Faculty can take a student-centered approach and incorporate principles of inclusion and diversity while designing a developmental psychology course that cultivates an enriching learning environment. By using an open education framework, one can improve course grades and pass rates, particularly for historically underserved students, Pell recipients, and part-time students. Effective open education involves use of high-quality Open Education Resources (OERs), incorporating student-centered learning, acknowledging and leveraging instructor factors, and realizing the diversity of student learners. Through the adoption of OERs and active-learning strategies, including open pedagogy, instructors have the opportunity to create a supportive atmosphere that allows students from diverse backgrounds to engage with the course content in meaningful and relevant ways - all while taking a cost-saving approach to high-quality educational materials. Furthermore, the use of open pedagogy principles empowers both educators and students to co-create course materials. This collaborative effort facilitates agency, voice, and a sense of belonging for the course. This chapter includes small steps that can be used by instructors to diversify their materials, guidance on finding OERs for developmental psychology, and the basics of open pedagogy with examples for developmental psychology.

Keywords

inclusion · diversity · developmental psychology · open pedagogy · open practice · OER · community college