TEACHING TIPS

This section is full of timely and evidence-based practices to apply in your teaching

Implicit bias is the unconscious bias that forms the assumptions that we make about students based on social identity (Imazeki, 2021); however, in education we can also form biases about our students based on past academic performance, perceived agreeableness, previous relationships, and even the stakes of the assignment or assessment. This unconscious bias affects how we think of and interact with students including when we are grading: “Put simply, bias in grading is giving different grades on student work of essentially equal quality, based on factors irrelevant to the scope and criteria for that work.” (Hardré, 2014). This week’s teaching tips focus on avoiding bias in grading.  

• Use Rubrics. Rubrics are scoring guides that provide specific and clear expectations for an assignment. They are used to evaluate many types of student work and include criteria for levels of achievement based on your course learning outcomes. Rubrics help avoid bias in grading because the criteria and achievement levels are linked in advance. For example, for a student to “meet expectations” on a given assignment, the criteria for that component must be evident in the assignment. Cornell University’s Center for Teaching Innovation highlights steps to take to get started with creating your own rubrics, and you can learn more about creating rubrics in Canvas (video) from ITS Learning Technology. 
• Consider Learner Variability. The University of Denver’s Teaching and Learning Office suggests flexible assignments, grading strategies and inclusive approaches to address and minimize bias so that all students have the opportunity to demonstrate their learning. Incorporating Universal Design for Learning and focusing on summative assessments to evaluate student learning provides flexibility for students to choose their own assessments to be scored using a universal rubric. To read more, visit their website and review the additional resources. Enabling anonymous grading in Canvas (video) before grading assignments can minimize the possibility of grading biases like the “Halo Effect” and the “Anchor Effect.”  
• Other Ways to Reduce Bias. How do you know your implicit biases are if they are unconscious? This short video from the New York Times suggests doing a personal audit or asking a friend to observe your behaviors. How are other professors minimizing grading bias? Howard Aldrich is the Kenan Professor of Sociology at UNC Chapel Hill. His website shares tips from the classroom about teaching and learning, student engagement and measuring student outcomes. Here are his top five ways to minimize grading bias: 
  • Grade assessments blindly. 
  • Prepare the answer key in advance.  
  • Use comments to justify the scores you give. 
  • Grade all responses for one question before moving to another question. 
  • Take breaks while grading. 

To engage with this topic further, register for the upcoming Proactive Practices: Addressing and Reducing Grading Bias virtual workshop on September 25 at 3:00 PM. Thank you to Shannon Barr of ITS Learning Technology and UTLC Graduate Assistant, Ebonie Lassiter, for their significant contributions to this week's teaching tips.

UTLC FEATURED ANNOUNCEMENTS

Check out the latest updates and offerings from the UTLC.

The Provost Fellows, with UTLC, have successfully launched the New Faculty Development Program (NFDP). The NFDP offers two programs monthly, providing opportunities to our UNCG faculty.

The NFDP has two primary components: Formal Sessions and Workshops. The Formal Sessions are for new faculty and include panels, roundtables, and presentations on topics such as building classroom community and cultivating one’s network. In workshops (which are open to all faculty), individuals interact with each other as they work on time management, career progression, and teaching/research support. If you have questions or wish to know additional information, please reach out via the Provost Fellows question form.

Additionally, all faculty are encouraged to sign up at ncfdd.org for the NCFDD 14-day writing challenge, October 7-20. Provost Fellows will be hosting virtual and in person writing events to help you get the most out of the challenge. Registration closes at NCFDD on September 27.

In honor of September being national Suicide Prevention, the UTLC has partnered with UNCG's Counseling and Psychological Services to offer a Spartan Spotlight on resources to support the mental health and wellbeing of all students on campus. Holistic wellbeing is a key contributor to student success! Consider signing up for one of the upcoming mental health trainings and/or sharing information about counseling services for students (learn more by accessing the Spartan Spotlight profile). It's important that instructors take care of their mental health, too, so check out resources like Headspace Care that's free for all staff and faculty at UNCG.

The Generative AI in Teaching and Learning FLC is an interdisciplinary initiative open to faculty members, librarians, and instructional professionals across the University of North Carolina (UNC) System. Whether participants are seasoned tech-savvy educators or just starting to explore the potential of AI in education, this community offers a supportive and inclusive environment for all levels of expertise. The FLC will be facilitated by faculty members with experience in Generative AI in an educational context who will guide participants through the discussions and practical application activities. The first meeting of the semester is on Wednesday, October 9 so join today to get the full details!

FACULTY ENGAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT

Check out these upcoming opportunities from the UTLC and other partners on campus. Additional training opportunities are available at workshops.uncg.edu.

Ongoing Opportunities

• DiversityEDU | This online module through Canvas offers faculty and staff skills-based development in areas of equity and diversity.

• Indigenous Safe Space Project on Canvas | This student-led initiative helps to prepare the campus community with basic skills for supporting our Indigenous and Native students.

• Level Up: Mental Health Education & Training | Help foster a culture of care by engaging in trainings for suicide prevention, Mental Health First Aid, Spartan well-being, and more.
• UNCG Libraries Webinars | Research and Application Webinar Series (Spring 2024 recordings) | Zotero Webinar Series (recordings)
• New to Teaching | Access this Canvas site to learn about how students learn, preparing for class, grading, office hours, engagement, active learning, and more.
• Safe and Trans Zone Training on Canvas | Enroll in this self-paced online course to complete Safe Zone 1.0, 2.0, and Trans Zone if you cannot attend an in-person workshop.
• Web Accessibility 101 | This asynchronous, self-paced course focuses on the fundamentals of making online content accessible.

Upcoming Events, Training, and Workshops

MINERVA MENTIONS

This new segment features an academic perspective on campus partners who support student success. This week's Spartan Spotlight is on Counseling and Psychological Services! Click the image below to access the full profile and learn how to integrate this resource into your course.

If you would like your office or program featured, please email us at utlc@uncg.edu.

Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.

1100 West Market St., Suite 100F None | Greensboro, NC 27412 US

This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.