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Center for Teaching Innovation

Teaching & Learning in the Diverse Classroom Online Course

About the Course

Teaching & Learning in the Diverse Classroom is a four-week, self-paced online course for anyone with teaching responsibilities at Cornell, at any level of diversity expertise. Modules explore social identity and self-reflection, strategies for inclusive course design, and pedagogical practices that effectively support student engagement and a sense of belonging across difference.

Key Details

  • Designed for anyone teaching at Cornell, across all disciplines
  • Open to all experience levels—no expertise in diversity necessary
  • 10 to 15-hour total time commitment anticipated
  • Enrollment is now open! 

Course Content

You will have opportunities to reflect on your own formative experiences and perspectives and to consider a range of new strategies to sustain more inclusive learning environments. The course experience includes text, reflection prompts, videos, readings, short assignments, and formative quizzes.

The content is organized into 5 modules:

ModuleThemeTopics
1.Teacher self-reflection
  • Social identity development
  • Identity salience for instructors
  • Your approach to teaching and learning
2.Student identities
  • Implicit bias and stereotype threat
  • Disability inclusion
  • Identity salience and affirmation in the learning environment
3.Developing inclusive pedagogy
  • Evidence-driven pedagogical approaches
  • Strategies for engagement and inclusion
  • Modeling inclusivity in unexpected moments
4.Examining curriculum
  • Inclusion in your discipline
  • Inclusive curriculum and course design
  • Discipline-specific approaches
5.Institutional change
  • Joining institutional change efforts
  • Action planning for application

Learning Outcomes

If you complete the course, you will be able to:

  • Use a framework for inclusive course design to evaluate and plan for inclusive teaching
  • Describe the salience of social identities in teaching and learning.
  • Identify evidence-based pedagogical strategies proven to support student-centered learning
  • Evaluate your curriculum and discipline to identify patterns of exclusion and inclusion and discipline-specific approaches to thinking about diversity, equity, and inclusion

Dates & Registration

The course, open to all Cornell faculty, staff, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars, has been updated for fall 2024 and became a self-enroll, self-paced opportunity in Canvas. Enrollment for Teaching & Learning in the Diverse Classroom is now open. 

You are welcome to take the course solo, or we also encourage you to take it with a friend or group of colleagues. If you would like to create a learning community for your colleagues, please email Melina Ivanchikova (tldc_cti@cornell.edu).

If you are not a member of the Cornell community, consider taking our self-paced Teaching & Learning in the Diverse Classroom MOOC. You may enroll in the MOOC at any time, and the course will be open to you for 5 weeks from your registration date (or for an open-ended period if you choose the fee-based certificate option).