First Cultural Community and Diversity Survey

							     Assessing Courses in Cultural
      Diversity and Community:
 Student Perceptions of the Impact of
 a Curricular “Diversity” Requirement



                 General Education Program

Dr. Beverly Schneller                 Dr. Thomas D. Burns
Chair, Department of English          Associate Provost for
Coordinator, General Education     Academic Administration
         Assessment Study Overview
In 2009, Millersville engaged in this assessment study to
capture student perceptions of the newly added
General Education requirement - Cultural Diversity and
Community courses. We are particularly interested in
understanding both the cognitive and the emotional
appreciation of diversity education, not solely the
cognitive. Our study is not designed as a research study,
but rather as an assessment study, focusing on helping
the institution learn about students’ understanding and
attitudes towards issues of diversity and begin to
evaluate the effectiveness of diversity education on our
campus within the General Education program.
 Cultural Diversity and Community
  and General Education (Gen Ed)
The Gen Ed Curriculum at Millersville, revised in
  2008, is divided into three parts:
• Foundations for Lifelong Learning
• Critical Thinking across the Liberal Arts
• Connections and Exploration
   The Cultural Diversity & Community course resides in the Connections and
   Explorations section of the Gen Ed Curriculum
  Millersville’s Cultural Diversity &
         Community course
• A three credit course at the 100-level or
  above
• Required as part of the Gen Ed curriculum
• Course approval process requires that the
  course must meet specific requirements
• Identified in our course registration
  materials as a “CDC” course
• Referred to on campus as the “D” course
  Cultural Diversity & Community
              courses:
• Examine the historical and environmental factors that
  underlie cultural differences
• Be of an interdisciplinary or cross cultural nature
• Examine the potential global, regional, and/or local
  factors that underlie cultural differences
• Engage students in articulating their personal
  worldview through oral and written communication
• Foster information literacy as relates to diversity
• Provide an academic structure for students to engage
  with peoples of diverse histories and from diverse
  communities
         Connecting to the University’s
             Mission and Vision
                  Mission
                       (selected statements below)

– To better prepare students for a diverse society and
  workforce, the University embraces diversity of people,
  cultures, ideas and viewpoints.
– The Millersville University community pledges itself to …
  multicultural awareness and understanding within an
  environment of civility, mutual respect and cooperation.

                           Vision
The Millersville University experience will empower students to
make a significant difference in the communities where they will
live and work. Millersville will be a premier comprehensive public
university.
                 Connecting to the University’s
                     Strategic Directions
 The importance of cultural diversity and community can be found in all six of the
         University’s Strategic Directions. Particular emphasis is found in :

• Cultivating a Community of Diverse People, Thoughts and
  Perspectives (specific statements from this strategic direction highlighting are cultural
   diversity and community are included below)
     – “Millersville University will enhance the diversity of people, thought, and
       perspectives in our community ….”
     – “We will prepare our students for citizenship in a world of increasing
       human diversity.”
     – “We will actively advance an atmosphere of mutual respect, tolerance,
       understanding, sensitivity, and appreciation for the richness of human
       diversity through programs, workshops, dialogue, and training.”

• Fostering an Appreciation of the Liberal Arts
• Developing Life and Leadership Skills that Promote the Greater
  Public Good
   Defining “Cultural Diversity” at
             Millersville:
Cultural diversity refers to the differences
among people in terms of beliefs, customs,
values, politics, and experiences. In essence,
culture is a worldview; it is both learned and
evolved. The following factors are seen to
underlie differences: age, economics,
education, gender, geography, language,
nationality, occupation, physical ability, race
and ethnicity, religious affiliation, and/or sexual
orientation among others.
          Creating the “D” Courses
• Initially applied the “D” label description to existing courses.
• Proposer addressed specific questions demonstrating how the
  course would accomplish the goals of the “D” course.
• Application to expedited curricular approval process involving
  approvals by the departmental curriculum committee and
  Undergraduate Course and Program Review Committee
  (UCPRC).
• New courses - must also address the same eight questions and
  navigate the full curricular approval process – department and
  school curriculum committees, UCPRC, Faculty Senate and
  Provost.
• “Priming the Pump” – The Associate Provost has provided
  professional development programs and small stipends for new
  course development payable when the course is fully approved
  and added to the teaching schedule.
What Departments Offer Cultural
Diversity & Community courses?

Biology                          Chemistry
Communication Theater            Computer Science
Educational Foundations          Elementary Education
Education                        English
Government & Political Affairs   Industry & Technology
Latino Studies                   Mathematics
Nursing                          Psychology
Women’s Studies                  Social Work
Special Education
          Assessment Methodology
• Developed a student perception survey (26 questions) focusing
  on the nature of diversity, application of course content, and
  course learning environment
• Submitted survey and study protocol to the Human Subjects
  Internal Review Board (exempt)
• Survey administered via Google.docs survey form in
  January and May 2010.
• Students who had completed a “D” course were emailed an
  invitation to participate which contained a link to the survey.
• Invitation was sent to campus email address after final
  grades for courses were posted.
• Responses were anonymous- Collected only class level
  and gender. Did NOT collect names, course enrolled in,
  faculty instructor, etc.
• The survey will be repeated in January and May 2011.
                       Participants

• Survey sent to all students enrolled in a D course in Fall
  2009 and Spring 2010 (~650 student each semester)
• 218 total responses
   – 120 responses for those enrolled in fall 2009
   – 98 responses for those enrolled in spring 2010
• By gender:
   – 54 men
   – 155 women
• By class rank:
   –   1 First-year
   –   69 Sophomores
   –   78 Juniors
   –   70 Seniors
Resources Employed to Develop Survey

•BCSSE, NSSE, and FSSE (2009-10)
•Wabash National Study of the Liberal Arts (2008)
•Campus Climate Survey (2010)
•Research studies:
   –Meacham (1994),
   –Hurtado, et al (1998)
   –CRLT Papers University of Michigan (1999)
   –Mayhew, et al (2005)
   –Bowman (2001) and
   –AACU Values Project
        The Survey: What we asked

Survey consisted of 26 questions. Examples:
• After completing this course, my understanding of diversity
  has changed.
• I feel comfortable articulating the meaning of “diversity”.
• I can explain the importance of diversity to others.
• I applied knowledge learned in this course on diversity to
  solve everyday problems or issues.
• My awareness of how diversity effects people increased in
  this course.
• The course provided opportunities for me to demonstrate my
  understanding of diversity through writing and speaking.
          The Results: What we found
       Percentage of Students Responding “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”
• After completing this course, my understanding of diversity has
  changed. 71%
• I feel comfortable articulating the meaning of “diversity”. 96%
• Awareness of diversity is essential to my personal identity and
  growth. 97%
• I can explain the importance of diversity to others. 97%
• This diversity course enabled me to understand others better. 94%
• I learned something in this course that changed me. 83%
• My awareness of how diversity affects people increased in this
  course. 93%
• Information in this course was presented to stress its usefulness in
  and outside the classroom. 93%
                      Results by Gender
I feel comfortable articulating the             –Males: 91%
meaning of “diversity”*                         –Females: 98%
Awareness of diversity is essential to          –Males: 91%
personal identity and growth.**                 –Females: 99%
I can explain the importance of diversity       –Males: 93%
to others. *                                    –Females: 99%
I evaluated the quality of information          –Males: 73%
about diversity using tools I learned in this   –Females: 87%
course outside this course.*
In general, I think people should learn         –Males: 85%
more about diversity given my                   –Females: 97%
experiences in this course.**
Note : * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01
                  Results by Class Rank
Question                                     Percent “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”
 Because of this course, I engaged in         Sophomores: 68%
 projects emphasizing diversity with faculty, Juniors: 55%
 staff, or students.                          Seniors: 56%
                                             Sophomores: 78%
 I discussed diversity with other students
                                             Juniors: 78%
 outside this course.
                                             Seniors: 90%
                                             Sophomores: 56%
 I used knowledge learned in this course
                                             Juniors: 49%
 to select and attend cultural events:
                                             Seniors: 46%
 I used knowledge learned in this course     Sophomores: 49%
 to select and attend other diversity-       Juniors: 38%
 related workshops, programs or events:      Seniors: 46%
 The course provided opportunities for       Sophomores: 91%
 me to demonstrate my understanding of       Juniors: 90%
 diversity through writing and speaking:     Seniors: 91%
                    Conclusions
• Students recognized they were transformed by the
  experience of the D courses.
• Senior students were more likely to respond favorably
  to the value of the D courses in their learning and to
  their personal growth and development.
• All students could benefit from specifically articulated
  linkages between campus programming and workshops
  and the D courses.
• The first courses to carry the D label were highly
  successful in achieving the desired outcomes and
  learning experiences for which they were designed.
• Overall, the D course is meeting its intended goal to
  increase knowledge among our students of the meaning
  and significance of diversity in their lives.
                 What comes next?
• As the student perception study nears its end, we intend to
triangulate the survey data results with data faculty may be willing to
share from their own in-class course evaluations, national survey
data, and information gathered from the Campus Climate Survey.
•Additions to future perception studies may address grade earned in
the course and its influence on student satisfaction and the number
of respondents divided by class rank to see if a preponderance of
one class answered the questions.
•Faculty will also be surveyed to determine how they decided to
create a particular D course and that will be triangulated with FSSE
and HERI data.
•Work with the General Education Review Committee and the
Academic Outcomes Assessment Committee to consider
implementation of the AAC&U’s VALUE Rubric on Intercultural
Knowledge and Competence