The Unexpected Ethical Concerns of Developing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Review Tools: A Design Case

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

DOI

10.14434/ijdl.v15i3.37698

Publication Title

International Journal of Designs for Learning

Volume

15

Issue

3

Pages

178-188

Abstract

This design case explores the development of tools to foster diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) in course design and teaching at a predominantly white institution. We designed a suite of tools for instructional designers and faculty to review online courses, helping to ensure quality course design and meaningful learning experiences exist for all students. We are highlighting the design of the course review tools that were created to increase DEIJ in online classes. Our goal is to have students feel welcome, safe, and to see themselves represented throughout the online courses offered at Auburn University. We also delve into the ethical challenges faced during the development and implementation of the tools, including the decision to rebrand the tools as “community and belonging” to avoid faculty and administrative resistance. This case highlights the intricate balance between principle-based and care-based ethics in our design of the creation of the self-evaluation tool for our team and faculty. It emphasizes the importance of adaptability, sensitivity to context, and strategic communication in promoting inclusive practices.

Rights

Copyright © 2024 by the International Journal of Designs for Learning, a publication of the Association of Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) and Indiana University.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of portions of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page in print or the first screen in digital media. Except as otherwise noted, the content published by IJDL is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. A simpler version of this statement is available here.

Original Publication Citation

Gilbertson, B., Shepherd, S., & Fergus, J. (2024). The unexpected ethical concerns of developing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice review tools: A design case. International Journal of Designs for Learning, 15(3), 178-188. https://doi.org/10.14434/ijdl.v15i3.37698

ORCID

0000-0002-8067-1992 (Fergus)

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