In recent years, there has been a push to adopt inclusive teaching practices to support learning for all students, particularly marginalized groups in undergraduate STEM courses. However, there is scanty evidence of studies reported on inclusive teaching in STEM classrooms. Importantly, there are no existing tools for accurate and real-time assessment of inclusive teaching practices (ITPs) beyond active learning. This study is one of a kind to report the development of a novel Inclusive Teaching Observation Protocol (ITOP) for assessing inclusive teaching in STEM classrooms. The development of ITOP was informed by proven ITPs reported in social psychology research and discipline-based education research (DBER). To investigate the utility of the ITOP, we investigated two research questions: 1) what ITPs can be captured by ITOP in STEM classrooms? 2) Can ITOP distinguish between different ITPs implemented by instructors in STEM disciplines? Data were collected through classroom observations conducted with 19 STEM faculty at one institution before the Covid-19 pandemic. Each participant was videotaped on at least 6 lessons. Based on the video logs, each lecture was coded in terms of student and instructor behaviors, which were documented in every 2-minute timeframe. Coded behaviors were analyzed to generate lesson timelines on the observed inclusive teaching and learning behaviors. Our findings indicate that ITOP can capture and distinguish between different ITPs in college STEM classrooms. Common identified ITPs related to inclusive pedagogy and inclusive-learning environment, including active learning. Overall, preliminary findings indicate a slow adoption of proven ITPs by the study participants. A detailed description of the development of the ITOP tool and the observed ITPs among the STEM faculty participants will be discussed. Findings imply the need for increased awareness of ITPs among college STEM instructors. Detailed implications of the findings will be presented.

Development of a novel inclusive teaching observation protocol (ITOP) for use in STEM classrooms

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.