Designing Inclusive and Equitable Research in Active Learning in Higher Education

Abstract

We conduct research in active learning in higher education because we want to do right by our students. We observe that the status quo of passive learning is simply not working for students and incorporate active learning to engage them. We then examine it in systematic methods to see if the changes “work” or how they could be made better. As a field, this has led to important insights into how to improve higher education that are disseminated so that others may learn from them. However, despite the desire to improve our students’ education, we may conduct research that is unintentionally biased against them. In other words, even though we want for our active learning research to be fair (equitable) and available (inclusive) to all, there are aspects of how research has been historically conducted that are unfair and exclude students. This may occur throughout the research process from conceptualization through dissemination. In this essay, I will share examples of how research may be biased and suggestions for how to incorporate more inclusive and equitable approaches. I will share my own journey in how my research training was faulty and how I am learning better approaches. In doing so, I do not wish to “call out” any of my colleagues in higher education research, but rather “call in” to suggest reflection. Therefore, I will focus on sharing my own mistakes or hypothetical examples for bias. I wish to be clear that I am not an expert in these issues, and I encourage follow up by reading works from experts cited throughout this piece.