Addressing questions of how to comply with recent legislation, this blog provides suggestions for teaching and learning in inclusive classrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The University teacher is a citizen, a member of a learned profession, and an officer of an educational institution. When speaking or writing as a citizen, there should be freedom from institutional censorship or discipline, but a special position in the community imposes special obligations. [They] should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinion of others, and should make every effort to indicate that he or she is not an institutional spokesman.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Academic freedom is essential to higher education. As articulated in the above quote from Ball State University\u2019s Freedom of Expression<\/a> page, instructors should be free from institutional censorship, but this freedom comes with conditions. One condition is the newly enacted Senate Enrolled Act 202, commonly referred to as SB 202. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In his speech at the State of Inclusive Excellence Address, President Mearns asserted Ball State \u201cencourage[s] and reward[s] diversity of thought.\u201d However, the passage of SB 202 may leave some faculty feeling anxious and confused about the law\u2019s application to the classroom. This blog will provide suggestions for teaching and learning in the post-SB 202 classroom to address faculty concerns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Fall 2024 semester is the first regular term SB 202 is in effect, creating murkiness around the potential restrictions and repercussions of the bill. After connecting with several faculty members at Ball State and researching how other universities are handling academic freedom, instructors may do the following to cultivate inclusive classroom conversations in adherence with SB 202: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Explicitly aligning course objectives with course content is the easiest way to justify how content relates to the course requirements, discipline, or curriculum standards. While many instructors already do this at the beginning of the semester, it may be helpful to remind students frequently (e.g., every week or at the start of every unit) of the ways their assignments relate to the course or unit-level objectives. See below for a redesigned objective from my Fundamentals of Public Communication<\/em> course last semester. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before: <\/p>\n\n\n\n You should be able to display improved abilities in critical listening.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n After: <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of this course, you should be able to:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I outline how students will demonstrate their learning in the revised course objective. Instead of using a subjective adjective (improved), I include measurable verbs (demonstrate, contributing) to clearly illustrate what students should do. I also mention where the students should demonstrate these skills (in-class discussions) to help them actualize the objective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When applicable, letting students choose their own content is a practical way to \u201cintroduce students to scholarly works from a variety of political or ideological frameworks,\u201d a tenet of SB 202<\/a>. For instance, during Ball State Director of Instructional Consultation Cheri Madewell<\/a>\u2019s Gendered Religion unit in her Introduction to Women\u2019s and Gender Studies<\/em> course, she encourages students to find an alternate podcast to analyze if they feel more comfortable doing so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cheri talks more about her practice below: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Teaching Introduction to Women\u2019s and Gender Studies<\/em>, we examine topics that some learners may feel uncomfortable exploring for [various] reasons, such as little to no experience or knowledge of the topic, their beliefs, or their background or lived experiences. This doesn\u2019t mean learners can skip a module or topic. [Instead], I can give learners a choice of instructional materials and students agency to identify their own material\u2014as long as the material clearly aligns with the stated module objective(s). <\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, learners must demonstrate their achievement of the module objective no matter the material with which they engage. This requires that learners clearly understand the module objective or what they should be able to do once they engage in the course material and complete the corresponding assessment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As an instructive example, learners listen to a podcast by a reputable source in the course module examining gender and religion. However, I give learners the choice to identify their own podcast, as long as it aligns with the stated objective and the podcast is similar in length and produced by a reputable source. It is important that learners identify a podcast, specifically, so they can experience and engage with various types or modalities of learning materials throughout the course.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nStrategies to Consider<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Clearly align objectives with classroom content<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Have students choose their own content<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n