Better Than Our Biases: Using Psychological Research to Inform Our Approach to Effective, Inclusive Feedback

Authors

Anne D. Gordon, Duke Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2021

Keywords

bias, teaching, cognitive, implicit, inclusive, equity, pedagogy, mindfulness, rubrics

Abstract

As teaching faculty, we are obligated to create an inclusive learning environment for all students. When we fail to be thoughtful about our own bias, our teaching suffers – and students from under-represented backgrounds are left behind. This paper draws on legal, pedagogical, and psychological research to create a practical guide for clinical teaching faculty in understanding, examining, and mitigating our own biases, so that we may better teach and support our students. First, I discuss two kinds of bias that interfere with our decision-making and behavior: cognitive biases (such as confirmation bias, primacy and recency effects, and the halo effect) and implicit biases (stereotype and attitude-based), that arise from living in our culture. Second, I explain how our biases negatively affect our students: both through the stereotype threat that students experience when interacting with biased teachers, and by our own failure to evaluate and give feedback appropriately, which in turn interferes with our students’ learning and future opportunities. The final section of this paper details practical steps for reducing our bias, including engaging in longterm debiasing, reducing the conditions that make us prone to bias (such as times of cognitive fatigue), and adopting processes that will keep us from falling back on our biases, (such as the use of rubrics). Acknowledging and mitigating our biases is possible, but we must make a concerted effort to do so in order to live up to our obligations to our students and our profession.

Citation

Anne D. Gordon, Better Than Our Biases: Using Psychological Research to Inform Our Approach to Effective, Inclusive Feedback, 27 Clinical Law Review 195-252 (2021)