PROMOTING DIVERSITY THROUGH DELIBERATE INCLUSIVE APPROACHES TO MAKE THE GEOSCIENCES MORE ACCESSIBLE

Ways of “doing” are particularly important when designing to diminish barriers to learning and to support successful access to technical career fields. There are many kinds of diversity represented in introductory-level geology courses at public 2- and 4-year colleges: learning preferences, college “readiness,” first generation college-bound, ages represented by concurrent enrollment as high school students through retirees, persons with disabilities, English language learners, and military active duty and/or veteran status, as well as gender identity and ethnic/racial demographics. If we consider the sub-populations of higher education students in the U.S. such as persons identifying themselves as having a disability, there are ~ 770,000 people enrolled in 2- and 4-year institutions (Raeu and Lewis, 2011). And if we do our recruitment and retention “right,” many persons with disabilities may be enrolled in our introductory classes...to then persist into advanced courses offered in geoscience-related degree programs.

My approach in addressing diversity is to utilize Universal Design (UD) as a broadly inclusionary tool for both students with and without disabilities. UD is summarized as three overarching principles covering multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement. Each of the three principles has three associated guidelines (CAST, 2011). UD guidelines naturally include many of the suggested "best practices" for learner-centered instruction such as use of both visual and auditory media, interpersonal strategies, applying consistent routines, and outlines instructional techniques such as wait time and vocabulary/concept strategies. I will share several I’ve employed, as well as resources from both within the geoscience community (e.g. SAGE 2YC http://serc.carleton.edu/sage2yc/broadenparticipation/index.html) and the broader post-secondary literature regarding disabilities in higher education. Ref: CAST (2011) Universal Design for Learning Guidelines (Version 2.0). Wakefield, MA: Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines Raue, K., and Lewis, L. (2011) Students with Disabilities at Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions (NCES 2011–018) U.S. Dept Ed, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC.