Promoting First-Gen Student Belonging and Success

The Twin Cities campus's College of Education and Human Development’s Digital Education and Innovation unit, in partnership with the University of Minnesota First-Gen Institute (FGI), collaborated in a year-long community of faculty, instructional designers, graduate students and colleagues from student services to create a series of guides to demystifying the hidden curriculum in classrooms for first-generation (FG) students and all learners. Rooted in research that forwards an asset-based lens on first-gen students, the team translated core elements of hidden curriculum into a series of primers that serve as scaffolded guides toward designing transparent, engaged and accessible classrooms. The work resulted in the following impressive deliverables: 

1. Library of training resources: The team compiled a collection of white papers and resource guides for instructors and educational staff that highlight both the importance of FG students’ assets as well as identifying potential systemic inequities in higher education institutions. The FGI currently hosts the primary resources, which are available for use in and out of the classroom, as part of their Teaching and Learning Resources collection. 
2. Professional development sessions: The project team publicly shared key practice recommendations and resource materials for academic technology staff and instructors via multiple professional development sessions.
3. Increased institutional knowledge: The developed training resources are licensed through Creative Commons and are available to both the broader University community and the general public through the Digital Education and Innovation website.
4. The team is currently authoring an academic article regarding this project experience and outcomes for publication in a national journal.