PANEL & ROUNDTABLE: Preparing all students for the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Learning Activities for Equity and Inclusion (40 mins)

Abstract

Panel Topics: 

• Transforming Instruction to Prepare Students for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Audrey Pettibon)
  • As we look at preparing our GMU graduates for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), we must first recognize that a shift in our own pedagogies is essential. 4IR requires a systemic understanding of emerging technologies that blur the lines among the physical, biological and digital spheres. We must likewise blur the lines among our traditional teaching methods as we move forward to deliver higher-level social, cognitive and digital literacy skills. As we refocus on teaching to innovate by applying inquiry-based models and open-source learning, we can effectively transform our students from consumers of their own education into producers. Using Transformation Mapping, we can assess and adapt each of our assignments and in-class activities and introduce elements of instruction that focus on process management, collaboration, written communication, problem-solving and digital literacy all while addressing our course-specific learning outcomes. These skills can be universally applied across cultures and learning styles and ultimately, across lifetimes. Workshop participants will be able to better identify the shifting skills that our graduates will require to be successful in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Specifically, instructors across disciplines will be able to: use transformation mapping to evaluate existing assignments and activities, establish clear objectives that include application of the five key skills for navigating the 4IR, develop effective feedback to support the “producer” in our students and create invitational classroom environments that are flexible and adaptive.
• Understanding and Supporting Diverse Student Populations (Korey Singleton)
  • TBA
• Planning for Pronouns: LGBTQ Student Inclusivity (Mary Johnson)
  • Fostering an accepting and safe space in higher education classrooms is often a classroom environment strategy that is left to individual instructors, who have had little exposure to the latest research on inclusiveness or strategies for creating these spaces, to accomplish. LGBTQ students are often at a disadvantage in classroom situations because teachers and/or classmates often use incorrect pronouns, preventing them from fully participating in all aspects of the classroom. Yet, teachers are often unsure of how to ask for and model correct pronoun usage in their classrooms. If an instructor or teacher decides that they want to promote inclusiveness through the use of preferred personal pronouns how can they accomplish this? How can schools build a culture that encourages and supports teachers who use preferred pronouns? Schools can develop inclusiveness through the design of additive curriculum and teachers can develop inclusiveness by enabling students to see themselves in a discipline; for example in a science classroom a teacher may discuss or display scientists who are non-white, who are female, who identify with the LGBTQ community, or who do not conform to standard dress, etc. One immediate, concrete, and visible way that educators in any discipline can adopt inclusion is the intentional use of preferred personal pronouns. This session will explore several methods of building more inclusive classrooms and schools for LGBTQ students. The panelists will showcase examples of gender and pronoun-inclusive school practices such as student school climate surveys and syllabi and then demonstrate lessons in English and multiple languages to introduce and model preferred pronoun usage. The session will also help participants identify areas in which schools may be unintentionally marginalizing LGBTQ students. This session will begin with a brief overview of the marginalization of LGBTQ students in school settings. The presenters will discuss cases in which a student’s learning was affected by pronoun usage, whether preferred pronouns were honored or ignored, and how the teacher responded to each situation. Participants will then engage in a discussion to identify other ways in which there is school-based bias against LGBTQ students and brainstorm strategies for modeling inclusiveness, creating an accepting environment, and contributing to a positive school culture by supporting the use of LGBTQ students’ preferred pronouns.