inclusive teaching - Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning

African American female professor using laptop while doing a research at university library.

Your Blackboard course has a Federal accessibility deadline: UDL 3.0 can help you meet it

May 11, 2026 Linh Nguyen Best Practices, News, Teaching, Tips

You didn’t become a university instructor to think about compliance deadlines. But on April 26, 2027 (extended from April 24, 2026), every PDF you post,

Three hikers climb a rocky outcrop at sunrise, with one person at the top pulling another up while a third steadies them from below; all wear backpacks, and a wide mountain landscape with layered hills and clouds stretches into the distance under a colorful sky.

The system, not the students: Insights from the 2025 NASEM Report

May 4, 2026 Linh Nguyen Best Practices, News, Resources, Teaching, Tips, Workshops

I’ve spent years on various sides of the undergraduate STEM classroom—first as an underrepresented minority student navigating the hidden curricula of STEM language and culture,

Featured faculty: Amanda Borosh

April 30, 2026 CITL Featured Faculty, Newsletter, Teaching, Tips

This month’s Featured Faculty spotlight highlights Amanda Borosh, M.Ed., BCBA, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Special Education. Amanda brings more than 15 years of experience in

The image shows a college seminar setting. A professor with a beard sits in the foreground with a laptop, gesturing as he explains something to the group. Around him, college students sit on tiered seating, listening attentively, taking notes in notebooks, or holding tablets and coffee cups. The atmosphere is informal and collaborative, suggesting a discussion-based class rather than a lecture.

Contract grading and student agency: Letting students define the path to their grade

April 28, 2026 Lindsay Vreeland Best Practices, Resources, Teaching, Tips

Traditional grading systems can miss the mark and lead to grade disputes, unclear expectations, and even unintended inequities. Contract grading offers a different approach: students

Students sit at a table with different projects spread out among them.

Choose-your-own-adventure assessments: A flexible approach to measuring learning

March 30, 2026 Lindsay Vreeland Best Practices, Resources, Teaching, Tips

Our student populations are evolving, and we’re seeing that traditional “one-size-fits-all” assessments are becoming recognized as less effective. As students’ learning experiences shift—and as some

People standing around a table collaborating on a project

Supporting first-generation students: Teaching practices that make a difference

March 2, 2026 Linh Nguyen Best Practices, Resources, Teaching

Authors: Linh Nguyen and Yvonne Johnson According to the Fall 2025 enrollment highlight, more than half of NIU’s incoming first-year students identify as first-generation college

Prof. Stephanie Baker leans on front of table at the front of classroom with students sitting at desks.

Beyond the loudest few: How to get quieter students to participate in your class

February 16, 2026 Linh Nguyen Best Practices, Teaching, Tips

I recall walking into a lecture hall and disappearing into the crowd in many of my undergraduate courses. Like any hopeful and determined first-generation student,

A female engineer wearing a bright orange safety jacket sits at a workstation with multiple large monitors displaying technical data, charts, and a 3D model of a vehicle chassis. The engineer is using a keyboard and mouse, with a two-way radio placed on the desk. The background shows an industrial setting with machinery and equipment.

The hidden cost of catching up in STEM

January 20, 2026 Linh Nguyen Best Practices, Resources, Teaching, Tips

In STEM, success is often measured by outcomes: grades, persistence, and graduation rates. When students who start with gaps in preparation ultimately perform as well

Person writing on board in music class with another person watching

From error to insight: The role of mistakes in learning

April 17, 2025 Lindsay Vreeland Best Practices, Resources, Teaching, Tips

What if failure wasn’t the opposite of success but a necessary step toward it? In education, we often talk about growth, but we don’t always

Black woman scientist looking into microscope with another woman scientist in the foreground and a male scientist in the background.

Feminist pedagogies inform inclusive STEM teaching

May 30, 2024 Linh Nguyen Best Practices, Teaching, Tips

Traditional STEM teaching has a persistent predicament of exclusion and inequity. The 2023 Diversity and STEM: Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities report from the

Professor holding tablet for 3D presentation and student wearing Virtual Reality Glasses in front of a blackboard and anatomy model in a STEM class.

Apply for the Curricular Innovation Grant Fund

February 13, 2023 CITL Best Practices, News, Resources, Teaching, Technology Trends

In line with university goals and priorities Goal 3A: Transdisciplinary Scholarship and Curricular Innovation to encourage curricular innovation and experimentation and provide opportunities for interdisciplinary courses

Group of students huddled around a table looking at papers

Techniques for setting the tone in your classes

October 6, 2022 Yvonne Johnson Best Practices, Resources, Teaching, Tips

Source: OneHE Have you ever wondered why some classes seem to “click” and others just seem “off?” Setting a positive tone in your classes can