Frequently Asked Questions
Through the FAQs page we will share challenges and strategies for addressing unconscious biases in teaching, learning and assessment situations.
You are welcome to email Donna your questions about unconscious bias and teaching, learning or assessment. Donna and Emma will offer suggestions and where appropriate recommend resources currently available on unlimited.sdu.dk
This page also provides a space for sharing your strategies for raising awareness and changing practices to reduce the impact of unconscious biases. What have you done or seen being done at SDU or elsewhere which would be useful to share more widely? Email Donna and we will share your strategies here.
When you email your question and/or strategies, please include a little background information on the teaching, learning or assessment situation. All questions will be anonymised and they will be posted with suggestions on the FAQs page. If you do not want your question to be posted on FAQs, please ensure you write this in your email. If you are offering a strategy, please note in your email if we can include your name and SDU email address so colleagues could get in touch if they wanted to find out more.
Some of the suggestions include video recording student-teacher/researcher interactions to raise awareness of possible biases. In view of the forthcoming new data protection law, if you video interactions, remember to follow the guidance below regarding storing videos and gaining student permission.
Video and Audio Recording and the New Data Protection Law 25.05.18
Full guidance will be available here in the middle of May.
In the interim, please note that all videoing and audio recording at SDU must be accompanied by a completed consent form, interim versions available here (Danish and English). The recordings must be saved on the teacher’s myMedia online space in e-learn; here you can access a help-sheet on how to save files to MyMedia. The teacher can give the student or students viewing or listening access to the recording but not permission to download the file.
Questions about teaching
Q: How do I ensure I don’t show bias in my teaching?
I teach classes in TEK where there are only ever two female students in classes of 30 or more.
A: Have a colleague observe you teaching or video your teaching. If you have an observer, ask her/him to particularly focus on how you respond to and include male and female students, then you would know what you do not just what you think you do. From that position of knowledge, identify what might need changing and plan those changes into your teaching. We also suggest sharing input with the students on unconscious bias and making it a topic for class discussion.
Questions about supervision
Q: How do I avoid bias in my supervision?
A: Ask some students if you can record your supervision sessions with them, assure them that the recording is only for your professional development. Review the recordings and note how you ask questions, how you respond to their questions, how much help you give each one. Design a supervision protocol with the same core questions but of course be flexible too
Strategies for raising awareness and changing practices to reduce the impact of unconscious biases
A teacher’s reflections on gender bias in class
Read about a critical incident where a teacher’s perceptions of a student dialogue about gender stereotypes in online games differed from the students’ perceptions and how this stimulated the teacher’s reflection on the importance of addressing gender stereotypes in class.