Since Summer 2022, MSHE faculty, in partnership with MSHE Instructional Design and Technology Consultant Chris Neary, have assessed their courses based on Northwestern University’s Principles of Inclusive Teaching and other frameworks. Through these assessment efforts, we learn how MSHE integrates diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) into courses as well as the curriculum overall.
Three objectives
- How do we assess the integration of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice into curriculum and co-curriculum of our professional master’s program?
- Using pedagogy to analyze our professional master’s program, there are two guiding questions:
- What skills and knowledge content is presented and shared by faculty, staff, and students?
- What pedagogical and instructional strategies do we use in a professional master’s program?
- How will these findings be implemented in our program and perhaps be generalizable to others?
Assessment template and procedure
The master DEIJ course assessment template will be customized for your course. Chris Neary will first conduct a content analysis of course materials and communication. At the end of the quarter, he will request your review of this analysis as well as your reflections and insights for your course. He will set up a follow-up meeting for you to discuss and debrief as you consider the next iteration of your course.
Chris will facilitate this process for all faculty and courses. The next immediate goal is to aggregate course findings to determine how MSHE integrates diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice throughout the entire curriculum.
Key definitions and resources
MSHE uses the following definitions of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice that the Northwestern University Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching provides.
- Diversity: Conceptualized and operationalized as a collection of various/differing cultures, people, ideas, and traditions; includes adapting course material and pedagogies that consider and acknowledge the various pre-college backgrounds and contexts of students.
- Equity: Refers to policies, initiatives, and practices aimed at closing the “opportunity gap” for students from groups that have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized in higher education (e.g., minoritized racial/ethnic groups, lower socioeconomic status).
- Inclusion: Relates more to the explicit integration of various people and ideas in all aspects of the educational experience. In a classroom setting, the instructor can create an inclusive environment by being open to novel ideas, open and responsive to student feedback, and even include the students in a portion of the course design (e.g., collectively developing a classroom activity).
- Justice: Justice refers to making fair and ethical decisions about the distribution of opportunities and resources through interpersonal and institutional engagement. In higher education, a justice approach involves treating students equitably and inclusively, so that they feel safe and secure to learn. Justice also means increasing diverse representation in the classroom content as well as the learners and instructors who engage in and support student success.
Review the TEACHx 2022 slides on “Assessing Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Curriculum,” presented by Chris Neary and Lois Trautvetter, professor and director of MSHE.