Diversity in the College Classroom guidebook

Responding to calls from the National Science Foundation to Chancellor Wiley here at UW-Madison, current graduate students and faculty are increasingly recognizing that, to create a more diverse population of scientists and engineers, we must consider how the way we teach differentially impacts the success of all our students. This course is designed for STEM and SBE graduate students who have an interest in becoming better college instructors, and in considering diversity issues in their future classroom practice.

"Diversity" is a term that is increasingly being used in university settings, particularly within colleges of science and engineering. Used to denote everything from the incorporation of multiple ways to assess undergraduate students in science and engineering classrooms, to the inclusion of multiple science and engineering disciplines, to the recruitment and retention of women and/or people of color, the term "diversity" is leveraged to achieve a variety of political and practical aims in today's academic world.

We will take a critical yet practical look at how we define "diversity" and for what purposes, and discuss the ways different definitions of diversity might influence what and how we teach our disciplinary topics. We will consider the idea that different definitions might affect not only how we teach, but also what we decide to include in our courses and why.

Download the Diversity in the College Classroom guidebook [PDF, 2.9mb]