Institute Faculty
Tazin Daniels
Associate Director at the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan
Tazin Daniels is a Bangladeshi-American educational developer, DEI consultant, and executive coach with nearly two decades of experience helping mission-driven institutions in their pursuit of equity-focused innovation. She has worked with individuals and organizations across the country through her role as an Associate Director at the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching at the University of Michigan, and through her consulting firm, The Pedagologist LLC. At Michigan, Dr. Daniels has developed programming for educators and administrators looking to improve curriculum design and pedagogical practices across campus. Some examples include: the Preparing Future Faculty Seminar, the Diversity and Inclusive Teaching Seminar, the Interprofessional Education Leadership Faculty Fellowship Program, and the Health Sciences Teaching Academy. These highly rated programs have been the basis of several presentations and peer-reviewed articles in academic venues including New Directions in Teaching and Learning and To Improve the Academy.
Dr. Daniels is recognized as a national expert in both DEI and instructional technology and she has a notable presence in public discourse on educational equity and innovation. In 2022, she was named one of the top Higher Education IT Influencers to follow by EdTech Magazine in and has given multiple interviews with media outlets including the Chronicle for Higher Education, Times Higher Ed, and Leading Lines Podcast. Her collaborations with DEI-centered organizations like the National Center for Faculty Diversity and Development, The Every Learner Everywhere Network, Propel Learn, Achieving the Dream, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have led to the development of impactful programming for educators nationwide. Dr. Daniels is frequently invited to deliver keynotes and plenary presentations on topics including how to build community in online courses, how to deal with resistance in DEI work, and how to support students during times of national crisis.
In 2023, Dr. Daniels served on the University of Michigan’s Provost’s “Guidance on Generative Artificial Intelligence Committee” and contributed to a report on policy and practice considerations implementing GenAI in ways that align with university values. Since then, she has led the development of a number of resources for faculty interested in ethically and effectively navigating GenAI in their teaching without undermining student learning. Dr. Daniels has given several presentations and sat on a number of expert panels to discuss the opportunities and costs of engaging with GenAI in higher education, and played a key role in organizing an interdisciplinary conference on the topic in December of 2023. This year, she is working on a number of research and writing projects related to GenAI and had the honor of writing the foreword to “Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions” edited by Beth Buyserie and Travis N. Thurston.
Areas of Expertise
- Educational technology and online teaching
- Equity-focused and anti-racist teaching
- Faculty and educational development
- Organizational change