Curriculum Development.
Reflexivity leads to curricular change and development
Over the course of one's academic career, continual reflection, engagement in current research, and serving with a growth mindset can spark creative ideas and desires to enact change via redesigning a course's content, assignments, or pedagogical decisions.
CI 3110 - Social Studies in the Elementary School
Course Redesign to Align with New Text: Social Studies for a Better World, by Rodriguez & Swalwell
To our good fortune, Dr. Christina Tschida joined the C&I Department in the fall of 2020. Having worked with Christina before as a co-editor of our book, (Re)Imagining Elementary Social Studies: A Critical Reader (Shear, et al., 2018), we began talking about the highly anticipated text, Social Studies for a Better World (Rodriguez & Swalwell, 2021). When the book came out in the fall of 2021, we worked over the break to redesign our course to align with the new text. This collaboration has led to a Controversial Issues Dialogue session at the annual CUFA conference in Philadelphia this November, 2022. Click above to view our course (in progress).
Inclusive Teaching Lab
The Inclusive Teaching Lab (ITL) is a major function of the Inclusive Excellence Team. The core objective of the ITL is to advance inclusivity, equity, and diverse representation in curricula and pedagogy by offering teaching resources such as the inclusive syllabus design framework, inclusive teaching strategies, teaching self assessments, video modules, and other resources. For more intensive departmental curriculum efforts, the Inclusive Excellence Team is available for Intensive Departmental Consultation as departments engage in a careful process of self-examination and curriculum redesign. This work supports the broader aim of nurturing a culture of attentiveness to inclusive learning, through developing program goals and area-specific curricula with an eye on inclusive excellence scholarship.
Inclusive Syllabus Design Framework
Developing an inclusive syllabus is a key first step towards creating an inclusive classroom and communicating to students your intent to cultivate an inclusive and supportive learning environment. Appalachian's Inclusive Syllabus Design Framework provides key components of a traditional syllabus and examples that illustrate how these components can be applied to a more inclusive design or re-design of your syllabus. Guiding questions and links to helpful tips and resources are included in the framework.