Teaching for Equity 2030: Integrating the First Year Seminar
Friday, October 1, 2021
9:00 AM - 10:15 AM
CSU 254 or Zoom
During their first semester in the United States, international students at Minnesota State University Mankato are required to enroll in the first-year seminar course, KSP 106 – Education & Culture in the United States. The course is designed to be a semester-long extension of international student orientation. The course gives students new to this country and new to U.S. higher education a broad overview of the U.S. educational system and provides a forum for discussion and comparison of customs and beliefs as they affect relationships among students and professors. Beginning in fall 2021, the international students will be required to enroll in First-Year Seminar FYEX 100, and KSP 106 will no longer be offered at the university. FYEX 100 is a course designed to assist all students with the transition to the university. The integration of the international student population from an independent first-year experience seminar, KSP 106, to the university’s regular first-year experience course, FYEX 100, is an important step toward equitable education practice. Purpose: The purpose of this project is to move the discussion in international education away from coping mechanisms and assimilation strategies toward a more inclusive classroom environment (Yao et al., 2020). The project is designed to analyze current FYEX 100 and KSP 106 instructors’ methods and best practices related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) topics in the classroom. The data analysis will inform methodologies of instructors, advisors, and student affairs personnel to engage in equitable solutions for students beginning with their first day on campus. The project is designed in support of the Equity 2030* goal to eliminate educational equity gaps at every Minnesota State college and university. Research Questions: I. What changes to the objectives or the structure of the course do instructors suggest might create a more inclusive classroom environment? II. According to instructors, what resources or training opportunities do instructors need to develop an inclusive, multicultural, and multilingual classroom? III. What are current FYEX 100 and KSP 106 instructors’ practices and experience facilitating conversations about race, ethnicity, power, and privilege? What works? What doesn’t? IV. What background and experience with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion do FYEX 100 and KSP 106 instructors bring to their teaching of the first-year seminar courses? Data Collection and Analysis: Participants: Current and former instructors of FYEX 100 and KSP 106. Data Collection: Guided interviews with current and former instructors of FYEX 100 and KSP 106 Analysis: The transcriptions of the interviews will be qualitatively analyzed using NVivo. Presentation and Target Audience: The presentation will highlight both success and barriers to an inclusive classroom that emerged from the interviews in four key areas: 1) Course structure and outcomes, 2) Building community and belonging, 3) Instructional strategies, 4) Instructor development related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The target audience for this presentation is all FYEX 100 instructors, FYEX advisory board members, and student affairs staff and faculty interested in inclusive teaching and holistic student development.
The purpose of this project is to move the discussion in international education away from coping mechanisms and assimilation strategies toward a more inclusive classroom environment. Using long-form qualitative interviews, this project analyzed current FYEX 100 and KSP 106 instructors’ methods to facilitate an inclusive classroom environment. The presentation will highlight both success and barriers to an inclusive classroom that emerged from the interviews in four key areas: 1) Course structure and outcomes, 2) Building community and belonging, 3) Instructional strategies, 4) Instructor development related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
