Dialogues

1
Dialogues In Diversity Forum 1 Conversations
with faculty, chairs, departments, and deans
Materials developed by Connie Schroeder, Ph.D.,
Assistant Director The Center for Instructional
and Professional Development (CIPD) in
consultation with The Task Force on the Status
of Women Implementation Team Curriculum With
significant contributions by Jeffrey Merrick,
Professor - History Mark Harris, Associate Dean,
Professor - Geosciences Karen Brucks, Associate
Professor - Mathematics Prasenjit Guptasarma,
Assistant Professor - Physics Pauli Taylorboyd,
Multicultural Center Kathy Miller-Dillon,
Assistant Director - Center for Womens
Studies Leslie Vansen, Professor Visual Art
Margaret Duncan, Professor Human Kinetics
2
Forum Discussions

• Forum 1 Students
• Forum 2 Teacher Identity and Experience Forum
  3 Teaching Methods
• Forum 4 Course Content
• Forum 5 Field and Discipline

3
Dialogues in Diversity Forum Template

• Introduction - provocative facts, myths and
  assumptions through relevant studies and findings
  (national and institutional), and disciplinary
  contexts when available
• Small group Discussions - Exploration of common
  and unique individual experiences
• Orienting Activities
• Large Group - highlights of discussions
• Implications for Students
• Implications for teaching, self as instructor,
  and department/unit/field

4
What DiD Is Not

• Models and tips for courses whose content is
  primarily focused on multicultural awareness.
• Strategies for diffusing and managing classroom
  clashes, conflict and derogatory statements in
  class. (References provided).

5
Conceptual FrameworkFour Dynamics of Diversity
in Teaching and Learning
Students
Course Content
Teaching Methods
Instructor
Marchesani and Adams (1992)
6
The Problem of Alienation

• Alienation, lack of involvement, marginalization,
  overt racism, insensitivity, sexual harassment,
  and discrimination tend to characterize the
  campus experience, the classroom, and the
  curriculum for students who are different. Such
  students feel like outsiders, or a stranger in a
  strange land (Beckham, l988, p. 74).
• Smith, D. The Challenge of Diversity Alienation
  from the academy and its implications for
  faculty. http//www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/diversit
  y.html

7
Implications for Students

• can result in students feeling
• Isolation
• Hyper-sensitivity
• Exclusion
• From meaningful intellectual experiences and
  academic success.
• (Marchesani and Adams, 1992)

8
Inclusive Classrooms

• Inclusive classrooms are classrooms in which
  instructors and students work together to create
  and sustain an environment in which everyone
  feels safe, supported, and encouraged to express
  her or his views and concerns.
• the content is explicitly viewed from the
  multiple perspectives and varied experiences of a
  range of groups. Content is presented in a manner
  that reduces students experiences of
  marginalization and, whenever possible, helps
  students understand that individuals
  experiences, values, and perspectives influence
  how they construct knowledge in any field or
  discipline.
• Saunders, S. Kardia, D.

9
Inclusive Classrooms

• Instructorsuse a variety of teaching methods in
  order to facilitate the academic achievement of
  all students. Inclusive classrooms are places in
  which thoughtfulness, mutual respect, and
  academic excellence are valued and promoted.
  Instructors strive to be responsive to students
  on both an individual level and a cultural level.
• Saunders, S. Kardia, D.

10
Institutional Role

• Historicallysuccess or failure was attributed to
  characteristics of the students. The result is
  that responsibility for success is defined in
  terms of the individual.
• Extensive literature now exists suggesting that
  the issues facing many students go beyond their
  individual or group backgrounds.
• Smith, D. The Challenge of Diversity
• Alienation from the academy and its implications
  for faculty.http//www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/diver
  sity.html

11
Institutional Shift

• The basic conceptual framework must shift from
  one of only assisting or accommodating those who
  are different so that they can survive in an
  alien world, to a broadened focus on the college
  or university and what it does to promote
  successful education.
• Smith, D. The Challenge of Diversity Alienation
  from the academy and its implications for
  faculty.http//www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/diversity
  .html

12
Implications of Diversity

• The challenge of diversity is not new to higher
  education, having been faced in one form or
  another by this country since its inception.
• The successful involvement of diverse populations
  in higher education has significant implications
  for education in general and for the nation.
• Smith, D. The Challenge of Diversity Alienation
  from the academy and its implications for
  faculty.http//www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/diversity
  .html

13
Patricia Gurin, Expert Testimony for U. of
Michigans Affirmative Action Suit

• Learning Outcome Effects
• Based on three studies of the college experience
  
• CIRP (9,316 students)
• Michigan Student Survey (1,321 students)
• Michigans Intergroup Relations, Conflict, and
  Community Program
• For time periods spanning college attendance for
  four years and sustained effects five years after
  college
• It is the quality of cross-racial
  interaction-more influential than classroom
  diversity
• Gurin, P. Expert Testimony in Gratz et al. v.
  Bollinger et al. Michigan Journal of Race Law
  5 363-425. University of Michigan.
  http//umich.edu/urel/admissions/legal/expert/mod
  el.html

14
Types of Diversity

• Structural
• The degree to which students of color are
  represented in the student body of a college.
• Classroom diversity
• Incorporation of knowledge about diverse
  groups into the curriculum that colleges and
  universities present to this more diverse array
  of students.
• Informal interactional diversity
• The opportunity to interact with students
  from diverse backgrounds in the broad, campus
  environment.
• Gurin, P.

15
Learning Outcomes
Classroom Diversity
Structural Diversity The degree to which
students of color are represented in the
student body of a college

Democratic Outcomes
Informal Interactional Diversity

16
Structural Diversity alone

• For new learning to occur, institutions must make
  use of structural diversity.
• Formal classroom activities and interaction with
  diverse peersmust prompt students to think in
  pluralistic and diverse ways
• Otherwise, many students will retreat from the
  opportunities offered by a diverse campus to find
  settings within their institutions that are
  familiar and that replicate their home
  environments.
• Gurin, P.

17
Negative Effects

• Structural Diversity alone can result in
• Lower achievement
• Close-minded rejection of new information
• Increased egocentrism
• Negative relationships characterized by
• Hostility
• Rejection
• Divisiveness
• Scapegoating
• Bullying
• Stereotyping
• Prejudice
• Racism
• Johnson Johnson, l989

18
Impact of Diversity

• Classroom and informal diversity are part of an
  interconnected diversity experience that
  structural diversity fosters, and both are
  critical to the impact of college diversity on
  enhanced learning and preparing to participate in
  a democratic society.
• Gurin, P.

19
Interaction with Diversity in the Classroom
Learning and Democracy Outcomes

• Evidence
• Students who had the most exposure to diversity
  in classes, as compared with the least classroom
  diversity, were more
• Growth in active thinking processes
• Learning of a broad range of intellectual and
  academic skills
• Engaged with the intellectual and academic skills
• Value placed on these skills in the post-college
  years
• Intellectually engaged and motivated
• Engaged in citizenship in the post-college world
• This was also true of students who had the
  most interaction with diverse peers outside of
  the classroom, as compared with those who had the
  least informal interactional diversity
  experience. (See graph handouts)
• Gurin, P.

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Learning Outcome Variables

• Learning Outcome categories
• Growth in active thinking processes that reflect
  a more complex, less automatic mode of thought
• According to extensive research in social
  psychology, much thought is actually the
  automatic result of previously learned routines
  most people do not employ effortful and conscious
  modes of thought very often.
• Gurin, P. Investing in People Developing
  all of Americas talent on campus and in the
  workplace. Business-Higher Education Forum.

21
Effect Complex Thinking

• occurs when people encounter a novel situation
  for which, by definition, they have no script, or
  when the environment demands more than their
  current scripts provide. Racial diversity in a
  college or university student body provides the
  very features that research has determined are
  central to producing the conscious model of
  thought educators demand from their students.
• Gurin, P.
• More open to challenge in their discussions.
• Pascarella, et al.

22
Democracy Outcome Variables

• Democracy outcome categories
• Citizenship engagement
• Racial/cultural engagement
• Compatibility of differences
• Gurin, P.

23
Effects of Diversity Experiences on Democracy
Outcomes

• Findings
• Positive influence 9 years after college entry
• Depends on quality and quantity of interactions
• Classroom diversity is associated with every form
  of citizenship engagement and racial/cultural
  engagement
• Gurin, P.

24
Effects Democratic Participation

• Evidence Benefits to a democratic society
• Encountering a range of racial, ethnic, an
  cultural perspectives on campus enhances
  students preparation for full participation in a
  diverse, democratic society. Such students are
  more likely
• Contribute to community and volunteer efforts
• Become active in politics
• Demonstrate more cultural awareness
• Participate more often in activities that promote
  racial understanding

25

• Forum 1 Your Students

26
Four Dynamics of Diversity in Teaching and
Learning
A framework
Students
Course Content
Teaching Methods
Instructor
Marchesani and Adams (1992)
27
Forum 1 Goals

• Recognize students arent all the same
• Recognize students differ from me
• Increase awareness of four dynamics of diversity
  in any given learning environment
• Reaffirm my commitment to broader student access
  and success
• Recognize the factual data indicating
  under-representation of women and diverse groups
  in our fields
• Reaffirm the belief and embrace the research
  indicating that we can change these numbers
• Identify one or two strategies to implement in
  the intentional design of my courses to increase
  student access and success

28
Patricia Gurin, Expert Testimony for U. of
Michigans Affirmative Action Suit

• Learning Outcome Effects
• Based on three studies of the college experience
  
• CIRP (9,316 students)
• Michigan Student Survey (1,321 students)
• Michigans Intergroup Relations, Conflict, and
  Community Program
• For time periods spanning college attendance for
  four years and sustained effects five years after
  college
• It is the quality of cross-racial
  interaction-more influential than classroom
  diversity
• Gurin, P.

29

• Forum 1 -Your Students
• Small Group Discussion
• Are your students the same as those with whom you
  went to school? How are they different?
• In what ways are students different from one
  another?
• How do your students affect how or what you
  teach? How do your students learn best?
• What have students told us they need in order to
  succeed?
• What would they change in the classroom?
• Who benefits from your efforts to be inclusive?

30
The college students of today are different from
the college students of yesterday
Changing Student Enrollment Women, Students of
Color, Older students
31
Structural Diversity Facts

• By l995 women full professors in the science and
  technology fields had not yet reached 10. (p.
  70). Yet, the percentage of Ph.Ds awarded to
  women has been at or above 25 for three decades.

Thom, Mary. (2001). Balancing the Equation
Where are women and girls in science,
engineering and technology? The National
Council for Research on W omen New York.
32
Structural Diversity Facts

• Women are 46 of the work force but only 23 of
  its scientists and engineers. (NSF, 2000 51), p.
  23.)
• Older student enrollments have steadily increased
  to the point where they represented 42.2 of all
  students enrolled in l996.
• In 1996, students of color constituted 25.2 of
  total enrollments compared to 17.9 in l986.
• Thom, Mary. (2001). Balancing the Equation
  Where are women and girls in science,
  engineering and technology? The National
  Council for Research on W omen New York.
• It is estimated that 9.0 of all students in 1994
  had some disability.
• Upcraft, M. Lee Stephens, P. Teaching and
  Todays Changing First-Year Students.

33
Completion of Bachelors Degree

• Year 2000
• 28 of whites
• lt17 of African Americans
• 11 of Hispanics
• Investing in People Developing all of Americas
  talent on campus and in the workplace.
  Business-Higher Education Forum.

34
What do the numbers tell us?

• African-American and Hispanics accounted for only
  6 and 4 of all degrees in engineering.
• -Investing in People Developing all of
  Americas talent on campus and in the workplace.
  Business-Higher Education Forum.

35
Attrition of Women from Science

• A higher percentage of women leave science during
  the undergraduate years.
• (NSF, April, 1989. Siebert, l992. NRC, l991).
• False Assumption
• Students who leave the sciences lack abilities or
  attributes.
• Many student who leave the sciences are
  intelligent and strongly motivated, but are
  discouraged by the competitive atmosphere
• Over one third of the students switching out of a
  science, math or engineering field indicated that
  one of their primary reasons for leaving was that
  their morale was undermined by the competitive
  culture
• (Seymour, l993).

36
Women and Self-appraisal

• Between 70 and 80 of females who switched out
  of the science track felt discouraged and
  suffered a loss of self-esteem even though their
  grades were the same as those of men (Seymour,
  l993).
• Women in our society are more likely to cite
  their own inadequacy as the source of difficulty
  when encountering problems whereas men tend
  to place responsibility on the examination as a
  poor judge
• Women are more likely to believe they are
  unintelligent when they receive just one bad exam
  grade and are in general less confident of their
  performanceThey make important decisions, such
  as the decision to change majors, based on their
  an inaccurate appraisal of their performance or
  an insufficient amount of data (Ware et al,
  l985).

37
Is assimilation expected of some?

• Being assimilated into the prevailing culture of
  science is an integrative process for men, in
  which they have to adapt in some ways, but they
  face no challenge to their identity as men in our
  society. For many women, the experience of
  entering and assimilating into the scientific
  culture challenges their core sense of self
  (Hoffman-Kim 1999107-108), p. 69.
• Thom, Mary. (2001). Balancing the Equation
  Where are women and girls in science,engineering
  and technology? The National Council for Research
  on Women New York.

38
Classroom Patterns

• In bringing men and women together in the
  classroom, it is women who are asked to
  compromise and change their style.
• Male-female conversations are more like male
  conversations.
• Male students, who like to evaluate and debate
  ideas, are more likely to feel comfortable
  attacking readings and ideas, which is often the
  main activity of a discussion section. Males hold
  the floor longer than women and shape the agenda
  of the discussion
• Women are much more likely to be interrupted.
• Women often will not attempt to speak again.
• Womens comments may be dismissed by the
  instructor if phrased more hesitantly.
• -Romano, R. (1994). Gender Issues in
  Teaching Does Nurturing Academic Success in
  Women Mean Rethinking Some of what We Do in the
  Classroom?

39
Example Assumptions about Class

• Assumptions based on white-middle class reality
• Im sure all of your parents have read this

40
Write several paragraphs about this key
Orienting Activity

• What did you write about?
• How is what you wrote different than what others
  wrote?

41
Students differ, as we do, in their learning
preferences

• How we take in information and experiences
• How we process information and experiences
• How we express or produce output of this
  information and experiences

42
Engaging Students

• Teach me my most difficult concepts in my
  preferred style. Let me explore my easiest
  concepts in a different style. Just dont teach
  me all the time in your preferred style and think
  Im not capable of learning.
• Virleen Carlson, Center for Teaching and
  Learning,
• Cornell University.

43
Multiple Measures, Indicators, Inventories,
Surveys, Instruments, Theories

• Learning Styles and Preferences
• VARK Visual, Aural, Read/Write, Kinesthetic
• http//www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp
• Myers-Briggs Personality Types
• Felder Learning Styles Inventory
• Learning Processing
• Kolb Experiential Learning Cycle

44
VARK

• How you like information to come to you
• How you like to deliver communication

45
Strategies by Type

• Visual
• Use Diagrams, graphs, symbols, flow charts
• Colors
• Use gestures
• Use picturesque language

46
Aural
Storytelling Allow students to tell each other
about their understanding Explain, describe -
Voice-over ppt. Interviewing Observing/listening L
ecture Group Discussion/Large Group
Discussion Online Discussion Debate Role-playing A
ttend events
47
Read/Write

• Write out statements, handouts
• Turn diagrams, charts, graphs into words
• Writing exercises, reading activities,
  narratives, logs.
• Journals, stories

48
Kinesthetic

• Sensory questions How would it feel?
• Design hands on involvement
• Use pictures and photographs
• Recall the experience with them, ask them to
  recall experiences in detail
• How do you think it would feel to. Imagine that
  you are(role-playing in their seats)
• Simulate the experience with your body, ask them
  to imagine the experience themselves
• Engage their senses!! ALL senses!
• Invite them to move
• Actually role-play (simulate)
• Move your body through the scenario as if
  role-playing

49
Multi-modal 50-70

• Prefer to use more than one mode for
• learning and communicating.

50
Large Group Discussion What is our VARK Profile?

• Visual?
• Aural/Auditory?
• Read/Write?
• Kinesthetic?
• Multi-modal

VARK
51
You are about to learn to use a new program on a
computer. I would
VARK Inventory Sample Question

• sit down at the keyboard and experiment with the
  program. Kinesthetic
• read the manual that came with the program.
  Read/Write
• telephone or text a friend and ask questions
  about the program. Aural

52
A new movie has arrived in town. What would most
influence your decision to go (or not go)?
VARK Inventory Sample Question

• I heard a review about it on the radio.Aural
• I read a review about it. Read/Write
• I saw a preview of it. Visual

53
Apart from the price, what would most influence
your decision to buy a particular textbook?
VARK Inventory Sample Question

• I have used a copy before. kinesthetic
• A friend talking about it. aural
• Quickly reading parts of it. read/write
• The way it looks is appealing. visual

54
Recall a time in your life when you learned how
to do something like playing a new board game.
Try to avoid choosing a very physical skill, e.g.
riding a bike. I learnt best by
VARK Inventory Sample Question

• visual clues -- pictures, diagrams and charts.
  visual
• written instructions. read/write
• listening to somebody explaining it. aural
• doing it or trying it. kinesthetic

55
You are about to purchase a new CD player. Other
than price, what would most influence your
decision?
VARK Inventory Sample Question

• the salesperson telling you what you want to
  know.
• reading the details about it.
• playing with the controls and listening to it.
• it looks really smart and fashionable.

56
What are the implications of your learning style
on your teaching?What are the implications of
your learning style for your students?
Small Group Dialogue
57
Create and discuss a possible opening activity
or assignment for students in your course based
on your preferred type

• Visual
• Aural
• Read/Write
• Kinesthetic
• Multi-modal

VARK
58
Evoking the Types

• What do you see when you hear the word chemistry?
• What comes to mind when you hear the word
  physics?
• What do you picture when you hear the word
  genetics? How do you feel?
• Together with your partner, can you diagram the
  process of?
• Discuss each step of the lab process, one person
  in your group being responsible for describing
  one step and why it was done.
• Without using your notes, summarize the key
  concept we just discussed for the person sitting
  next to you.

VARK
59
Evocative Visuals

• What do you see?
• Whats going on here?
• What do you think
• it means?

The unexamined life
60
Kolbs Experiential Learning Cycle CONCRETE
Concrete Experience
Reflective Observation
Active Experimentation
ABSTRACT
ACTIVE Abstract Conceptualization
REFLECTIVE
Connie Schroeder, Ph.D. Assistant Director,
CIPD University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
61
One Instructors Struggle

• Ive read about different learning styles, but I
  have 150 students. How can I adjust my teaching
  methods for all the different learning styles in
  my class?
• -Inclusive Teaching What Excludes Students?
• Teaching in ways that favor particular
• backgrounds or approaches to learning.

62
Kolbs Experiential Learning Cycle
Concrete Experience Experiencing
Reflective Observation Examining
Active Experimentation Applying
Abstract Conceptualization Explaining
Connie Schroeder, Ph.D. Assistant Director,
CIPD University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
63
Learning Activity Examples
Concrete Experience Laboratories Observations Prim
ary Text Reading Simulations/games Field work
VARK
Active Experimentation Reflective
Observation Simulations
Logs Case Study

Journals
Laboratory

Discussion Field Work

Brainstorming Projects

Thought Questions
Abstract Conceptualization Lecture Papers Model
Building Analogies Projects
VARK
VARK
VARK
Connie Schroeder, Ph.D. Assistant Director,
CIPD University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
64
Kolbs Experiential Learning Cycle
Active!
Active!
Concrete Experience Experiencing
VARK
VARK
Reflective Observation Examining
Active Experimentation Applying
passive
Abstract Conceptualization Explaining
Active!
Active!
VARK
VARK
Connie Schroeder, Ph.D. Assistant Director,
CIPD University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
65
Creating a Concrete Learning Experience

• In your group, agree on one idea or concept for
  which you could design a concrete learning
  experience for
• Visual students
• Aural students
• Read/Write Students
• Kinesthetic Students
• Multi-modal Students

66
Creating a Reflective Learning Experience

• In your group, agree on one idea or concept for
  which you could design a reflective learning
  experience in five different ways in order to
  engage each of the student learning styles
• Visual students
• Aural students
• Read/Write Students
• Kinesthetic Students
• Multi-modal Students

67
Creating an Abstract Learning Experience

• In your group, agree on one idea or concept for
  which you could design a abstract learning
  experience in five different ways in order to
  engage each of the student learning styles
• Visual students
• Aural students
• Read/Write Students
• Kinesthetic Students
• Multi-modal Students

68
Creating an Experimentation Learning Experience

• In your group, agree on one idea or concept for
  which you could design an experimentation/
  application learning experience in five different
  ways in order to engage each of the student
  learning styles
• Visual students
• Aural students
• Read/Write Students
• Kinesthetic Students
• Multi-modal Students

69
Felders Online Learning Styles Inventory
http//www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.htm
l
Active Reflective Sensory Intuitive Visual
Verbal Sequential Global Richard M.
Felder Dept. of Chemical Engineering South
Carolina State University
70
Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory
E Extrovert I Introvert S Sensing
N Intuitive T Thinking F Feeling J Judging
P Perceiving 16 Types
71
Two Dimensions indicate learning
patterns Extroversion/Introversion --Whether a
person prefers to direct attention toward the
external world or people and things or toward the
inner world of concepts an ideas Sensing/Intuitive
--Whether a person prefers perceiving the world
through directly observing the surrounding
tangible reality or through impressions and
imagining possibilities
72
Faculty vs. Students
Faculty Students 75 Intuitive (N) 40
Intuitive (N) 60 Sensing (S) Schroeder,
Charles
Perhaps the greatest contributions we can make
to student learning is recognizing and affirming
the paths that are different from our own.
73

• Intuitives (40)
• Global learners, big picture types, prefer to
  focus their perceptions on imaginative
  possibilities rather than on concrete realities
  love the world of concepts, ideas, and
  abstractions.
• Path to excellence is theory to practice,
  open-ended instructions
• vs. highly structured
• High autonomy
• Value knowledge for its own sake
• Not uncomfortable with diversity
• Most similar to faculty characteristics
• Primary reason for attending the university was
  to become
• accomplished in the performing arts
  contribute to scientific
• theory develop a philosophy of life write
  original works or
• create artistic works. Schroeder, C.
  (1993, September, October). New Students,
  New Learning Styles. Change

74

• ES (extroverted/sensing)
• Dominant pattern in schools of business, nursing
  and allied health
• Sensing (60)
• Preference for direct, concrete experiences,
  moderate to high
• degrees of structure linear, sequential
  learning need to know
• why before doing something
• Often lack confidence in intellectual abilities
• Uncomfortable with abstract ideas
• Low tolerance for ambiguity
• Less independent in thought
• More dependent on immediate gratification
• Path to excellence is practice-to-theory route
• Primary reason for attending the university was
  to be well-off
• financially and to have administrative
  responsibility

75
SAT Scores (Mean) ES 932 IN 1110 (significant)
(consistent on all standardized time aptitude
measures GRE, MAT, MCAT, LSAT, etc.) Sensing
students take longer to read questions, often go
over them several times. Questioned if sensing
can be measured by paper and pen instruments and
maybe at disadvantage in timed examination. First
-year Academic Performance ES Lowest Grades
IN Highest grades Core curriculum courses are
very challenging for ES learners as they often
have little practical utility and see little
relationships between courses and their majors.
76
Why do we need diversity?Why do we need to
change?

• What new or renewed awareness do I want to
  maintain?
• What strategy or change do I want to incorporate
  into my course and classroom?