Targeting Critical Courses for Equity

Over the last several years, faculty across the “Golden Three” areas of Critical Thinking (A3), Written Communication (A2), and Oral Communication (A1) have partnered with the Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CEETL) to build stronger course coordination both within and across our programs, moving toward a more mature model of educational leadership and inclusive teaching. 

Working together, we evaluate pedagogical approaches to reduce DFWU rates in first-year courses, celebrate our successes, provide mutual support, and innovate practice. 

Our cross-programmatic working group has addressed current challenges like ChatGPT and AB 928, while also prioritizing the discussion of equity-minded and inclusive pedagogies (i.e. anti-racist practices, student-centered course design, universal design for learning, equitable grading practices, data-informed practices, belonging in the first year). We brainstorm strategies and interventions to eliminate equity gaps and improve course completion rates.

To improve DFW rates and close equity gaps, faculty leaders across the Golden Three have worked together to collect and share data within each of our programs:

• We examined whether students who receive a DFWU in one first year class also receive a DFWU in another. 80% of these students do. This more nuanced understanding of DFW rates allows us to work collaboratively toward holistic approaches to student success across students’ first-year courses.
• We tracked case-by-case DFWUs, discovering that nearly all DFWs in A2 are actually “unauthorized withdraws.” This data is reshaping our faculty development toward retention rather than course design and grading.
• We conducted hour-long equity and student success interviews with individual teachers to learn about their efforts and challenges in retention efforts.
• We tracked students’ gains in confidence and self-efficacy.
• We conducted a study of student success in COMM 150.
• We conducted a study of teacher engagement and burnout.
• We have gathered over 1500 end-of-term student reflections and analyzed them to better understand student experiences in the first-year.

Golden Three faculty leaders have increased professional development opportunities across all programs. From weekly webinars to half-day workshops to faculty learning communities, we have reached over 80% of the teachers in our programs. Workshops and webinars cover engagement, accessibility, inclusion, belonging and equity: 

• Responding to and Integrating ChatGPT
• From High School Seniors to First-Year College Students
• Critical Thinking Meets Historical Thinking
• Rethinking How We Teach US History
• Equity Refresher: Creating Safe Interactions in the Classroom
• Improving Learning via Holistic Health Strategies
• Commenting on Multilingual Student Writing
• How To: Antiracism, with Antidotes to White Supremacy Culture
• Building Financial Literacy for Retention
• Fostering Community and Engagement in Our Classrooms
• Supporting Our Students in Crisis
• Equity and Community Inclusion at SF State: Supporting LATINX students
• The (Un)Grading Webinar
• Critical Information Literacy and the Library
• Making Equity-Minded Grading Decision
• “Post-pandemic Pedagogy”: Engaging Students in Active Learning

​​​​​​Golden Three faculty leaders have built template courses with model assignments and innovative pedagogy designed to improve student success and close equity gaps. In addition, we have supported individual faculty course redesigns, and routinely share these redesigns with other faculty. 

Template courses and course redesigns are focused on accessibility, equity and student engagement. 

Redesign and model courses include:  

• Units on linguistic justice and linguistic racism
• Units examining mental health, stress, and grades
• Units that involve students in reflecting on their purpose and goals
• Units that ask students to reflect on their study habits, and their reading and writing practices