Designed by: Tanuj Dargan, Kiarah Brady and Kristin Kohlmeier

Welcome to our learning resource.

We are happy to see people taking part in gaining a deeper understanding of a prominent issue. Have you ever caught yourself making snap judgements about someone, even though you know you are a fair and equitable person? Let us learn a little about why that happens and what we can do to help mitigate these biases.

Why should you care?

These biases affect all aspects of our lives. From who we trust, hire or listen to, all the way to how we influence and treat others. If we don’t play our parts in learning to spot and stop biases, we maintain harmful and unfair systems.

What will you learn in this module?

How to define implicit bias and stereotype in your own words to start. We want you to walk away with a discovery of your own unconscious associations as well as be able to stop examples of bias around you. There will be a tip sheet at the end that we hope will be of use in all areas of life.

By the end of this module, you will be able to: 

  • Define implicit bias and stereotyping in your own words
  • Reflect on your own unconscious biases 
  • Identify examples of bias in real life scenarios 
  • Apply simple and research based strategies to reduce bias in your daily life

How will you learn?

This module uses interactive, reflective, and discussion based activities to support your learning.
Padlet will be our main discussion forum with a dashboard set up specifically for this module:

If the QR code is not working, follow this link.

How will you be assessed?

Whenever there is an assessment, a button will appear like this:

Assessment

You must complete 3/4 discussions and both summative assessments to complete this module.

Your formative work will be assessed based on participation. Once you complete it, submit your proof via an email to your professor. 

There are two summative assignments outlined in the last section of the module. One is a quiz which will be completed on google forms. This will assess whether you can identify key terms and strategies. The second is the creation of an artifact based on your learning and reflection. This will be assessed based on two strands: personal connection and key concept inclusion.

Begin!

Step 1: Warm Up

  • Brainstorm! Share your initial thoughts about what “bias” means to you on Padlet.
  • Watch the following video:

Helpful hint:
As you watch: jot down moments that stand out to you or any questions that arise. Feel free to pause the video while you do so or change the playback speed (faster or slower). There are also closed captions and a transcript available.

  • Discuss further! Here are some Padlet prompts:

What surprised you about the experiment?
What did it reveal about how quickly bias forms?
Did this shift your idea of what bias is from your previous post?

Assessment: Submit your Padlet discussion proof to your professor via email for your participation.

Step 2: Explore Yourself

  • Choose an Implicit Association Test to complete through Harvard Project Implicit. Results are completely private unless you choose to share them. This will help you see your own hidden associations.
  • Reflect! Here are some Padlet prompts:

Were you surprised by your IAT results?
How did it make you feel?
What is something important you learned about this kind of self-discovery?

  • Optional: Want to learn more? Watch the following video: Implicit Bias | Concepts Unwrapped (8 min). This video mentions some interesting uses and critiques of the IAT test.
Assessment: Submit your IAT exit ticket (not your results, only the page showing you have completed the assessment) or your Padlet discussion proof to your professor via email for your participation.

Step 3: Real Life Scenarios

  • Read/watch the following examples of implicit biases impact in real life.

Example 1: Article: Hiring bias and the use of A.I.
Example 2: TED Talk: Implicit Bias and Marginalized Students

  • Analyze and discuss at least on example via Padlet. Here are some optional prompts:

What biases are present in this scenario?
Why does artificial intelligence perpetuate these biases?
How could the outcomes be different if biases was interrupted?

Assessment: Submit your Padlet discussion proof to your professor via email for your participation.

Step 4: Make a Change

  • Read the following tip sheet of science based ways to reduce bias based on Devine et al.s’ (2012) habit breaking model. It conceptualizes implicit bias as a habit that can be consciously changed through effort, reflection and continued practice.
  • Choose the strategies that you believe you could actually use. Think of 1-2 strategies you would realistically use and share on the Padlet discussion board. Here are some additional prompts:

Which strategies from the tip sheet stood out to you? Why?
How might you use one in your school, work or daily life?

Assessment: Submit your Padlet discussion proof to your professor via email for your participation.

Step 5: Show What You Know

Assessment: Post Module Quiz
  • Based on what you have learned in this module, reflect on the impact implicit bias may have in your life. Create a short essay/story, poem, comic, video, infographic, or other creative work and respond to any of the following prompts:

What is one way you plan to reduce bias in your life or community?
What are other ways implicit bias has impacted your life?
How does learning about your own biases make you feel?
Where do you notice other people’s biases and do you have your own there as well?

Helpful hints:

  • If you have any other inspiration for this reflection feel free to draw on that as well.
  • Make sure to demonstrate the use of concepts learned in this module and how you have personally connected to or learned here.
Assessment: Once you have completed your artifact, submit it via email to your professor. 

Congratulations!

Course Complete

Curious for more? Check out these sources:

Scholarly articles:

Grey Literature

Video