use is fair or infringing.

  • Welcome Video

    This collection provides a starting point for anyone interested in Curriculum Mapping, an activity that can help faculty discuss, assess, improve, maintain, or change a program's curriculum... and other purposes as well.

    My favorite resource for curriculum mapping:
    This toolkit from the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment has a simple description of the process and terrific guiding questions for discussing both curricular and co-curricular outcomes.

    This is the short version of the CELT workshop Intro to Curriculum Mapping, which focuses on why you might want to try this technique.

    For more info or to ask for help, email CELT@uml.edu.

    Sample Curriculum Protocol

    Use the following sample curriculum mapping protocol in conjunction with the sample curriculum map (Excel).

    For Further Reading:

  • This collection is a starting point for highlighting a general approach to creating multiple ways for students to demonstrate learning. Two videos will walk you through everything you need to know about the topic. Start with the introductory video to have a general overview of the topic then hop onto the next video to dive deeper into more focused areas of this topic.

    Video 1: Introduction to Multiple Ways to demonstrate Learning
    0:00 – How I understand “multiple ways to demonstrate learning”
    2:01 – General approach to creating multiple ways for students to demonstrate learning
    4:30 – Introducing the collection’s shared readings

    Video 2: Discussion on Method and Example Course

    0:00 – Quick review of material from Collection Introduction video
    2:33 – Applying backwards design to facilitate multiple ways of demonstrating learning
    5:52 – Some caveats to consider
    9:58 – Advantages to this approach to course / project design
    11:33 – Disadvantages to this approach to course / project design
    14:50 – Applying this approach to an example course (English 3690)
    20:39 – Tips & advice for implementing this approach to other courses
    24:28 – Sample project timelines (student-sourced projects & client-sourced projects)
    29:20 – Answers to some anticipated questions


    Sample Tools to Support Multiple Ways of Learning

    Here is the sample syllabus and class final project discussed in the videos above to illustrate how multiple modes of inquiry and learning can be supported throughout the semester.

    For Further Reading:

    This collection provides resources for using backwards design to support multiple ways of demonstrating learning. The techniques discussed here are useful for developing projects that will ask students both to explain how they understand a course’s learning outcomes and to develop a plan (with your help) to demonstrate mastery over those outcomes that fits their own academic & professional interests.

  • Hello everyone! My name is Sohana Hasan. I am an English major at UMass Lowell and an intern for the Center for Excelence in Learning and Teaching (CELT). Since I am now in my Junior year, I am using this internship to explore why students become disengaged in a course and — more importantly — what professors can do to re-engage them with the course content. This curation of resources explores some key strategies for you to make your course relevant to your students, as well as tips for teaching large classes and increasing engagement in your lectures.

    Making Course Content Relevant to Students

    In Breadth of Knowledge classes — and even in major-specific courses — some students won’t see why your class is relevant to them. Since this leads to disengagement, how can you develop course modules that feel relevant to all of your students? This curation explores strategies for capitalizing on existing student interests to make your course feel relevant and significant in the lives of all your students.
    • Now more than ever, students value learning that connects course material to their personal interests and motivations. This article describes why—and better yet, gives two easy strategies for how—you can help students value your course’s content, even when it’s outside their major: Facilitating Connections Between Course Content and Students' Lives.
    • Do you want to build community in the classroom? Or create a space for students to engage and interact with your content? The seven tips in this article offer avenues for shaping the delivery of your course’s content. These short, practical recommendations explore strategies for establishing the relevance of your content and structuring your lecture and assignments for maximum impact: Engaging Students on the First Day and Every Day.
    • How can you invite peer-to-peer collaboration without losing control over your class? Collaborative learning is a technique that opens the door to endless classroom and real-world learning opportunities. Professors from any discipline can implement these strategies, creating a myriad of ways to encourage students to collaborate and support each other: Collaborative Learning | Center for Teaching Innovation.
    • Academic Sources:
      • As an English or Humanities professor, how can you show your students the relevance of older literature? This professor proposes strategies for sparking students’ creativity by connecting popular music with historical literary works. Though this professor specifically explores music and literature, their strategies may be adapted to any discipline. Access granted through the UML Library Database: Why I teach a course connecting Taylor Swift's songs to the works of Shakespeare, Hitchcock and Plath.
      • Want to help students understand the relevance of science in their lives? This professor proposes strategies for using hip-hop music and culture to create a more involved student understanding of science. Particularly useful for breadth of knowledge courses, this link is valuable for any professor looking for new ideas to encourage student engagement: Using hip-hop in the classroom to build a better understanding of science.
    Further Reading:
    • How can you foster problem-solving skills and peer collaboration in your classrooms? Problem-based learning allows students to collaborate and solve an open-ended problem using concepts learned in class. Easily implemented and known to increase student engagement, this can be an intriguing approach for restructuring group projects: Problem-Based Learning | Center for Teaching Innovation

    Teaching a Large-Enrollment Class

    Teaching a larger class can create an environment where students feel anonymous and insignificant. Many larger classes are introductory courses, further adding to feelings of isolation and confusion. How can you create a sense of community in a large class, while also retaining structure and uniformity in your teaching style? This curation proposes strategies for instructing a large-enrollment class, exploring practical considerations, strategic teaching and community-building tips alike.
    • How can you support student learning and build community in a large classroom? This resource explores how to build a classroom community and facilitate effective learning in a larger classroom. It also considers the logistics of teaching large-enrollment courses: Large Classes: Teaching Tips.
    • How can you reduce student anonymity and employ active learning strategies in larger classes? This article explores common drawbacks to large class sizes and offers practical tips for overcoming them by supporting students’ learning in a larger class: Teaching Large Classes.
    • Active learning, engagement, and strategic teaching — this article explores realistic strategies so you can manage and instruct large classes more effectively. It considers the unique challenges of larger classes and proposes six practical solutions: Considerations for Large Lecture Classes | Center for Teaching & Learning.
    Further Reading: 
    Curious for more? Want to dig a little deeper? Here are some longer, more in-depth resources for instructing a large class.
    • How can you individualize teaching without creating an impossible workload for yourself? This article explores how assigning preparatory notes for students in larger classes can individualize their learning. Rather than large or implausible, this article breaks down the concept into plausible, implementable chunks: Preparatory Notes as a Way to Individualize Teaching and Learning

    Increasing Student Engagement in Lecture-based Classes

    Increased student engagement is always possible, even in a lecture! Rather than drastically changing your class structure, making smaller changes to the format and presentation of a lecture can encourage your students’ engagement in your course. This curation proposes strategies like physical presence, visual aids and outlining to allow stronger student engagement in your lectures.

    • How can minute changes to your lecture-style classes increase student engagement? These bullet-points explore practical strategies like outlining, transitioning and effectively reading the room. With these small, simple changes, your students can interact more thoroughly with the course material: Making Your Lectures Interactive Tip Sheet.
    • How can you capitalize on visual aids, your physical presence and student engagement to create an interactive lecture? This source from Vanderbilt University explores strategies for maximizing your available resources to create an engaging lecture: Lecturing | Center for Teaching.
    • Perhaps you’re interested in lectures that encourage student participation and engagement. How might you do that without sacrificing content? These twenty tips from Harvard University offer strategies for a more facilitating, participatory learning environment: Twenty Ways to Make Lectures More Participatory.

    Further Reading: 

    • Professors at universities throughout the world have wrestled with the unique endeavor of educating college students. This crowdsource-style resource offers short, informational articles about engaging students in your lectures and includes tips from professors in all disciplines across the world. This is a little longer than the others, but absolutely worth the read. You might not agree with every tip, but they’re a different perspective offered by other experienced professors: Top tips on how to make your lectures interesting.
    • Not all lectures are made equal! How can you elevate your lecture-based course without sacrificing your content? This resource provides strategies for seamlessly fitting active learning techniques into your current lecturing format. Presenting a conceptual framework and specific, practical tips for implementation, this is a wonderful source for gaining inspiration: Making Lectures More Active

  • Hello! I’m Qinglong Diep, an undergraduate intern for CELT. As a student about to graduate, I have received really helpful feedback on some assignments that has helped me develop my abilities. The faculty feedback that has helped me the most gave me the opportunity to and direct guidance I needed to improve.
    In this collection, I have curated some items to provide you a starting point with giving students useful feedback, especially on different genres of assignment.

    General Information

    Projects

    Essays

    Lab Reports

    Quizzes, Exams and Other Formative Assessments

  • Hello everyone! The UMass Lowell (UML) Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT) team has curated several resources to provide useful information on the topic of Cost of Textbooks, OER, and Course Materials. 

    Inside Higher Ed article: Academic Success Tip: Promoting Affordable Course Materials

    • Gettysburg College librarians are spearheading efforts to lower out-of-pocket course materials costs for learners by organizing faculty workshops and student surveys
    Chronicle of Higher Education article: A Congressional Attempt to Cut College Costs
    Chronicle of Higher Education article: One Way to Reduce Textbook Costs: Get Rid of Commissions
    • Solution made by the Dallas County Community College District to reduce textbook costs is forgoing commissions in sales. Although it has resulted in revenue loss. To offset the loss, they are prioritizing cost reduction for students and exploring additional ways to decrease instructional material expenses.
    • There is more to be unearthed about the cost of textbooks and materials and the reality of why students aren’t spending as much on textbooks. (e.g., inequality of access for 1st year, 1st gen students).
    • Almost all students are responsible for funding some or all of their course materials 
    • Preferences are mixed on digital versus print 
    • Almost all students try to reduce materials costs (sharing w classmates, free online versions, buying only the chapters needed, renting digital copy) 
    • Materials costs impact students’ academic choices 
    • Most students worry about course materials costs 
    Inside Higher Ed article: Going to College While Going Without
     
    • A new report says a majority of California community college students are struggling to meet their basic needs. Some students are even skipping meals or eating less than they need.
    Inside Higher Ed article: Professor Writes Open-Access Textbook to Promote Affordability
    Accounting professor Patty Goedl (University of Cincinnati at Clermont) created her own open-source textbook to make her course more affordable and increase the availability of free educational materials.


  • Hello everyone! The UMass Lowell (UML) Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT) team has curated several resources to provide useful information on the topic of “Gen Z” and Post-Pandemic students. The resources will give insight to how “today’s students” navigate life and higher education in a fast and ever-changing world.

    While the Gen Z population is sometimes called the post-millennial generation, there are some key differences that set Gen Z apart from the one that precedes it. Those differences have implications for the way they learn, develop and function in the classroom. That can be intimidating for teachers who may be new to working with Generation Z.

    Resources:

    Chronicle of Higher Education article: Gen Z Is Ready to Talk. Are Professors Ready to Listen?

    • “How a successful gen-ed program is using the humanities to reach this very different generation of students.”
    • The gen-ed program is the Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts program at Purdue University

    Chronicle of Higher Education article: Self-Directed Learning and Augmented Reality: How to Teach Gen Z

    • In order to develop an effective educational experience for Gen Z:
      • Students must be allowed to tell their stories using their tools (such as social media)
      • Immersive environments must be created (ex: some universities across the nation use virtual and augmented reality to let clinical students interact with patients before they enter a hospital setting)
      • Flexible learning spaces should be built

    Chronicle of Higher Education article: A New Generation of Digital Distraction

    • Faculty members across campuses are conflicted on the student-use and presence of electronic devices in the classroom. Some have chosen to allow the devices to stay in the classroom while others have implemented a ban (in one case, even a Wi-Fi ban).

    Inside Higher Ed article: The New Plague on Campus: Loneliness

    • Post-pandemic, students have been found to be experiencing loneliness

    Inside Higher Ed article: What Today’s College Students Need

    • Now, a majority of undergraduates are "non-traditional"
    • Main points in article:
      • Our students have changed, but our institutions have not adapted sufficiently to this reality
      • Campuses need to offer more of the kinds of courses and learning experiences that today’s students need
      • Colleges and universities could do more to better prepare students for postgraduation life

    Inside Higher Ed article: Gen Z’s Distrust in Higher Ed a ‘Red Flag’

    • Now, a majority of undergraduates are non-traditional
    • Main points in article:
      • Our students have changed, but our institutions have not adapted sufficiently to this reality
      • Campuses need to offer more of the kinds of courses and learning experiences that today’s students need
      • Colleges and universities could do more to better prepare students for postgraduation life

    Inside Higher Ed article: ‘Generations and Tomorrow’s Gen Z Academic Workforce

    • This article explains how Jean M. Twenge’s new book, Generations, can help institutions design structures and a culture that will attract and retain the Gen Z demography, both faculty and staff

    Inside Higher Ed article: Are Colleges Ready for Generation Z?

    • The arrival of a new generation offers higher education an opportunity for renewal and revitalization.
    • Facts about Gen Z & the implications for instructors:
      • A growing proportion of students experience economic stress
      • They lead very bust lives
      • Campus diversity greatly enriches the student experience, but it also creates acute challenges
      • Students are far more likely than in the past to report being depressed, anxious, lonely, and plagued by stress

    Inside Higher Ed article: Why Does Gen Z Seem Especially Vulnerable to Stress, Anxiety, Trauma and Depression?

    • How colleges can better prepare students for the realities of today’s adulthood.

    Inside Higher Ed article: Report: Gen Z Open to Nontraditional Education

    • According to a new study, Gen Z students are more interested in alternative routes to the traditional 4-year degree, although they still believe in the importance of higher education. This is telling of their resilience and resoluteness in their drive to create unique and personalized educational pathways.

    National Public Radio (NPR) article: Today’s College Students Aren’t Who You Think They Are

    • Today’s students are “non-traditional”, unlike what pop culture portrays. Nontraditional students are (one or more of these characteristics)
      • financially independent from their parents,
      • have a child or other dependent,
      • are a single caregiver,
      • lack a traditional high school diploma,
      • delayed postsecondary enrollment,
      • attending school part time, or
      • are employed full time.

    Higher Learning Advocates article: Who are Today's Students?

    • Today’s students are more diverse than any previous generation of college students in terms of age, race, and income level.

    Education Advisory Board (EAB) article: Content Strategy by Generation: 6 Insights from our Surveys of 22,000 Students. The 6 insights:

    1. Web-based sources are the primary resources for Gen Z and Millennials
    2. Gen Z is passion-focused
    3. Gen P [Pandemic] is using "traditional" sources more frequently
    4. Gen P and Gen Z are more reliant on personal sources than Millennials
    5. YouTube and Instagram are ubiquitous
    6. Good web design matters, no matter the generation

  • Content Curators

    Have you seen our call for content curators? Answer that call by applying to be a content curator, and help us make this a great faculty collaboration! Our curators will build topical content as the basis for our ever-developing resources. The "Curriculum Mapping" collection is our test case and proof of concept. We hope this will be a useful and often-visited page!

  • What is Culturally Responsive Pedagogy?

    The following piece has been curated by Gloria Donkor, a current doctoral student in the Global Studies Program focusing on Sanitation, Sustainability and Community Development. Gloria is also a course instructor of contemporary African Politics at UMass Lowell. she is passionate about learning systems that recognize the impact of culture on fostering learning connections.

    Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) occurs when educational instructors recognize, acknowledge, and accommodate their students’ diverse backgrounds to create an inclusive learning environment (Caingcoy, 2023). In the words of Hammond (2014):

    Culturally responsive teaching is the educator’s ability to recognize students’ cultural displays of learning and meaning making and respond positively and constructively with teaching moves that use cultural >knowledge as a scaffold to connect what the students know to new concepts and content to promote effective information processing

    All these definitions recognize that acknowledging the culture and diversity of students beyond the classroom is necessary for student success within the classroom. CRP appreciates the students’ lived experiences, no matter what form it takes, and provides a basis for which students can relate to whatever is being taught in class. This is very effective in student success as it helps the students to customize their learning journey to their own unique worldview. The term was popularized by Gloria Ladson-Billings, Ph.D.1 who in a quest to identify why some why some Black students were thriving in certain classes as opposed to others found that the instructors in the former group simultaneously valued the community the students and had high academic expectations of these students. According to Ladson-Billings there are three main components of culturally responsive pedagogy.

    1. Developing an inclusive and equitable focus on student learning and academic success
    2. Developing students’ and educator’s cultural competence to progress awareness and sensitivity about cultural diversity within the classroom.
    3. Supporting students to critically examine social and cultural issues to empower them to challenge inequalities and advocate for social justice.

    Why Is Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Important

    Culturally Responsive Pedagogy aids students to situate their academic knowledge and skills within their lived experiences. This in turn makes the lessons more personally meaningful and appealing, facilitating easier and more thorough learning (Gay, 2013). Subsequently, it helps to empower linguistically, racially, and ethnically diverse students who may probably otherwise have been sidelined or felt ignored. For many instructors, the way they teach and communicate may be directly linked to their own culture and experiences. However, as Taylor & Sobel (2011) point out, teachers are social and cultural transmitters. As such, being mindful of a culturally responsive pedagogy also prepares students to interact with the diverse traditions and cultures that they are bound to experience both within and outside the classroom, especially within this rapidly globalizing world. Consequently, it has the dual benefits of not just student academic success but also upholding cultural integrity (Gay, 2013; Han et al., 2014). This is particularly vital right here at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, as diversity statistics2 show.

    In addition, foreign-born persons make up 28.7% of the city of Lowell MA’s population, with English-only speaking populations making up 51.2% of households. The remaining households are spread across Spanish (13.7%), Asian & Pacific Islander languages (19.9%), other Indo-European languages (12.3%) and other languages (2.8%) (Census.Gov, 2023; United States Census Bureau). This makes a CRP approach reflective of the university’s commitment to its student success as well as strengthening its partnership with the city of Lowell, MA. As a designated Minority Serving Institution and four-time recipient of the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award, promoting CRP, is a true reflection of UMass Lowell values.

    How to Integrate Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

    An effective first step is to recognize and acknowledge the cultural differences in the classroom. As the well-known definition reads, “Culture is the way of life of a group of people”. This encompasses material and non-material exhibitions including but not limited to language, religion, cuisine, art, dress, music, and social behavior. According to the Drexel University School of Education: cultural diversity in the classroom extends to race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and gender identity.

    Rather than seeing these differences as challenges, especially when they are very different from the instructor’s, it is helpful to look at these differences as opportunities to make learning materials and resources familiar to students. Therefore, instructors must consider these differences as assets for guiding their curriculum, classroom climate, and instructional strategies (Teel & Obidah, 2008).

    Instructors must be intentional about knowing their students well. This is by showing interest in and actively learning about the communities the students come from. Here at UMass Lowell, the Office of Multicultural Affairs is a great resource that instructors can use to bridge gaps in learning about the diversity of the UMass Lowell student population. Moreover, the city of Lowell’s cosmopolitan demographic affords instructors additional opportunities to learn about the diverse communities and cultures represented on campus. For instance, the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association and African Community Center in Lowell often host events for cultural education and promotion. These resources help to provide materials connecting classroom topics and discussions to real-world activities that are important to students, right here on our campus.

    Additionally, instructors must also strive to maintain consistent communication with students. Scheduling one-on-one meetings or regularly reminding students that you are open to hearing about their challenges or feedback within the classroom indicates open doors for students. Instructors come across as welcoming and accommodating to prevent their culturally responsive initiatives coming across as performative. Furthermore, constant, and open communication is vital as people sometimes have more fluid relationships with their identities (Will & Najarro, 2022). Culture itself is dynamic, evolving due to social changes, generational shifts, cultural contacts, and even through the proliferation of media and technology. Maintaining constant and effective communication with students helps instructors to be mindful of these.

    Finally, it is important to recognize what Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) is not. As Dr. Ladson Billings points, out, CRP stresses on inclusive and equitable students’ success. As such, culturally responsive instructors must focus on the academic success of all their students, implementing all their cultural diversity for learning blocks in the classroom. Likewise, culturally responsive pedagogy must not stress only one cultural identity. The National Equity Project admonishes that instructors must not confuse race and culture as the same. Neither should they adapt CRP to be one that is about motivating only students of color. Rather Culturally Responsive Pedagogy should be used as a bridge between home and school life affirming students’ history and culture and thus centers their voices in all lessons and classroom experiences.

    Considering the current changes to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies across the United States, instructors must strive to apply Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in the right ways as at its core, it does drive all students to be work-ready, life-ready, and world-ready.

    A Reflection of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Methods from Cecilia Idika-Kalu

    “To me, cultural pedagogy is an approach that accounts for diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. The questions I ask myself are: How do we design this? What are the different expressions of this pedagogy? How can it be evaluated given the diversity of cultures? How can evaluation be effective in ensuring learning?

    Understanding may not be uniform, but it can still be effective. Uniformity is not necessarily a marker of productivity or impact.

    First, we need to establish cultural pedagogy beginning with the syllabus. The syllabus is a critical tool that provides students with a clear understanding of what is required and what their expectations should be. It should clearly state that regardless of background, everyone's perspective is important and will be respected. Effective communication in the syllabus is essential, and it should explicitly state that disrespect for any culture will not be tolerated.

    Cultural humility is a critical aspect of this pedagogy. We must avoid assuming knowledge and instead ask questions and encourage students to express their points of view. This applies even if we share the same cultural background as the student. Understanding each student individually allows us to tailor the learning experience to their needs. For certain topics, storytelling might be more effective depending on the students' backgrounds. We should be willing to adjust teaching methods, using tools like PowerPoints in a more narrative way to make content engaging and accessible.

    Evaluation is another critical aspect. Equitably evaluating learning outcomes involves using various methods that cater to different students' strengths. Some students may prefer creating physical models, writing essays, developing documentary projects, or participating in verbal evaluations like interviews. The evaluation methods should accommodate these preferences to ensure that all students can demonstrate their learning effectively.

    Additionally, it's important to recognize that cultural contexts vary not only geographically but also by age and life stage. Mature learners have different cultural contexts, lifestyles, and expectations compared to younger students. Being aware of these differences and incorporating them into our teaching methods is crucial for effective learning.

    In summary, cultural pedagogy requires designing inclusive syllabi, practicing cultural humility, using varied and engaging teaching methods, and employing diverse evaluation techniques. By doing so, we can create a learning environment that respects and values all students' backgrounds and promotes effective learning.”

    Further Resources

    1. Success Stories of Culturally Responsive teaching Stories:
      1. “The Journey of a Culturally Responsive Teacher Educator” - Kevin Cataldo
      2. “Empowering Personal Narratives that Highlight Culturally Engaging Campus Environments for Student Success” - Desmond Doulatram and Robert Bachini, Ph.D.
    2. Becoming Culturally Responsive Educators: Rethinking Teacher education Pedagogy, Kea et al., (2006)

    References