Recommendation 10: Changes to Curricular & Pedagogical Practices

Changes for restructuring a classroom to be more inclusive of a diverse set of learners have multiple levels. As such, we have divided practices into different “orders” of change similar to the National Academies of Sciences (NASEM) (2025, 229), where each order is differentiated by the extent to the changes seek to dismantle systemic barriers in academia that may prevent full participation.

Within these “orders,” we have outlined changes in four dimensions—access, achievement, power, and identity. These dimensions are based on Dr. Rochelle Gutiérrez’s article on framing equity (2009).

• Access refers to the resources (content, human, environmental, etc.) available to students.
  • The access dimension reflects the idea that “students are affected by their ‘opportunity to learn’” (p. 5).
• Achievement refers to visible student outcomes.
  • The achievement dimension reflects the “serious economic and social consequences” (p. 5) for not doing well in a math-based field.
• Identity refers to the lived experiences of all involved in teaching and learning. The identity dimension:
  • acknowledges how students are racialized (Martin 2007), gendered (Langer-Osuna 2011), and classed (Walkerdine 1988),
  • considers whether “students have opportunities to draw upon their cultural and linguistic resources” (p. 5), and
  • pays attention to “whose perspectives and practices are ‘socially valorized’” (Abreu 2007).
• Power refers to the agency of all involved in the teaching and learning process. Power can be measured by:
  • a student’s “voice in the classroom dimension (e.g., who gets to talk, who decides the curriculum)” (Adler 1998; Zevenbergen 2000),
  • opportunities for students to use statistics as an “analytic tool to critique society” (Gutiérrez 2009), and
  • alternative notions of knowledge (D’Ambrosio 2006).

Gutiérrez situates these dimensions in terms of “dominant” and “critical” mathematics, ideas which complement the “orders” of organizational changes outlined by the NASEM (2025). Dominant mathematics is comprised of the access and achievement dimensions, which prepare students to participate economically in society and measure how well students can “play the game” of mathematics. These ideas are reflected in the first and second order changes outlined by NASEM (2025), which focus on changes that work within the confines of “typical” academic structures and do not seek to dismantle the structures themselves.

The identity and power dimensions comprise critical mathematics, which “acknowledges the positioning of students as members of society rife with issues of power and domination” (Gutiérrez 2007). The ideas of critical mathematics are seen in the third order changes, which expose and challenge the “structures and cultures that maintain inequity” (2025, 231).

First Order Changes

Changes at this level focus primarily on issues related to “access”—“the resources that students have available to them to participate in [statistics]” (Gutiérrez 2009). These first order changes focus on students’ access to environments which support their learning, both inside and outside the classroom.

How do students access the materials required for their course?

• What are the costs associated with the course? How are they prohibitive for students?
  • Open-access (free) materials for mathematics and statistics
• How are you presenting the course material(s)? How are the methods prohibitive for students with visual and auditory limitations?
  • Evaluating Pedagogical Choices with an Inclusive Approach (N. M. Dalzell 2024)
  • Framework for Accessible and Inclusive Teaching Materials for Statistics and Data Science Courses (Dogucu 2023)

How do students access their teachers?

• Reframing “office hours” to describe what their purpose is (“student hours”) or the outcome you hope (“happy hours”).
  • Telling students that office hours are student hours, that they don’t have to go alone, and that they can ask questions beyond the course material (Peter Felten and Tapia 2023).
  • Rebranding office hours so they sound like something students want to attend (Benaduce and Brinn 2024).
• Does the language you use alienate certain groups of students?
  • Using welcoming rather than punative language in your syllabus
  • Using inclusive, people-first and identity-first language (American Psychological Association 2020; National Institute of Standards and Technology 2021)
  • Recognize that students will feel most comfortable in a classroom where they feel respected—use students’ preferred names and pronouns.
    • Also recognize the vulnerability of students whose name and / or pronouns could make them susceptible to prejudice (Rehnberg and Theobold 2024).
  • Using audio recordings that help you learn how to pronounce students’ names.
  • Use terms for groups of people that are not gendered (e.g., “folks” or “people” rather than “guys”; “first-year students” rather than “freshmen”).
• “Explicitly name and model the importance of seeking out resources and academic help” (Dewsbury 2020).
  • Suggestions on how to do this: https://cndls.georgetown.edu/resources/ip-toolkit/mentorship/

Was the curriculum designed with a student-focused approach?

• “Employ evidence-based pedagogies that actively engage students in the learning process.” (See Recommendation 8 for more detail)

• Universal design provides a framework for creating learning environments where every learner can participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities (CAST 2024).

  • Engagement – learners differ substantially in what motivates and engages them in their learning.
  • Representation – learners differ in the ways they perceive and make meaning of information.
  • Action & Expression – learners differ in how they navigate a learning environment, their approach to the learning process, and how they express what they know.

What is the infrastructure for learning outside of class?

• Do students need internet to complete their work or access the class resources?

  • Be aware that not every student has access to home internet, which affects the work they are able to accomplish once they leave campus, their access to discussion boards for asking questions and seeing other students’ responses, receiving updates on assignment deadlines and corrections.

• What are the costs associated with the software you are using? What type of computer do students need to have to access this software? (See Recommendation 6 for more detail.)

• What are the time expectations for working outside of class? Are the expectations prohibitive for students who work or have care giving responsibilities?

  • Be aware that the guidelines of 2-3 hours per week spent studying outside of class for every credit hour may be intractable for students who work or have care giving responsibilities.
  • Consider integrating “work sessions” inside the classroom, reducing the amount of work outside of class and giving students access to you (the instructor) while they work (Hogan and Sathy 2022).

Second Order Changes

This second level of changes focus on relationships, classroom practices, and norms. These changes consider students’ achievement—“tangible results for students at all levels” (Gutiérrez 2009, 5). Grades are the primary mechanism by which we quantify and communicate with students about their achievement. Yet, grades also affect “the future courses students might take, the major(s) they might pursue, graduation timelines, job prospects, eligibility for academic awards and scholarships, and more” (Grinde, Theobold, and Myint 2024). So, care should be taken to create a more equitable and inclusive assessment system, to reduce the negative downstream consequences for students

How do students demonstrate what they’ve learned?

• How are students expected to “show” you what they learned?
  • Providing multiple options for students to demonstrate their learning (Nicole M. Dalzell, Rehnberg, and Theobold 2025; Davidson 2024; Theobold 2021; Reinhart et al. 2022)
  • “Use a variety of formative and summative assessments to improve teaching and learning.” (See Recommendation 9 for more detail.)
• How does your assessment system help students learn and grow from their mistakes? Does your assessment system penalize students for the speed at which they learn?
  • Reattempts without penalty (Clark and Talbert 2023)
  • Questions (and Answers) for Incorporating Nontraditional Grading in Your Statistics Courses (Brenna Curley and Reyes 2024)
  • Inclusive Pedagogy Toolkit - Assessment
• How much are students’ grades based on their behaviors instead of their learning? (Feldman 2023, grading-for-growth)
  • Classroom participation
    • Ways to elicit participation without grading it
    • Engagement credits
  • Late deductions
    • Real world approach to deadlines
• How much of students’ grades are based on a hidden curriculum? (Hogan and Sathy 2022)
  • Mastering the Hidden Curriculum (course for students)
  • Revealing the hidden curriculm (for teachers)

How does your assessment system impact your relationship with students?

• How you communicate with students about their learning / feedback.
  • Provide marks that indicate progress (Clark and Talbert 2023)
  • Providing specific, actionable feedback (Clark and Talbert 2023)
  • Pairing grades with feedback is less effective than just giving feedback (Butler and Nisan 1986)
  • Providing feedback (both positive and negative) is mentoring!
• How do you respond to (dis)ability related needs? (Edwards et al. 2022)
  • Recognize that the landscape of classroom accommodations is constantly changing. Students today might have a very different experience from what university was like for you, and that’s okay! (Zhang et al. 2010)
  • How do you respond to / inform students that you’ve received notice of their needs from the university (e.g. DRC office)?
    • Review your university’s guidelines on how you communicate with students regarding their accommodations and how students are expected to communicate with you.
    • Tell students your expectations regarding how they communicate with you about their accommodations. For example, how should students tell you they need a deadline extension? How should they tell you they need to miss class?
  • How do students communicate to you if they have specific needs that have not been recognized by the university’s disability office?
    • Consider the time and resources needed for students to obtain university-sanctioned accommodations, and think about ways to integrate accommodations for every student. For example, giving every student 120-minutes to complete a 60-minute exam.

How do students participate in class?

• Consider developing classroom discussion guidelines. These can and should be developed in collaboration with students!
  • Sample discussion guidelines from University of Denver
  • Guidelines for inclusive discussions
  • Consider how you will respond to conflict in your classroom
• “Create a culture of mentoring with your students and in your classes” (Dewsbury 2020).
  • Resources for how to do this: https://cndls.georgetown.edu/resources/ip-toolkit/mentorship/

Third Order Changes

In their report NASEM states that “any effort to make STEM more diverse, inclusive, and equitable demands the deepest and most difficult kind of change: third order change” (2025, 231). Changes at this level interrogate underlying models, structures, and cultures which maintain inequity. We believe these third order changes are reflected in the “critical axis” Gutiérrez outlines, where “identity can be seen as a precursor to power, ensures that students’ frames of reference and resources are acknowledged in ways that help build critical citizens so that they may change the game” (2009, 6).

Identity

• Who is represented in your curriculum?
  • CURV (connecting, uplifting, and recognizing voices) is a database used to introduce students to scholars who have been historically underrepresented in statistics and data science, combating homogeneity of representation in the statistics curriculum.
  • Include a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds in your course materials, and also voice a wide range of perspectives yourself (Dewsbury 2020).
  • How are you acknowledging and discussing the intertwined history of Statistics and eugenics? (Dewsbury 2020; Kennedy-Shaffer 2024)
• What type of data are you using in your course? Whose perspectives are valued by those data?
  • Weiland & Williams (2024) describe the importance of instructors drawing on “culturally relevant data,” echoing the continued call for culturally relevant and responsive teaching (Gay 2018, 2002; Ladson-Billings 1995).
    • The Violence Project
    • The Eviction Lab
    • The Generations Study
  • Recognizing how gender is represented in the data you use and how that affects the experiences of LGBTQ+ students in your classroom (Miller and Hardin 2019; Rehnberg and Theobold 2024).
  • “Data are not neutral or objective. They are the products of unequal social relations, and this context is essential for conducting accurate, ethical analysis” (D’Ignazio and Klein 2020). Regardless of the data you use in class, time should be spent discussing the social, cultural, historical, and institutional context of the data (Nicole M. Dalzell, Rehnberg, and Theobold 2025).

• How do you lift up the voices of individuals from historically underrepresented groups?
  • Consider using the equip app (Reinholz and Shah 2018) to track how you (the instructor) respond to the ideas students pose.
  • “Treat your students as scholars” (Dewsbury 2020).
    • Resources on how to do this: https://cndls.georgetown.edu/resources/ip-toolkit/mentorship/
  • Appreciate that not every student feels comfortable sharing for a variety of reasons, among which are the societal expectations and biases to which they are subject.
    • Consider setting expectations for an accountable space ¹, where students are responsible for their words, actions, and intentions. These expectations make everyone responsible for behaving equitably and inclusively.
    • Look into resources for setting the stage for and managing classroom discourse: https://cndls.georgetown.edu/resources/inquiry-discourse-toolkit/

• Reflect on the ways your identity, experiences, and culture influence your own teaching.
  • “Consider how your own social identities are relevant to the power dynamics at play” (Dewsbury 2020).
    • Suggestions on how to do this: https://cndls.georgetown.edu/resources/ip-toolkit/power/#consider-how-your-own-social-identities-are-relevant-to-the-power-dynamics-at-play
  • “Train to be a better mentor to all your students” (Dewsbury 2020).
    • Suggestions on how to do this: https://cndls.georgetown.edu/resources/ip-toolkit/mentorship/

Power

• Recognizing the cultural wealth students of color bring to the classroom (Yosso 2005) that often go unacknowledged and unrecognized.
  • “Allow students leadership roles during class sessions; give them opportunities to share their expertise” (Dewsbury 2020).
    • Resources on how to do this: https://cndls.georgetown.edu/resources/ip-toolkit/power/#consider-how-your-own-social-identities-are-relevant-to-the-power-dynamics-at-play
  • Understanding and valuing why students from working class families might not ask for help or come to your office (student) hours (Jack 2019).
• Are you giving students opportunities to use statistics as an analytic tool for issues important to them?
  • Are there ways for you to give students the opportunity to work with data on issues that are important to them?

• How does your curriculum put power in students’ hands?
  • Are there ways for you to give students the opportunity to decide what topic(s) are included in the course?
    • Suggestions on how to do this: https://cndls.georgetown.edu/resources/ip-toolkit/power/#when-feasible-involve-students-directly-in-shaping-your-syllabus-and-pedagogical-choices

• How does your assessment system put power in students’ hands?
  • Are there ways for you to give students the opportunities to decide how they want to be assessed? (Myint 2023)

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Footnotes

1. We are specifically focusing on “accountable” spaces instead of “safe” or “brave” spaces, as the language used to describe these spaces is evasive to the daily bravery marginalized communities “need to display everywhere, to navigate everyday and common biases, discrimination, and microaggressions, in workplaces and society” (Ahenkorah 2020).