Students don’t have equal opportunities for deeper learning when pedagogy is designed using one-size fits all approaches. One-size fits all approaches expects all learners to read the same book, derive the same meaning from lectures, learn at the same pace, complete the same problems using the same materials, which doesn’t account for variability in the was students learn new knowledge. Overarchingly, creating learning environments that reflect cultural values, student motivation, and emotions organizes, drives, and amplifies student thinking and reasoning. Therein providing higher potential for deeper learning and optimal student performance. Marrying neuroscience, culturally responsive pedagogy, and curricular design principles, in this session we will explore, the role cognition, memory and affective filters play in student learning, and the affordances culturally responsive pedagogy provides to connect student interest, background, and experiences to new learning.

Sponsored by the Department of Teaching, Learning & Teacher Education, CEHS, and the UNL Research Council.