Multiculturalism and Student Learning Implications for Teaching and Assessment Victor M. H. Borden,...

Multiculturalism and Student Learning

Implications for Teaching and Assessment

Victor M. H. Borden, Ph.D.Associate Vice President

University Planning, Institutional Research, and Accountability (IU)

Associate Professor of Psychology (IUPUI)

[email protected]


In Conclusion Multiculturalism is a multi-layered construct

Choose some common threads Enable individual faculty and staff to experiment and

innovate Collaborative inquiry is the key to understanding

and constructive change assessing together to plan, implement, evaluate, and

improve To incorporate multiculturalism into your

teaching requires you to hold yourself to the same learning expectations that you hold your students

But first…


Who am I? Social psychological in perspective

Neo-Lewinian with Argyristic tendencies and a perverse fascination with situated learning

A lifelong administrator with an added faculty line

Areas of specialty Multiculturalism: not really Diversity: more so Organizational transformation through evidence-

based practice: I’d like to think so IR at the core

Frontperson for the AIR Windbreakers


Where am I? Not Kansas, apparently Purdue Calumet

Carnegie 2000 - Master’s Colleges & Universities I Carnegie 2005

• Undergraduate Instructional Program: – Professions plus arts & sciences, some graduate coexistence

• Graduate Instructional Program– Postbaccalaureate with arts & sciences (business dominant)

• Enrollment Profile– Very high undergraduate

• Undergraduate Profile– Medium full-time four-year, inclusive

• Size and Setting– Medium four-year, primarily nonresidential

• Basic: Master's Colleges and Universities (medium programs)


IPEDS Data Feedback Report Central Missouri State University (Warrensburg,

MO) Chicago State University (Chicago, IL) Eastern Illinois University (Charleston, IL) Emporia State University (Emporia, KS) Fort Hays State University (Hays, KS) Georgia Southwestern State University (Americus,

GA) Governors State University (University Park, IL) Indiana University-Northwest (Gary, IN) Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort

Wayne (Fort Wayne, IN) Indiana University-South Bend (South Bend, IN) Indiana University-Southeast (New Albany, IN) Kean University (Union, NJ) Kennesaw State University (Kennesaw, GA) Minnesota State University-Mankato (Mankato, MN) Minnesota State University-Moorhead (Moorhead,

MN) Northeastern Illinois University (Chicago, IL) Northern Michigan University (Marquette, MI) Northwest Missouri State University (Maryville, MO) Pittsburg State University (Pittsburg, KS)

Southeast Missouri State University (Cape Girardeau, MO)

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (Edwardsville, IL)

The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga (Chattanooga, TN)

University of Central Oklahoma (Edmond, OK) University of Massachusetts-Boston (Boston, MA) University of Michigan-Dearborn (Dearborn, MI) University of Minnesota-Duluth (Duluth, MN) University of Nebraska at Omaha (Omaha, NE) University of North Carolina at Greensboro

(Greensboro, NC) University of North Carolina-Wilmington

(Wilmington, NC) University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls, IA) University of Southern Indiana (Evansville, IN) University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (La Crosse, WI) University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (Stevens

Point, WI) Valdosta State University (Valdosta, GA) William Paterson University of New Jersey (Wayne,

NJ) Winona State University (Winona, MN)


Purdue Cal – Indiana Context

In comparison to… Purdue North Central IPFW IU Northwest IU South Bend IU Southeast IU Kokomo IU East


Student Body Profile 1

9,303

-

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

Fall Enrollment

6,802

-

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

10,000

FTE Enrollment

58%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% Female



67%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% White

15%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% Black

14%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% Hispanic



1%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% Asian

0%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% Native Amer.

1%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

PercentInternational


6-Year Graduation Rate

23%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Grad Rate Total

8%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Grad Rate - Black

21%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Grad Rate Hispanic


Faculty Profile 1

154

-

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Total

38%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% Women

21%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% Minority


Faculty Profile 2

21%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% Minority

3%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% Black

3%0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% Hispanic


Racial/Ethnic Faculty to Student Ratios

52

349

260

0

100

200

300

400

White Black Hispanic

Number of Faculty per Students of Same Race/Ethnicity


Back on Task

What is multiculturalism in relation to student learning?

What can you do at Purdue Calumet to improve teaching and learning for our diverse, multicultural student body?

Why and how is assessment (and collaborative inquiry in particular) an important part of the effort?


Perspectives on Multiculturalism

Knefelkamp Attending to the variety of learning styles

Banks’ five overlapping dimensions Content integration; Knowledge construction;

Equity pedagogy; Prejudice reduction; Empowering classroom culture

Kolb’s four step approach to MC pedagogy Concrete experience; Reflective observation;

Abstract conceptualization; Active experimentation


Perspectives on Multiculturalism

Grant & Sleeter – Context Specific Perspectives of under-represented peoples Instructional strategies for multiple learning styles Promotion of social justice Removing bias from questions and cases Appealing to varied interests

Bennet – Teachers as… Student advocates; inquiry-based practitioners;

agents of social change; competent with content Gay – Culturally responsive pedagogy Kitano – Developing democratic citizens


Recommended Resources 1

AAC&U Diversity Web - http://www.diversityweb.org/


Recommended Resources 2http://www.opd.iupui.edu/diversity/resource_guide.htm


Other Resources Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (U of M)

– Section on Multicultural teaching http://www.crlt.umich.edu/multiteaching/multiteaching.html

EdChange’s Multicultural Pavilion Multicultural Teaching Toolbox,

http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/teachers.html Banks et al., (2001). Diversity within unity: Essential

Principles for Teaching And Learning in a Multicultural Society (http://www.educ.washington.edu/coetestwebsite/pdf/DiversityUnity.pdf)

Schoem, D., Frankel, L., Zuniga, X., & Lewis, E. (1993). Multicultural teaching in the university. Westport, CT: Praeger

National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) http://www.nameorg.org/


So What Do We Do?

If multiculturalism can be so many different things to different people at different times, how do we proceed? By developing some core objectives With as much or more individual

experimentation, innovation, and creativity By bringing more people on board


Developing Core Objectives

What’s the problem? Are racial/ethnic, low SES, or first-generation

performance gaps related to uni-cultural teaching practices?

Is there a problem of awareness and/or acceptance?

Maybe its more an opportunity than a problem Given its environment and mission, can

Purdue Calumet stake a claim in this territory?


Things to Look At Leadership commitment

Is this on senior administrator’s radar screen and, if so, how? Are there sufficient rewards, incentives, and supports?

Curricular requirements Is understanding and working with human difference part of the

Gen Ed program? Major outcomes? How is it taught and assessed?

Campus climate See recent IUPUI experience

Representational diversity What does the gap between student and faculty representation

portend? How are different students represented across majors (gender;

race/ethnicity; age, etc.)


For Example

Percent Black and Hispanic

Business

Social Sciences and History

Engineering-Related Technologies

Computer and Information Sciences

Education

Health Professions/Life Sciences

Communications

Psychology

Humanities and Fine Arts

Engineering

Physics/Math

Home Ec/Park Rec

Total NumberBachelor's Degrees Conferred at Purdue Calumet, 2004-05

199

72

69

66

57

56

53

47

41

40

17

16

9%

15%

6%

11%

4%

13%

21%

15%

5%

15%

6%

6%

13%15%

10%

8%

14%

18%

6%

9%

27%

10%

6%

50%


And What About DFW rates in popular introductory courses

among various groups? Student responses, overall and by group, to key

NSSE items Included diverse perspectives (different races,

religions, genders, political beliefs, etc.) in class discussions or writing assignments

Had serious conversations with students • A) of a different race/ethnicity• B) who are very different in terms of religious beliefs, political

opinions, or personal values Understanding people of other racial and ethnic

backgrounds Compared to faculty responses (FSSE)?


How Else Can You Find Out Whether…

Students feel welcome in class? Teaching methods accommodate different

learning styles? There are any unintended “use of

language” barriers? There are any biases in examples used?


Multicultural Assessment

There are many ways to do assessment It is about looking for evidence to

determine what is happening, relative to what you think should be happening

Evidence takes many forms Documented (what others have observed and

written) Direct observation – quantitative and

experiential (practitioner and client/user) Contextual


Assessment All Along the Way

What are you trying to achieve?

Needs assessment

What are you doing to achieve it?

Process assessment

How will you know when you get there

Outcomes assessment

What can you do with the results?

Improvement


The Outcomes Assessment Matrix


Learn About It, and Then…

Identify some core issues to approach as a community

Identify interesting practice Visit if possible

Brainstorm to adopt and determine how you will assess

Try it, check it, learn from it Tweak and check or try something else

But give things time to see if they can be done better


Enabling Individual Development and Exploration

What kind of supports are in place and what incentives promote there use?

Important to enable individuals to innovate, experiment, check, learn, and disseminate Scholarship of teaching, learning, and supporting

“Communities of practice” is a useful concept for enabling individuals to work together toward individual and collective gain


Communities of Practice

Learning as a social system (Etienne Wenger)

Members of a community, bound by what they do together and by what they have learned through their mutual engagement in these activities

Based on distinctions between Learning about and learning to be (Bruner) Knowing that and knowing how (Ryle)


CofP is not…

a business or functional unit in that it defines itself in the doing, as members develop among themselves their own understanding of what their practice is about

a team in that the shared learning and interest of its members are what keep it together

a network in the sense that it is "about" something; it is not just a set of relationships


Learning to Teach Better

We expect our students to Learn how to think differently

(deconstruct/reconstruct) Learn how to be effective students

What can they expect from us? Adopt our teaching strategies to changing

realities Accommodate diversity


Parting Suggestion

Create a community of practice around multicultural teaching and learning

Assess the situation Look at available data Visit each other’s classes, looking for “multiculturalism

opportunities” Talk to students outside class

Come up with some ideas for interventions Try them; test them Write it up for presentation, publication, and,

most importantly improvement


How is This Different?

Typical Centers for Teaching and Learning focus on individual faculty development/improvement

CofP approach represents mutual engagement Inherently multi-disciplinary and multicultural Can promote buy-in among broader base


Local or Global

Might Purdue Calumet adopt multicultural teaching and learning as a strategic initiative?

Would it be better to let this grow from the ground up or is it better to have top-down direction?

Is there a hybrid approach that fosters local organization with leadership support and incentive?


Closing Quotes from Ted Marchese

Good teachers, like "reflective practitioners" in other professions, constantly test, adjust, and reframe their models of practice on the basis of experience and reflection.

Assessment is a process in which rich, usable, credible feedback from an act -- of teaching or curriculum -- comes to be reflected upon by an academic community, and then is acted on by that community -- a department or college -- within its commitment to get smarter and better at what it does.

http://www.newhorizons.org/lifelong/higher_ed/marchese.htm

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