Practice Category: Trust and Fairness
Students from negatively stereotyped or underserved groups can question whether faculty and staff may treat them fairly in interactions, grading, and other forms of evaluation. Faculty that communicate and behave in ways that engender trust and a perception of caring can mitigate social identity threat for students from these groups. In this section you will find practice recommendations designed to engender student trust in the instructional team by affirming the use of fair instructional and evaluation practices.
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Supporting Financially Stressed Students
Recommendations for practices that can help support financially stressed students' learning, sense that they belong in college, and belief in their ability to succeed.
Practice Categories: Belonging Identity Safety Self-Efficacy Trust and Fairness
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Addressing an Identity Threatening Incident
Guidance on a straightforward and practical approach for addressing identity-threatening incidents in a way that promotes students’ identity safety and social belonging, and builds connection and trust.
Practice Categories: Belonging Identity Safety Social Connectedness Trust and Fairness
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Creating An Attuned Assessment Wrapper
Resources for bookending (or “wrapping”) key assessments with practices that help students prepare for, and debrief their performance in a way that emphasizes potential for growth, connects to resources, and does not inspire identity threat.
Practice Categories: Growth Mindset Culture Self-Efficacy Social Connectedness Trust and Fairness
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Policy Review: Creating Student-Centered Course Policies
A step-by-step guide for crafting course policies that promote equity and acknowledge and accommodate the lived experiences of diverse student populations; most effective when implemented prior to the start of the term/during course planning, and reiterated in early course messaging and during stressful times of the term.
Practice Categories: Belonging Identity Safety Trust and Fairness
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Establishing Expectations: A Growth Mindset Approach
Approaches for communicating about academic standards and course expectations in a way that promotes student engagement, learning, and academic success; most effective when implemented during the first week of classes; revisit principles throughout the term.
Practice Categories: Growth Mindset Culture Self-Efficacy Trust and Fairness
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Creating a Wise Feedback Framing Statement
Guidance on delivering critical feedback in a way that engenders trust, increases academic engagement, and helps close academic outcome gaps; most effective when implemented on all significant assignments or assessments.
Practice Categories: Growth Mindset Culture Identity Safety Self-Efficacy Social Connectedness Trust and Fairness
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Ensuring Classroom Identity Safety
Approaches for creating classroom learning environments where students from diverse identities feel welcome, valued, respected, and as though they are recognized as having the potential to succeed; most effective when implemented continuously throughout the term.
Practice Categories: Belonging Identity Safety Social Connectedness Trust and Fairness
