Lumen Circles are asynchronous faculty professional development experiences that use virtual learning communities to connect faculty with peers, helping them refine their expertise as student-centered educators. Grounded in evidence-based teaching practices and self-reflection, Lumen Circles are designed to benefit faculty members across disciplines and career stages.

Dr. Iona Ringgold and Dr. Katherine Orlando participated in the Lumen Circles Belonging and Inclusive Teaching Fundamentals Circle, where they embraced teaching strategies that foster engagement and belonging. The foundational knowledge gained through their Lumen Circles experience empowered them to extend these practices into their campus community, encouraging other faculty to engage in belonging work through their own learning collective.

This blog shares their journey and the transformative impact Lumen Circles had on their work, demonstrating how Lumen Circles faculty professional development experiences can inspire meaningful change in higher education.

Authors: Dr. Iona Ringgold and Dr. Katherine Orlando

 At Towson University in Maryland, we have been applying what we learned during our time as Lumen Circle fellows to two different professional learning series for faculty and staff.  The Lumen Circles program provided the foundational knowledge and collaborative environment that inspired us to create our own space to foster student belonging.  With the support and framework provided by Lumen Circles, we established The Inclusive Teaching Collective—a community aimed at engaging faculty and staff in enhancing students’ sense of belonging in their learning spaces.

 For this post, belonging will be defined as a subjective feeling of deep connection with social groups, physical places, and individual and collective experiences as a fundamental human need (Allen et al, 2021). Our approach to fostering belonging has been deeply influenced by the evidence-based practices and collaborative methods we learned through Lumen Circles. Research shows that when higher education students do not feel a sense of belonging, this negatively impacts academic and social success, persistence, and mental health, and is especially true for students from marginalized groups (Davis, Hanzsek-Brill, Petzold, & Robinson, 2019; Gopalan & Brady, 2019). In contrast, Gopalan & Brady’s (2019) findings suggested that a greater sense of belonging might have a positive longitudinal impact on academic performance and persistence and is protective for mental health in year three for undergraduate students. 

Recent research findings reveal that professors are uniquely situated to advance social justice issues in higher education learning spaces (Liera & Dowd, 2019). However, some do not see themselves as agents of change regarding student belonging. In addition, some faculty may have different experiences based on the intersectionality of their own identities (Pittman & Tobin, 2022). In our work, we also found that many who are working on inclusive and affirming practices also seek support and new learning in these efforts.  In addition, just saying that students “belong” is not enough according to Walton (2021). Showing students through intentional conversations about learning and growth, modeling that belonging is a process, supporting students’ diverse identities, letting students know that they are not alone, and allowing space for these exchanges is essential (Gopalan, Linden-Carmichael, Lanza, 2022; Walton, 2021).  

Belonging and Inclusive Teaching Fundamentals Lumen Circle: Circle Activities

We created S.P.A.C.E. (Semester-Long Intensity, Participant and Identities-Centered, Awareness and Agency for Creating Cultures of Belonging, Collective Responsibility and Accountability, Engagement and Empowerment for Equity: Belonging Matters) to provide faculty with a supportive, collaborative environment focused on fostering student belonging.

Here are our top 5 tips for increasing faculty agency and awareness to create inclusive spaces where students truly feel they belong. We’ve also included powerful quotes from members of the Collective, sharing their personal experiences in this transformative journey.

Semester-Long Intensity 

The members of the Collective committed to the project for an entire semester. Following the principles of the Lumen Circles program, we created a semester-long commitment for the participants. Our series was based on the effective professional learning communities model of Lumen Circles. Lumen Circles are 9-week asynchronous virtual communities of practice with faculty peers and coaches engaging in weekly activities to explore, apply, and reflect on effective teaching practices.  

• Grounded in adult learning theory, much time and effort were made to create and sustain community across and between participants in the professional learning series. Our goal was to co-create a semester-long, cross-university collaboration, and inclusive space that would allow time for critical inquiry, conversation, and reflection. Applying principles of effective professional learning communities and Lumen Circles, we knew that a “one and done” workshop would not suffice as it would not permit the learning and reflection cycle that adults need. In his work with K-12 principals, DuFour found that student outcomes improved when educators collaboratively engaged in inquiry-based improvement efforts at their work site (McLaurin, 2021). 
• Participants had the opportunity to learn, plan, apply to student interaction, and assess in “real time” during the semester. Others used the time to plan and strategize to implement for an upcoming semester or a bigger project.  

Reflection from Collective Member

I really appreciate hearing the ideas that other people have in terms of what they’re doing in their classrooms and the projects that they’re working on because it really sparks, you know, my own sense of wonder.

Participant and identities-centered  

The design of The Inclusive Teaching Collective was influenced by Lumen Circles’ focus on identity and inclusivity. We emphasized understanding diverse identities and their impact on learning environments, encouraging participants to reflect on their own identities and those of their students.

• “Inclusive Teaching Collective,” signifies the importance of focusing on belonging in the professional learning series. We worked with diverse university participants from nearly every college, and our participants are representative of different tenured (or not) ranks, course instructors or staff, and more.  
• Based on the professional learning we provided, participants were asked to name a goal to “start” or “stop,” something that they felt would assist with fostering an inclusive environment of belonging in their learning spaces.   
• Participants were asked to identify a specific focus for the goal (for example, mitigating bias or pedagogical partnership). They were partnered with another collective member to work with for the semester. In addition, Drs. Ringgold and Orlando held individual conferences with each participant in addition to holding regular “Collective” meetings each semester.  
• We were intentional in having our initial meetings in person to provide greater opportunities to connect to others. Subsequent meetings were hybrid to provide convenience and flexibility.  

Reflection from Collective Member

…allows the students to have a voice in the class and hopefully not only give them a sense of belonging but engage them more with the class content and the university as a whole… that experience in the classroom permeates other places during their experience here. 

Awareness and Agency for Creating Cultures of Belonging  

Grounded in cultural responsiveness, we sought to see and hear students, the intended beneficiaries of our “Inclusive Teaching Collective” efforts.  This integration of student voices was a key takeaway from our Lumen Circles experience, reinforcing the need to listen and adapt based on student feedback.

We included student input in the professional development process by taking the following steps:

• Graduate and undergraduate students were invited into the Collective to share their experiences and voices about what instructors did to help them feel a sense of belonging. Examples shared were connections to student identities, involving the students as pedagogical partners, and more.  
• Participants shared that these first-hand accounts of students’ perceptions of belonging and the conditions instructors created were incredibly insightful and made a significant impact. From these experiences, many of the Collective looked to replicate some of their colleagues’ strategies and efforts and make space for listening to students’ perspectives in their classrooms.   
• Participants were also encouraged to share their goals with their own students and elicited student feedback as part of their reflective process.  

In the discussion forum, one faculty member reflected on her learning by stating: 

So, I think sometimes it can feel like belonging can feel very theoretical… hearing students actually explain what belonging means, and how their professors can actually make them feel like they belong, has really been helpful. 

Collective responsibility and accountability  

Lumen Circles’s emphasis on ongoing collaboration and empowerment influenced how we structured our activities, encouraging participants to engage across departments and work collectively towards equity and belonging. None of us are experts; however, together we learn, are inspired, and seek to do better.

• Collectively, we provided opportunities for reading, discussion, inquiry, reflection, learning and un-learning. Participants shared their ideas, efforts, and risks with each other as they sought to create inclusive spaces. Because participants had their own lived experiences, and not all participants were at the same level of development, collective space was essential.   
• Participants were transparent in goal setting, progress, reflection, and outcomes.   
• Members of the collective celebrated their efforts, inviting department members and chairs, family members and others to our end of semester events:

In the discussions, faculty reflected 

…it’s easy to feel really isolated and it’s sometimes feels like, you know, struggling to meet these goals by myself. 

…appreciate the opportunity to interact with faculty from a range of disciplines and colleges and programs at the university.                

Engagement and Empowerment for Equity: Belonging Matters  

Continuous engagement, a cornerstone of Lumen Circles, was crucial in our series. The program’s emphasis on ongoing collaboration and empowerment influenced how we structured our activities, encouraging participants to engage across departments and work collectively towards equity and belonging.

• Some Collective members formed collaborative projects that crossed departments and other colleges within the university, effecting change beyond their classrooms or spaces.  

 

Reflections from Collective Members on Change Beyond their Classrooms or Spaces

What I really appreciate about the Inclusive Teaching Collective is just knowing and being able to identify and name and wave at people on campus who share the same goals as me and who want to transform the culture of higher education in a positive direction. 

It just really helps me think about how I am being inclusive. So, I do appreciate this group for that reason and just giving me a greater sense of belonging. 

 

Our participation in Lumen Circles was instrumental in shaping our teaching and inspiring us to pursue similar collaborative and evidence-based approaches. The impact of Lumen Circles on our work underscores the value of asynchronous professional development programs that emphasize community, inclusivity, and continuous growth. We encourage you to consider joining Lumen Circles, as it was foundational in allowing us to bring the teaching strategies that foster engagement and belonging to Towson University.

Resources

Allen, K.A., Kern, M.L., Rozek, C.S., McInherney, D.M., & Slavich, G.M. (2021). Belonging: A review of conceptual issues, an integrative framework, and directions for future research. Australian Journal of Psychology, 73(1), 87-102. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2021.1883409 

Davis, G. M., Hanzsek-Brill, M. B., Petzold, M. C., & Robinson, D. H. (2019). Students’ sense of belonging: The development of a predictive retention model. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v19i1.26787  

Gopalan, M., Linden-Carmichael, A. Lanza, S. (2022). College students’ sense of belonging and mental health amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Journal of Adolescent Health, 70(2), 228-233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.10.010 

Liera, R., & Dowd, A. C. (2019). Faculty learning at boundaries to broker racial equity. The Journal of Higher Education, 90(3), 462-485. 

 McLaurin, J. (2021). The principal’s playbook on instructional leadership: 23 things that matter most for improving student achievement [pdf]. Archway Publishing. https://www.theprincipalsplaybook.com/ 

Pittman, C., & Tobin, T. J. (2022). Academe has a lot to learn about how inclusive teaching affects instructors. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 

Walton, G. (2021). Stop telling students, “You belong!. Education Week, 9. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-stop-telling-students-you-belong/2021/11 

Global Diversity in Education

Educational settings are microcosms of the broader global diversity landscape. Students bring their various backgrounds, cultures, and experiences into the classroom every day. When asked about why global diversity awareness is important to her, Brigeth Rivera (she/her), our Vice President of Marketing, shared that in school, she often tried to “fit in and not make being a Nicaraguan immigrant” who she was. However, it was the genuine interest and curiosity of her college classmates that encouraged her to reconnect with her roots as well as ask more questions to learn about the unique backgrounds of others around her. As a result, she now strongly believes that “what makes us unique and different is our superpower.” 

Along with interest and curiosity, recognizing opportunities for positive representation of global diversity in the classroom is an excellent way to affirm the uniqueness of your diverse students. Averie Connell (she/her), a Regional Sales Director at Lumen, reflected on the importance of global representation in the classroom and in content by saying that while representation definitely matters on a societal level, “positive representation is even more impactful within the classroom; representation supports students in the development of realistic, yet aspirational, expectations of themselves and their classmates.” She shared that as a Jamaican immigrant, seeing other Jamaicans (like Bob Marley, Kamala Harris, Colin Powell, and Usain Bolt, just to name a few) who have made significant contributions to U.S. society and around the world served as a source of great pride and motivation to her and other Jamaicans. Because of her experience as an immigrant, she can say with confidence, “Students who see themselves represented in a positive light in the classroom feel more confident in their abilities and are more motivated to challenge themselves.” 

One of our Front-End Engineers, Annalyn Sarmiento (she/her),  has been impacted by how her Filipino culture and identity were (or were not) represented in her classrooms. Although she was fortunate to have grown up in a diverse community filled with other immigrants and their children, it was rare to encounter lessons with people or cultural examples that she could relate to. “Having this experience in school impacts the work I do at Lumen because I understand firsthand how including more diversity in the course content and examples can be beneficial to students.” She believes it’s important for faculty to celebrate and to be aware of the global diversity of their students “because it can support and enhance the student learning experience.” 

Understanding Cultural Norms in Global Diversity 

Besides representation and inclusion, understanding varying cultural norms and expectations that your students may be experiencing is another important aspect of global diversity awareness. Jessica Szewczyk (she/her), a Product Marketing Manager at Lumen, experienced not feeling worthy of academic or career opportunities due to several cultural reasons. “Being raised in a Polish household as a first-generation American, there wasn’t any precedent for me to understand how to get into college, let alone how my life would look on campus as a first-generation student. It’s rare to see Poles continuing in education, with many in older generations thinking it’s unnecessary, especially for women.” This is an excellent example of how not all students have the same access to information and support as it relates to higher education. For this reason, trying to learn about your students’ unique backgrounds and how they affect their education is critical for educators. As Jessica told us, “Having culturally aware professors, managers, and colleagues helped give me the confidence to be an advocate for myself.” 

Global diversity awareness is an essential aspect of educational settings and the broader society.  It involves embracing and celebrating students’ unique backgrounds, offering positive representation, building confidence, and understanding the impact of cultural differences on a student’s educational journey. By fostering a diverse and inclusive educational environment, we can empower students to succeed and thrive. 

Embrace Global Diversity in Your Teaching 

At Lumen, we strongly believe that small changes can make a big difference in the overall student experience. As an educator, you have the power to create an inclusive environment that embraces the diversity of all students. One way to do this is by using an “introduce yourself” survey to learn more about your students and their unique backgrounds. Another way is by incorporating diverse resources, images, and materials into your teaching.

If you’re interested in learning more about digital courseware or tools that can help you make these small, yet meaningful changes, we encourage you to check out our latest courseware- Lumen One. Lumen One is designed with an equity-focus empowering both faculty and students to thrive in their teaching and learning journeys while embracing their unique abilities and diverse perspectives. Register here to get a glimpse of Lumen One and it’s equity-focused design.

Reflections From Our Team: 

“We can facilitate more effective learning by promoting positive representation of diverse groups and honoring various perspectives in the classroom and in the content we create.” – Averie Connell, Regional Sales Director

“Global diversity is a source of strength, offering a plethora of ideas, traditions, and experiences that can enrich our lives and contribute to creating a compassionate and harmonious future for everyone.”- Brigeth Rivera, Vice President of Marketing 

“Having materials that promote diversity in the classroom can help promote self-awareness and cultural awareness for students and teachers. Global diversity in the classroom and the content helps create a friendly and inclusive environment for students, which can enhance a student’s experience in school.” –Annalynn Sarmiento, Front-End Engineer

“I’m proud to work for Lumen Learning, a company whose mission is to achieve unprecedented learning for all students. Students deserve affordable and accessible learning materials, and they deserve to feel like they have ownership of their learning and belong in their classrooms. I’m grateful knowing that my position helps students feel seen not just during Global Diversity Awareness month but every month.” – Jessica Szewczyk, Product Marketing Manager 

The award was granted to recognize the 20+ RCC faculty members who completed the Belonging and Inclusive Teaching Fundamentals Fellowship, a professional development course offered through RCC’s Provost Faculty Scholars and  Lumen Learning’s Circles fellowship program that helps educators create inclusive learning environments and prioritize student voices. Over the course of nine weeks, Rockland educators collaborated virtually with other faculty peers to enhance their teaching practices with an increased focus on diversity and inclusion. 

The course had an overwhelmingly positive response from participating faculty members. For Peter Marino, lecturer of psychology at RCC, the fellowship directly impacted his approach to building inclusivity and community in the classroom. Marino highlights several strategies he implemented in his teaching practices, including assigning readings from diverse sources and voices and giving students space to consider and discuss their own identities in relation to course material. 

“I can say with confidence that my students benefited from greater personalization and caring provided by the brave and safe spaces that developed,” Marino shared. “Growing consciousness of belonging has enlightened my students as well as myself greatly.”

In addition to creating a deeper sense of belonging for RCC students, the Lumen Circles fellowship gave faculty the opportunity to build cross-disciplinary connections with one another.

Assistant Professor of Sociology Dr. Rebha Sabharwal shared that “it was extremely valuable to see how other disciplines deal with topics such as power, privilege, and intersectionality. As the world shrinks and our knowledge and empathy increase, we benefit from safe platforms where we can communicate our struggles and share successful techniques with one another.”

Rockland faculty’s participation in the Provost Faculty Scholars Program and Lumen Circles fellowships is part of an ongoing partnership between Lumen and RCC to strengthen the college’s teaching and learning center. The program evolved from Lumen’s broader partnership with SUNY to support implementation of wide-scale use of Lumen’s digital courseware, OHM, Waymaker, and professional development platform Lumen Circles.  Lumen Learning’s partnership with SUNY allows faculty to get the support they need through comprehensive faculty development experiences while also providing students and educators with access to equitable and inclusive digital courseware that will enable them to make higher education more affordable and accessible for all students.

Rockland’s HEED Award recognition comes as colleges and universities nationwide face enrollment declines in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Community colleges in particular are struggling to enroll and retain students, and administrators have been left scrambling to find answers. Lumen’s work with RCC and SUNY can serve as a template for other institutions to not only recoup pandemic losses but further advance equity for minority and underserved student groups.

If you’re interested in learning more about Lumen Circles, visit lumenlearning.com/what/circles/

Together, Rockland and Lumen are seeking to design solutions that create equitable educational results for all students. While user testing is a common practice for education companies, socioeconomic status has a significant influence on participation in volunteer activities such as user testing. As a result, low-income students and students of minoritized races are less likely to participate. The Rockland-Lumen partnership addresses this by creating the environment, structure and support to engage students with a broad range of lived experiences in designing equity-centered learning solutions.

“Education companies try to create products that work for everyone,” said Kim Thanos, CEO at Lumen Learning.

“The reality is that the needs and experiences of our students are not monolithic, and our solutions cannot be either. At Lumen, our mission is to enable unprecedented learning for all students. Today, race and income are often predictors of how students will persist in courses. If we want to change that, we have to better understand the needs and challenges faced by our Black, Latinx, Indigenous and low-income students, and invite them to the table to actively participate in designing solutions.”

Rockland Community College has a rich history of building programs that provide students with a strong academic foundation and real-world applications that prepare them to achieve their career goals. As the first college to launch the user testing concept this fall, Rockland will work closely with Lumen to support the student interns and refine the center concept. “At Rockland Community College we actively seek collaborations that improve the lives of our students and the vitality of our community. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to apply their education to an initiative that builds job skills and makes a difference in the world. We look forward to contributing to a more positive learning experience for students across New York and throughout the country,” said Dr. Michael A. Baston, President of Rockland Community College.

The testing center will also build upon Rockland’s ongoing work to create a more inclusive campus, efforts that have included the launch of a “Steps Beyond Statements Working Group” to turn the college’s commitments to racial equity and inclusion into concrete actions. As part of that work, the working group worked with students to lead focus groups with their peers that led to actionable recommendations for transformative change. 

As part of an equity-centered design process, Lumen Learning’s user testing center will seek the experience and feedback of a broad range of students. Paid student interns will become a part of  Lumen’s product design team. With support from the Rockland and Lumen teams, student interns will learn about the products, identify questions to investigate, and then recruit peers and run the tests. 

“Students will sit with us and look at the data,” explained Carie Page, Senior Product Manager with Lumen Learning.

“When you’re not a student, it’s easy to have blind spots. Our goal is that the interns will enrich our understanding of the students’ experiences, in particular the experiences of Black, Latinx, Indigenous and low-income students. Interns will interpret the results as students. This approach will bring student voices into the process to interpret the data through their unique perspectives. Students will also connect their work directly to career options and job skills.”

For Lumen, working with Rockland Community College, a SUNY institution, on this important initiative is indicative of the collaborative partnership it has had with the system for over nine years. Lumen has been working alongside the SUNY OER Services team to provide SUNY faculty and students with unlimited access to well-designed course materials through SUNY’s Ready-to-Adopt OER Catalog, all available at no cost to students. 

Over the next year, Lumen plans to open additional testing centers at MSI’s across the country. “We plan to create this user testing structure, replicate it on other campuses, and share what we learn with the field broadly,” said Thanos. “We believe this approach can improve Lumen’s solutions, expand the models for equity-centered design, and create a lasting impact for the participating students. We want the interns and the testers to be themselves and to know that their voices are valued and need to be heard.”

In January of 2020, we started an experimental community-driven continuous improvement project with a few of our Waymaker courses. This was the continuous improvement process we followed:

1. We added a “Contribute!” button to the bottom of every content page.
2. The “Contribute!” button sent users to a Google Document version of the page with comment and suggestion privileges turned on.
3. Any student or teacher had the ability to write comments or suggestions in-context on the page.
4. We monitored suggestions, provided timely feedback, and decided whether to include the suggestions in the course.
5. If we included the suggestion in the course we would add the contributor’s name to the acknowledgments section. If not, we responded to their comment with an explanation as to why we were not taking their suggestion.

Throughout the first half of 2020, despite working through a global pandemic, we had an average of 20 community contributions per week. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the contributions came from mostly students! Students were finding small errors, areas for improvement in diversity, equity, and inclusion, or areas where they wanted more practice. The feedback we received was invaluable and allowed us to improve those courses. Due to this success, in fall 2020 we rolled out the process to all of our Waymaker courses.

During fall 2020, we received an average of 150 contributions per week across all of our Waymaker courses. Again, the majority of these were from students who found small text errors, pointed out difficult words to include in our glossaries, made suggestions to improve the diversity, equity, and inclusion of our course materials, and sometimes commented when they were having a hard time learning the material. We even saw a few students starting to collaborate in the Google Documents discussing a particular issue.

Thanks to this community-driven continuous improvement we have many students and teachers included in the acknowledgments sections of our book. Introduction to Psychology, for example, has 58 people listed in the Acknowledgments section of the course content, indicating that those individuals made a suggestion or improvement to the content that ended up being accepted.

We’re excited to continue making efforts to grow awareness and participation in our community-driven continuous improvement work.  Our next initiative will be a half-day virtual summit. Anyone interested in being part of our community-driven continuous improvement work in specific courses will be invited to attend. The first half of the summit will consist of presentations and panels from expert teachers showing how they have done continuous improvement in their courses, and then everyone will get hands-on and dive right into continuous improvement, working on the learning outcomes our nationwide data shows students struggle with the most in a specific course.

Stay tuned for more details or email us at info@lumenlearning.com for more information.