Teaching Methods

Pedagogical Rationale

This teaching method illustrates the significance of educator positionality and the sociopolitical context dimensions of the SDTiA framework. The Social Identity Pie Exercise helps instructors introduce students to crucial identity development concepts that undergird the formal theories included in this book: identity socialization, identity status, and identity salience. Employing this teaching method sets a foundation for students to understand how identity politics shape students’ developmental processes in higher education contexts.

Implementation Strategy  

The Social Identity Pie Exercise can be used as a primer activity before the first day of class, completed in class, or assigned as a take-home activity. It may be helpful for some students to complete the exercise at home, where they can reflect and work at their own pace.  

Instructions 

This exercise is adapted from the Social Identity Pie Activity created by the Office of Diversity at the University of Connecticut (UCONN). Students begin by making a list of five aspects of their social identity that are most important to them. Next, students draw a circle. They then slice their circle (or “pie”), making each slice proportional to the level of importance that aspect of their identity holds for them. 

Once students complete their pie, instructors direct them to complete a five-minute free write in response to one of the following prompts: 

• With regard to your largest slice of the pie, describe two experiences in your life that shaped that aspect of your identity (i.e., identity socialization; identity salience). 
• Describe an aspect of your identity that most shapes how you show up as a learner (i.e., identity management). 
• With regard to your largest slice of the pie, is this the aspect of your identity that others (e.g., peers or students) would perceive as most important to you? (i.e., achieved, ascribed, or assigned identity). 
• What aspects of your identity are privileged and/or subordinated within this geographic or educational context? (i.e., identity status; positionality). 
• How, if at all, are your intersecting identities (e.g., “Black trans woman” represented as one slice of the pie) reflected in your pie? (i.e., the difference between intersectionality and multiple dimensions of identity). 

After students have completed the Social Identity Pie Exercise, invite them to participate in a Think–Pair–Share activity. In the Think–Pair–Share, students partner with another student to share their reflections on the prompt they selected. The instructor then facilitates a class discussion that invites students to: 

• Describe their experiences with the assignment. 
• Share something they heard during the Think–Pair–Share that resonated with them. 
• Broaden their understanding of key identity development concepts, including but limited to identity management, identity salience, identity status, identity socialization. 

Instructional Value 

As students think about which parts of their identity feel most important and how those identities are shaped through everyday interactions, they often begin to notice that some aspects of their identity are more immediately visible to others, while other parts are less obvious or easier to keep private. For example, identities such as race or gender are often read right away and can shape how students are treated before they interact with the learning environment. Other identities—such as sexual orientation, religious affiliation, learning differences, or socioeconomic background—may not be visible at all unless a student chooses to share them. 

The SDTiA framework recognizes this distinction and encourages educators, in their translation of theory, to attend to how students experience the learning environments they create. When students feel that their identities are recognized and affirmed, they are more likely to engage, take risks, and participate fully. When students feel that parts of who they are are ignored, misunderstood, or unsafe to share, learning conditions in that environment can affect not only how comfortable they feel, but also how well they are able to learn. For educators, this highlights what is at stake: learning conditions matter, and the extent to which they affirm students’ identities can directly shape students’ growth, engagement, and persistence. 

The activity also makes clear that identity status is contextual and closely tied to a person’s social location. Identities become minoritized or privileged through institutional norms, policies, and dominant cultural expectations. When students reflect on which identities carry the most weight in shaping how they show up as learners or educators, they often surface how intersecting identities can simultaneously position them within systems of advantage and subordination. This recognition helps instructors introduce the idea that individuals can hold both privileged and minoritized identities at once, depending on their social location (e.g., in the U.S., on campus, or in their hometown). 

Instructors are encouraged to revisit this exercise throughout the course to help students make meaning of their positionality and examine how these same identity politics shape the developmental processes of students in higher education contexts.

Pedagogical Rationale

Beginning each class session with a probing question can serve as a deliberate pedagogical choice in teaching student development theory. An instructor could ask their students’, “What’s new? What’s happened with you since we last met?” or “Where have you recognized theory in real life since our last class and what’s shaped that?” This practice recognizes that students arrive in the classroom shaped by ongoing sociopolitical events, campus climates, personal responsibilities, and community contexts. It affirms that learning is situated—rooted in time, place, and lived experience—and that developmental processes unfold within dynamic, intersecting environments. The check-in positions students’ realities as legitimate sources of knowledge, aligning with feminist, intersectional, and critical developmental approaches that center context in understanding learning and growth (Haynes et al., 2025; Tuitt et al, 2023). 

Implementation Strategy  

 At the beginning of class, the instructor invites voluntary updates from students in response to the question. Shares may include personal experiences, campus happenings, work-related moments, or sociopolitical events influencing their week. The instructor listens attentively, acknowledges themes, and—when appropriate—connects what emerges to the upcoming lesson or broader course concepts. The practice is brief and low-pressure, functioning as a grounding ritual that eases students into the learning space while creating opportunities to surface contextual factors that might inform discussions of theory.

Instructional Value 

This opening check-in enhances teaching and learning in several ways. It humanizes the classroom, supports relational trust, and bridges student development theory with the lived experiences that give theory meaning. The practice also helps instructors gauge students’ emotional, cognitive, and developmental readiness for the day’s material. By surfacing the sociopolitical and environmental factors shaping students’ lives, the check-in naturally situates curriculum knowledge within its broader context—illustrating how developmental theories interact with real-world conditions. Ultimately, this method makes explicit that learning in higher education is both contextually grounded and relationally constructed. 

Pedagogical Rationale

To facilitate dialogical professor-student interaction (Tuitt et al., 2023), this teaching method acknowledges that students are not only learning about developmental theory—they are actively experiencing it in real time. The one-on-one check-in helps build trust between the student and their instructor, while also allowing the instructor to offer timely guidance tailored to each student’s personal and academic growth.

Implementation Strategy  

To ensure meaningful engagement with this teaching method, the following implementation steps are recommended: 

Scheduling 

• Students will be prompted by the teaching assistant (TA) to sign up for a 15-minute one-on-one meeting with the instructor. 

• A scheduling form or sign-up sheet will be provided, allowing students to indicate both a first and second choice among available time slots on specific days on or around the middle of the semester. 

• Flexibility will be prioritized where possible to accommodate students’ class, work, or assistantship commitments. 

Conversation Goals 

• The check-in is designed to be informal yet purposeful.  

Instructors are encouraged to begin the dialogue with the following prompts : How are you experiencing the course thus far? 

Grading

This is a zero-credit assignment, but participation is required as part of the course engagement. 

Pedagogical Rationale

Consistent with critical and inclusive pedagogy (Tuitt et al., 2023), this teaching method centers student voice and promotes critical reflection on lived experience, while teaching students to translate theory into practice. Encouraging learners to personalize subject matter using their own lived experiences helps them connect classroom ideas to the broader and personal realities they navigate (Tuitt et al., 2023). Moreover, this teaching method encourages students to traverse theory borderlands, apply intersectionality and engage in contemporary theorizing. 

Implementation Strategy  

This teaching method honors the complexity of lived experience, resisting tokenism by making space for critical reflection, nuance, and voice. First, former students and professionals are invited to record video responses to one of video i-Blog prompts (see Video i-Blog Assignment in Learning Activities for full description). The *Video i-Blog entries created by guest lecturers serve as examples that illustrate how student development theory can be applied to real-world identity journeys, and how lived experience can, in turn, critique or expand theory. Video i-Blogs by guest lectures the instructor chooses to include should highlight a broad range of developmental milestones/journeys (e.g., race, gender identity, moral reasoning, cognition, and/or learning differences).  

These videos are shared with current students and are used to spark class discussion, deepen understanding of student development theory, and foster a classroom environment that encourages vulnerability, reflection, and peer support in the learning process.

Sample Email Invitation to Former Students 

Subject: Invitation to Share Your Story as a Guest Video i-Blog Contributor 

Dear [Former Student’s Name], 

I hope this message finds you well. I am reaching out to invite you to participate as a guest lecturer in my [Course Name] class this semester. I am using Video Identity Development Blogs (Video i-Blog) as a teaching method to teach students how to use student theory that challenge oversimplified interpretations of students’ lived experiences. Video i-Blogs allow students to reflect on their identity development and connect their experiences to student development theory. 

As a former student who has navigated important developmental journeys, your voice would be invaluable to current learners. Your story can help students develop a more critical and nuanced understanding of identity—one that resists simplistic representations and instead honors the full complexity of students’ lived experiences. I would greatly appreciate you sharing some of your developmental journey with my students, particularly your lived experiences as a Latina. If you are able to participate, I invite you to record a brief (5-7 minute) video responding to this prompt: 

“Reflect on how you came to understand yourself as a Latina (or another relevant identity). How does student development theory help explain your experience, or how might your experience challenge or expand that theory?” 

You’re welcome to share as much or as little as you feel comfortable. Please don’t feel pressured to disclose anything you consider too personal or private—the goal is simply to offer insight and reflection that feels authentic to you. You can record your video at your convenience using Zoom or any other video platform, and simply send me the file. I will provide a short introduction for you to read before your reflection to set the stage for the students. 

Your participation would be a meaningful gift to our current students, providing them with real-world insight and inspiration. Please let me know if you are interested or have any questions. 

Thank you for considering this opportunity. 

Warm regards, 

[Instructor Name] 

Instructional Value 

This teaching method is highly adaptable and supports meaningful learning across various formats: 

• In face-to-face classes, i-Blogs can be shared and discussed in seminars or small groups. 
• In blended formats, students can record and view i-Blogs asynchronously and bring insights into in-person sessions. 
• In fully online courses, the method fosters community, authenticity, and personal connection in virtual spaces. 

Linked Resources 

Visit the Learning Activities section of this site for the assignment breakdown for current students and watch two examples of video i-Blogs from former students with updated reflections on the assignment in the Further Resources section. 

Pedagogical Rationale

The Theory Afterthought activity is a related learning activity for those implementing the video i-Blog by former students as a teaching method. It is designed to foster students’ engagement with the content shared by guest lecturers. 

Implementation Strategy  

At two points in the semester, students will be required to view a video i-Blog created by a guest lecturer. After viewing a video i-Blog, students are required to write an email that captures in “Theory Afterthoughts” what the student took away from the guest lecturer’s presentation—such as an insight, connection to theory, or moment of personal reflection. Students must send their “Theory Afterthoughts” email to the guest lecturer and cc the instructor on their message.  

Instructional Value 

This activity fosters gratitude, strengthens connections across generations of learners, and reinforces thoughtful reflection: 

• Opportunities for peer modeling and intergenerational learning 
• Personal engagement with professional role models through follow-up communication 

Grading

This is a zero-credit assignment, but participation is required as part of the course engagement. 

Sample Theory Afterthought Email Dr. Hudock Received: 

Hi Marigold! 

I am a first year SAAHE student in Dr. Haynes Davison’s course! I am emailing you in response to your Video i-Blog Exemplar video about your development as a white woman through the lens of Dr. Chris Linder’s Model of Antiracist White Feminist Identity Development. First of all, I really enjoyed hearing you speak about your lived experience first learning about basic social justice concepts. I really resonated with what you shared about wishing you had learned about privilege and oppression as a teenager so you could have had a better understanding of your lived experiences. Secondly, I found your thoughts on the nonlinear nature of antiracist identity development and how white women can slip back into resistance to be really insightful. I think that the idea of learning being cyclical and never ending makes learning more accessible. I believe that normalizing making mistakes and learning from them prevents social justice gatekeeping. 

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to your Video i-Blog! You definitely set a good example on how to complete the assignment and I am going to sit and reflect on the development you shared for a bit. 

Thank you! 

Pedagogical Rationale

Case-based teaching is a problem-posing pedagogical approach that promotes deep learning through critical thinking, reflexivity, and dialogue. Consistent with critical inclusive pedagogies (CIPs), case-based teaching decenters the instructor as the authoritative knowledge holder and instead creates learning conditions for the co-construction of knowledge among students and between students and the instructor (Tuitt et al., 2023). 

The cases in our book were designed to be used in different ways. This allows instructors to connect case analysis to the SDTiA framework. The cases should not be seen as neutral or objective stories. They reflect real experiences shaped by social context, institutional practices, and location. In this way, the case analysis “empowers educators to design theoretically-grounded classroom and practice interventions that are evidence-based, equity-minded, and culturally responsive” (Chapter 1). 

Implementation Strategy  

Instructors can employ case-based teaching using a range of approaches, each emphasizing different dimensions of the SDTiA framework. Cases may be used individually or collaboratively and can be engaged through written analyses, structured discussions, reflective writing, or multimodal responses. 

• One common approach is case interpretation, in which students use the guiding prompts we provide to analyze a case. This approach is particularly useful in introductory courses, as it helps students build familiarity with theoretical language while beginning to make theory-to-practice connections. 
• Another approach centers positionality-focused case reading, inviting students to reflect on how their identities, professional roles, and lived experiences shape what they notice in a case and which developmental outcomes they prioritize. This method makes sense-making of informal theory an object of inquiry, offering educators the “profound opportunity to document informal theories” (Chapter 1). 
• Cases may also be used for contextual analysis, where students focus on how institutional type, policy, culture, and sociopolitical conditions shape the experiences described in the case. This approach shifts attention away from individual students as problems and toward the environments in which development occurs, reinforcing SDTiA’s emphasis on sociopolitical context. 
• Instructors may also use a single case to facilitate theory comparison, asking students to analyze the same case using multiple developmental frameworks. Students then examine what each theory makes visible or obscures, surfacing tensions, limits, and underlying assumptions across theories. The SDTiA framework posits that theory should “evolve as educators traverse theory borderlands, blending theories to address the evolving needs of students and institutions” (Chapter 1).  
• Cases can also be used as sites for case extension or re-authoring,  particularly in advanced student development theory courses.  In this approach, students revise or extend one of the cases in our book by adding missing perspectives, altering contextual variables, or imagining alternative institutional responses. This method positions students as knowledge producers and encourages ethical accountability. This approach to case analysis offers educators another opportunity within the SDTiA framework to build on theory and assess practice. 
• Finally, instructors may use cases to support practice-to-case translation, inviting students to compare the book’s cases with situations from their own professional contexts. This approach strengthens students’ ability to translate theory across settings and reinforces the relevance of student development theory to lived practice. 

Across each of these approaches, instructors are encouraged to pair case-based teaching with the Formative Feedback teaching method (included here – Teaching Method 7). After engaging a case—whether through writing, discussion, or reflection—students exchange feedback that identifies strengths, suggests areas for growth, and poses probing questions. This feedback process reinforces the iterative nature of learning and deepens students’ theoretical reasoning.  

Instructional Value 

Using cases in multiple ways allows instructors to scaffold learning and revisit the same case across a course as students’ theoretical understanding, reflexivity, and critical awareness deepen. Through written, discussion-based, and reflective engagements—supported by formative feedback—students learn to approach student development theory as contextual, contested, and ethically consequential. Case-based teaching helps develop the analytical and reflective skills central to the SDTiA framework, which educators use to improve campus learning conditions for all students. 

Pedagogical Rationale

Formative feedback is a pedagogical practice that centers learning as an iterative and relational process, rather than a one-time evaluation of student performance. Formative feedback consists of the recommendations instructors or peers provide to help students improve their future practice, deepen their reasoning, and refine their application of theory. Scholarship on effective feedback emphasizes that formative feedback is most impactful when it is timely, dialogic, and oriented toward supporting students’ self-regulated learning (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006; Stern & Solomon, 2006). 

When paired with case-based teaching, formative feedback strengthens students’ capacity to translate student development theory into practice by encouraging reflection, revision, and ethical accountability. Case-based teaching can take many forms—including written case analyses, small- and large-group discussions, structured reflections, or multimodal responses—and formative feedback provides a mechanism for students to receive guidance across each of these formats. Rather than positioning cases as assignments with “right” answers, formative feedback reinforces the idea that case interpretation is provisional, situated, and open to refinement. 

Within the SDTiA framework, formative feedback supports students in making visible how their positionality, assumptions, and sociopolitical context shape their interpretations of cases and their judgments about developmental outcomes. It also mirrors professional practice, where educators regularly provide and receive feedback as part of collaborative meaning-making and improvement, which is peer-learning and peer-review. 

Implementation Strategy  

Formative feedback can be incorporated as a stand-alone teaching method or embedded within case-based teaching assignments. After completing a case analysis—whether in written form, through recorded discussion, or as a reflective response—students exchange their work with peers and provide written formative feedback. 

Guidelines for Formative Feedback 

While students would have completed the same assignment, remind them that feedback must be aligned with the assignment criteria, and focused on supporting their colleagues’ future learning and practice. Students prepare no more than 500 words of formative feedback. Written feedback should be addressed to their peer(s) and should also include the name of the feedback’s author. 

The following prompts can be used to guide students’ preparation of feedback for their peer(s). Feedback should be written in narrative form rather than bullet points. 

1. Resonance and Meaning: Describe the part of the argument constructed in your colleagues’ analysis that resonated with you and explain why. 
2. Strengths: Identify strengths of the work related to content, quality of reasoning, organization, clarity of writing, and/or effective use of theory. 
3. Areas for Growth: Offer constructive suggestions for improvement related to content, argument development, organization, or clarity. For example, do the authors raise questions in their analysis that remain unanswered? If so, provide a specific example and explain how addressing it could strengthen the analysis. 
4. Probing Question: Pose one thoughtful, open-ended follow-up question for your colleague to address. The follow-up questions could: 
   • Invite deeper reflection on how theory was applied in the case, or 
   • Introduce a shift in the case’s circumstances that requires reconsideration of how the selected theory might be expanded, challenged, or applied differently. 

Instructors may then invite students to respond to the formative feedback they received through a brief reflection, class discussion, or recorded response, reinforcing feedback as a dialogic process rather than a final judgment. 

Instructional Value 

Coupling formative feedback with case-based teaching deepens students’ analytical and reflective capacities while fostering a collaborative learning environment. Students learn not only how to interpret cases, but also how to articulate critique, offer constructive guidance, and engage feedback as a resource for growth. This process aligns with SDTiA’s emphasis on translation, as students refine their theoretical interpretations in response to others’ perspectives and reconsider how positionality and context shape meaning-making and the developmental outcomes they pursue. 

For instructors, formative feedback provides insight into students’ thinking processes and offers opportunities to intervene, clarify, and extend learning without relying solely on summative assessment. Together, case-based teaching and formative feedback create learning conditions that support sustained inquiry, reflexivity, and the development of ethically grounded educational practice. 

Pedagogical Rationale

This recurring concept chart activity is designed to support students’ developing fluency with student development theory by emphasizing both conceptual clarity and theory-to-practice translation. Educators often struggle to distinguish among closely related theories or to move beyond descriptive summaries toward applied understanding. This teaching method directly addresses those challenges by creating a structured, collaborative space for students to repeatedly engage with core theoretical concepts across the semester.  

Grounded in collaborative learning and scaffolded instruction, the concept chart reinforces content from the previous week while helping students build a cumulative, integrated understanding of theory rather than treating each framework as discrete or siloed. By revisiting a common set of analytic categories (e.g., definition, components, application) each week, students develop a shared language for discussing theory and greater confidence in applying it to classroom and practice contexts. 

Implementation Strategy  

The concept chart is used in most weeks of the course and typically occupies 20–25 minutes of class time. Prior to each activity, the instructor pre-populates the chart with the Concept and Related Authors for the theory introduced in the previous class session. Students are then placed into assigned pairs or triads that change weekly to encourage interaction with a range of peers and perspectives. Working collaboratively in a shared spreadsheet (e.g., Microsoft365 Excel or Google Sheets), students complete the remaining columns: Definition/Description, Major Components of the Theory, and Application Examples. See the example below. 

During the activity, the instructor circulates and monitors progress, then facilitates a whole-class review of the completed chart. This review allows the instructor to clarify misconceptions, highlight especially strong applications, and offer amendments or refinements where needed. The activity concludes by explicitly pivoting from the completed chart to the current week’s content, inviting students to consider connections, contrasts, or points of continuity across theories. The chart is not graded and functions as a formative learning tool; students retain access to the document throughout the semester and beyond. 

Instructional Value 

This activity serves as a living, cumulative artifact that supports both immediate learning and longer-term knowledge transfer. Students regularly report increased confidence in discussing theory and demonstrate stronger, more precise application of theoretical concepts in major course assignments. Because the chart is co-constructed and revisited over time, it reinforces conceptual distinctions among theories while also modeling how theory can inform professional decision-making in practice. The collaborative structure surfaces multiple interpretations and applied examples, enriching students’ understanding beyond what individual note-taking might allow. By the end of the semester, the concept chart functions as a synthesized reference tool that students can carry forward into future coursework and professional contexts, reinforcing the enduring value of theory in student affairs and higher education practice. 

Pedagogical Rationale

The Learning and Development Logs are designed to help master’s students develop both scholarly and professional fluency with student development theory through low-stakes, reflective writing. Graduate students often experience tension between engaging deeply with theoretical texts and translating those ideas into meaningful accounts of practice. This assignment intentionally holds both aims together by asking students to synthesize weekly readings while also examining how theoretical concepts surface in their own educational and professional experiences. By using individualized, private writing spaces, the logs encourage intellectual risk-taking, critical self-reflection, and engagement with theory that may not emerge in class discussion. The assignment is grounded in reflective practice pedagogy and supports students in building habits of sense-making that extend across the semester rather than positioning theory as content to be mastered once and set aside. 

Implementation Strategy  

Students complete four Learning and Development Logs over the course of the semester, with structured guardrails to ensure the work is distributed across multiple weeks. For each log, students compose a 500–700 word entry in an individualized Word document shared only with the instructor via Office 365 (though this could occur with individualized Google Docs too). Each entry requires students to synthesize the assigned readings for the week and consider their application to student affairs or higher education practice. The synthesis portion comprises approximately two-thirds of the entry and invites students to identify central ideas, points of convergence or tension among authors, connections to prior course content, and questions raised by the texts. The remaining third of the entry focuses on application, asking students to reflect on a personal or observed experience and analyze it through the theoretical concepts introduced that week. 

Logs are due before class, allowing the instructor to review entries and provide formative feedback in advance of class discussion. Feedback takes the form of in-text comments that include affirmations, clarifying questions, and gentle challenges intended to deepen students’ thinking. Logs are not revised; instead, students are encouraged to carry forward insights and questions from their writing into class discussions and future assignments. Entries are assessed using a Complete / Not Complete / Incomplete scale to reinforce the low-stakes, formative nature of the work. 

Instructional Value 

The Learning and Development Logs support students in developing stronger skills in theoretical synthesis, academic writing, and reflective analysis. Over time, students demonstrate increased comfort working with complex theories, greater ability to integrate ideas across multiple authors, and more nuanced application of theory to lived experience and professional contexts. Because the logs are private and low-stakes, they create space for students to explore how identity, institutional context, and power shape learning and development in ways that may not surface in public classroom settings. The assignment also provides repeated practice with APA conventions and graduate-level scholarly writing without the pressure of high-stakes evaluation. Collectively, the logs function as a sustained practice of theory-informed reflection that prepares students for advanced coursework and professional roles in student affairs and higher education.