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Resources for Infusing Course Content

Quick links to resources by group:    Women          Race         LGBT           Disabilities

Best General Resource: Diversityweb.org

Diversityweb.org is a metasite for diversity issues in higher education.  You will find information collected here that ranges from the research on the benefits of diversity to examples of infused curricula, and everything in between.  Can be hard to find particular items, though -- the lists get long and aren't categorized on a page.

K-12 Resources

The Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington.  Founded and directed by James A. Banks, one of the gurus of research on inclusive education for K-12 (and some higher education).

History Resources  From our own Central Wisconsin History Collaborative project.  Alphabetically by time periods and groups. 

Best Practices:  What does the research tell us about what works

Murphy Library Search Resources:

Murphy Library's Diversity-Related Titles   Search the list by race/ethnicity, gay/lesbian/bisexual, persons with disabilities, or all diversity books.

By Discipline:

Math:  http://radicalmath.org/  Check it out!

See the disciplinary section in Diversityweb.org

By Group:

Note:  I have selected metasites  -- websites that index a lot of other websites -- for this page.  

Diversityweb.org  is always a good resource for any diversity issue in higher education, but these sites can help you narrow your search quickly.

 

Women:

See the UW-System Women's Studies Librarian's Research Guides for these specific topics:  abortionsocial and political aspects of women's healthwomen and popular culture, and Title IX.  Note that these guides are designed for undergraduates, but are very useful to help you design courses and assignments.  Note also that they typically link to UW-Madison resources, but that UWL also has many of these resources either through Murphy Library or through Universal Borrowing or Interlibrary Loan. 

Murphy Library's Women's Studies webpage  Essential resources for Women's Studies research through Murphy Library, including links to important bibliographic databases. An excellent website linking Murphy's own resources to those available through Murphy-licensed databases, other local libraries, and other research collections.

UW System Women's Studies Librarian's Office  Publications review many teaching materials (including videos). Other sections of the website link to book publishers and journals, WS websites, other research centers, and more. Tutorials help users of online bibliographic databases to search effectively and internet users to evaluate websites. You can ask reference questions too. A rare academic resource, of which UW campuses are very proud.  See especially theircurricular resources pages including links to syllabi in various disciplines, links to classroom exercises, and other information.

National Center for Curriculum Transformation Resources on Women  Includes materials for faculty aiming to incorporate new scholarship into their courses, and for administrators directing curriculum transformation projects on their campuses. "Publications" and "Resources" sections are the most useful.

Internet Resources on Women: Using Electronic Media in Curriculum Transformation  
This website updates references in Joan Korenman's book by this title. The website includes information for ordering the book.

Race and Ethnicity:

East Tennessee State University Race and Ethnicity metasite  Includes sections for specific populations.

American Indians:  American Journeys:  Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Settlement and Exploration:  A Digital Library and Learning Center.  From the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Murphy Library's Ethnic and Racial Studies subject website   Subject website through Murphy Library that includes quick links to the essential on-line databases.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered (LGBT):

Research Guides for LGBTQ -- The UW-System Women's Studies Librarian has created an outstanding research guide for LGBTQ resources across the UW-System. 

Ithaca College's Center for LGBT Education, Outreach, and Services  The site includes the Center's Quick Tips on how to be inclusive of LGBT themes (scroll down, on the right) broken down by subject area (H&S = Humanities and Science;  HSHP = Health Science and Human Performance;  DIIS = Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies;  there are also sheets for business, music, and communication).

People with Disabilities:

If you use video in your classes, check to make sure that those you purchase are close-captioned!  If you use online video that is uncaptioned, you can make a transcription in advance and post it in D2L (you can also schedule when content in D2L opens, so that students don't find it before you want them to have it).

"Teaching College Students with Disabilities," Center for Teaching Effectiveness, University of Delaware  Links to pages and articles from around the country on 1.  relevant legislation, 2.  resource agencies and sites, 3.  faculty and student guidebooks, 4.  online articles on college students with disabilities, and 5.  technology.

 

The Museum of disAbility:  This website is presented by People Inc., a non-profit human service agency serving people with special needs, seniors and their families in Western New York. The website contains virtual exhibits documenting various aspects of the history of individuals with disabilities, as well as an extensive bibliography. To access the website, go to http://www.museumofdisability.com/

Resources for Inclusive Pedagogies

For more information on serving students with disabilities, see the ACCESS Center Faculty and Staff Resources.  San Francisco State's website includes Disabilities and Instructional Strategies, as well as a page on preparing accessible Instructional Materials.  Here's an emerging problem:  uncaptioned video.  If you use video in your classes, check to make sure that those you purchase are close-captioned!  If you use online video that is uncaptioned, you can make a transcript in advance and post it in D2L (you can also schedule when content in D2L opens, so that students don't find it before you want them to have it).  "Universal Design" is a current buzzword -- learn more about it, including a nice "toolkit" at the Association on Higher Education and Disability's website, or at the University of Washington's "DO-IT" site.  Note that the purpose of Universal Design is not to obscure the presence of students with disabilities, but to normalize their presence by providing options that any student can choose (within limits that you impose, of course). 

Here's an excellent summary of research on course design incorporating pedagogies that work to "lift all boats" at universities that don't have millions of dollars in private endowment or big  grants to spend: "Increasing Success for Underserved Students: Redesigning Introductory Courses" http://www.thencat.org/Monographs/IncSuccess.htm

Carnegie Mellon's online course design workshop includes a section on cultural differences:  "While all cultures value learning, the kinds of learning valued in particular cultures, the manner in which learning is believed to best occur, and the ways in which the roles of students and teachers are conceptualized may differ profoundly from culture to culture. When students from different cultures share a classroom – or if you, as the instructor, come from a different culture than your students – it is important to consider how cultural background can affect classroom dynamics and learning. A document created by the Eberly Center and the Intercultural Communication Center called Recognizing and Addressing Cultural Variations in the Classroom can help you as an instructor . . ."  This document explores the challenges that international students face, but addresses issues that may apply to many other students as well.

Murphy Library books on the social aspects of college teaching, and minority education in higher education in the U.S. Several of these titles define diversity broadly, including students with disabilities.  See also Feminist Teacher, a journal devoted to inclusive pedagogies (note that this journal assumes that feminism is inclusive), available through the GenderWatch database at Murphy.

Best General Resource:  Diversityweb.org

Diversityweb.org (hosted by the AAC&U) is a metasite for diversity issues in higher education and includes a section on innovative teaching strategies

K-12 Resources

The Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington.  Founded and directed by James A. Banks, one of the gurus of research on inclusive education for K-12 (and some higher education).

History Resources From our own Central Wisconsin History Collaborative project.  Alphabetically by time periods and groups. 

Best Practices: What does the research tell us about what works

Here's a new study on gender and math anxiety: Sian L. Beilock, Elizabeth A. Gunderson, Gerardo Ramirez, and Susan C. Levine, "Female teachers’ math anxiety affects girls’ math achievement," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, published online before print January 25, 2010,http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/01/14/0910967107.full.pdf

Addressing Stereotype Threat 

"Simply reminding blacks of their race before they take an exam leads them to perform worse," research by Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson shows.  What to do?  Here's a nice summary of the current research: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/opinion/08nisbett.html

Culturally Responsive Teaching (particularly for K-12 and Teacher Ed)

Here's the major website:  http://www.culturallyresponsive.org/index.html  

Universal Instructional Design:

CATL Colloquium Workshop on Universal Design of Graded Assignments (help Oct. 22nd, 2009).  Here's the Powerpoint with the live links, and here are the worksheets

University of Guelph's Teaching Support Services UID Resources page offers ideas at differing levels of complexity: http://www.tss.uoguelph.ca/uid/index.cfm

Universal Design for Learning, from the Center for Applied Special Technology, assumes that one size does not fit all.

FacultyWare, from the University of Connecticut

Feminist Pedagogy:

Contemporary feminist pedagogies consider much more than just "women."  They typically examine the multiple identities of both faculty and students, including our gender, race, social class, sexual orientation, age, religion, and disabilities. 

Association of College and Research Libraries, Women's Studies Section   Links on Women, Education, and Girls, Pedagogy.  Lists online articles, bibliographies, and websites.  Scroll through the entire website for Curriculum, Research, Funding, and Issues. The Periodicals section lists journals for teaching and pedagogy around a range of diversity issues.  Maintained by the University of Wisconsin System Women's Studies Librarian's office.

WMST-L Discussion List   WMST-Listers discuss feminist pedagogy and classroom issues, as well as research, program administration, and campus politics.  The website includes instructions for joining WMST-L and WMST-L's searchable archives.  Note that this is a very large list and is very active.

Other Inclusive Pedagogies

"Creating Inclusive College Classrooms," Shari Saunders and Diana Kardia, Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan. 

"Faculty Accountability for Culturally Inclusive Pedagogy and Curricula," Stephen John Quaye and Shaun R. Harper.  Liberal Education (June 22, 2007).

Tools for Inclusivity

Campus Climate has some excellent online tutorials.

Carnegie Mellon's online course design workshop includes a section on cultural differences:  "While all cultures value learning, the kinds of learning valued in particular cultures, the manner in which learning is believed to best occur, and the ways in which the roles of students and teachers are conceptualized may differ profoundly from culture to culture. When students from different cultures share a classroom – or if you, as the instructor, come from a different culture than your students – it is important to consider how cultural background can affect classroom dynamics and learning. A document created by the Eberly Center and the Intercultural Communication Center called Recognizing and Addressing Cultural Variations in the Classroom can help you as an instructor . . ."  This document explores the challenges that international students face, but addresses issues that may apply to many other students as well.

UWL's "Inclusive Language" Guidelines

Disability Rights issues:  "Person first" language, but see also "Person first:" A dissenting view

Inclusive Teaching:  What makes students feel excluded, and what can we do about it?  From the Center for Instructional Development at the University of Washington.

Cultural Competence Evaluation

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration provides some overall assessment tools for organizations as well as group-specific tools.  Note that most of these assume that the organization's focus is health care or social services.  Most of these online resources do focus on health care -- this is the only one I found that included group-specific resources.  Unfortunately, the only group-specific resources here for LGBT populations is under HIV/AIDS care.

Cultural Competency Self-Assessment from the National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development.  See also the links to cultural and linguistic competency statements from professional associations in the health care fields.

Knowing Our Students

The Chronicle of Higher Education's "Freshman Survey" is always interesting for understanding generational differences.