How Instructors Can Make Their Active Learning Classrooms More Inclusive to Members of the LGBTQIA Community
Students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA) face unique challenges in active learning classrooms. Holding a historically – and in some ways currently – stigmatized social identity means that these students have to carefully navigate active learning classrooms. Although very little research has been done on this population thus far, work that I have done in the Biology Education Research Lab begins to explore how LGBTQIA students feel about active learning classrooms. (http://www.lifescied.org/content/15/3/ar37.full)
In contrast to traditional lectures, active learning courses often require students to engage with peers and instructors (Eddy, Brownell et al., 2015). These increased interactions among students and between students and instructors increase the relevance of students’ LGBTQIA identities, and can lead to potentially uncomfortable situations. We documented several challenges for LGBTQIA students in active learning classrooms.
The biology community can be unwelcoming of LGBTQIA students
Students in this study did not perceive the biology classroom community broadly as a welcoming or accepting space for their identities. Students reported experiencing subtle forms of homophobia in biology classrooms. For example, some students were told by peers that it was not appropriate to share their LGBTQIA with others in class. Others encountered group members who did not accept or understand queer and transgender identities. While students acknowledged challenges in all classrooms, they highlighted that they had more challenges in student-centered active learning classrooms.Active learning makes identities more visible
Participating in active learning classes can force LGBTQIA students to come out, even if they are not ready. Conversations about biology in active learning classrooms can sometimes transition to off-topic conversations about students' personal lives, which can force students to come out, lie, or omit their LGBTQIA identities. This can be especially stressful for students who suspect that one of their groupmates may be unaccepting of their identity.Active learning classrooms can also amplify the number of potential situations for transgender students to be misidentified. During the early stages of transitioning, the transgender students in this study were often misgendered by their group mates, and even by instructors. Bravely sharing out their answer in an active learning class and then being called by the incorrect pronoun can cause students to feel ashamed or embarrassed, especially if it is done in front of the entire class. This can cause students to think about why they were not passing as their preferred gender instead of thinking about biology content. This increased cognitive load has the potential to negatively impact these students’ academic achievement.
Groups don’t mix
Lastly, we found that assigning and changing groups presents additional challenges for LGBTQIA students. LGBTQIA students prefer to work with others who are accepting of their identities. Therefore, they are most comfortable when they can choose who to work with. Allowing students to choose their groups lets them seek out similar others or avoid those who may be members of groups who have historically been unaccepting of the LGBTQIA community. Additionally, mixing up groups frequently also presents distinct challenges for these students. Changing who students work with seemed to be particularly difficult for transgender students who had previously established the name and gender they identify as. Working with a new group of students meant that they needed to come out again and were misgendered more frequently.How can I make my classroom more inclusive of LGBTQIA students?
Learn about the LGBTQIA community
Getting to know more about the LGBTQIA community is an important first step in creating a more inclusive classroom. In fact, many campuses provide resources such as Safe Zone training (http://thesafezoneproject.com/) and online resources such as the online University of California, Davis, LGBTQIA Resources Center (https://lgbt.ucsd.edu/education/index.html ) to help faculty, staff, and students learn more about the LGBTQIA community. 
Get to know your students
Instructors can make it explicit that students are welcome to share their LGBTQIA identities by collecting information about students’ LGBTQIA status and preferred pronouns at the beginning of the semester. Instructors can elicit this information by inviting students to write down pertinent demographic information on index cards or administering an online survey. However, instructors should be aware that some students may be uncomfortable sharing this information. It is best practice to allow space for students to write in how they identify and to allow students to skip questions that they prefer not to answer.
Consider letting students choose their own groups
The students in our study indicated that it was important for them to choose who to work with so that they could maximize their chances of working with others who accept their LGBTQIA identities. If instructors feel strongly about assigning groups, we encourage instructors to consider keeping groups consistent throughout the semester so that students would not need to reestablish their LGBTQIA identities with their groupmates.
Be open to accommodating LGBTQIA student needs
LGBTQIA students encounter a variety of challenges in an active learning classroom that may not be visible to instructors. If instructors present themselves as approachable and are open to talking with students about potential issues in the classroom, LGBTQIA students may be more comfortable sharing their struggles. Instructors can maximize student comfort in the classroom by being flexible and willing to accommodate LGBTQIA student needs. For example, transgender students may prefer to go by a name other than the one listed on the class roster. Instructors can change student names in the gradebook, use that name in class and encourage students to use the name they are most comfortable with on worksheets and exams.
Next steps
We hope to continue this work by exploring more LGBTQIA student experiences in active learning classrooms in different geographic locations. Capturing student thoughts and opinions is an important first step to creating more inclusive classrooms.
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