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Abstract

Urban universities enroll highly diverse student bodies by every measure of “diversity.” In addition to different learning styles students may innately possess, many aspects of diversity impact the way they learn. Despite having diverse students, information literacy instructors in urban universities may approach teaching by attempting to reach the “average student,” even when there is little to no homogeneity among students. A differentiated instruction approach invites instructors to design various teaching and assessment devices in an attempt to appeal to how students learn differently. In order for differentiated instruction in information literacy to work, most classroom time should be dedicated to students working alone or in groups to learn and apply the material by the means that best complements how they learn. This article presents a brief discussion of the research on the impact of cultural diversity on learning, explains differentiated instruction and how it allows information literacy instructors to better reach a diverse group of students, and advocates for the adoption of a flipped classroom teaching approach to allow for the transformation of classroom time into a tutorial model where varied differentiated instruction opportunities can co-exist to support students of all learning styles and backgrounds.

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