UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 20, Page 1
February 20, 1992
Multicultural courses aid understanding

     The importance of diversity in all areas of life from business
to education has resulted in courses designed to present
multicultural perspectives at colleges and universities across the
country. Some institutions, such as the University of Delaware,
have made such courses a requirement for graduation.
     (All bachelor's degree students at the University are required
to take three credits in "an approved course or courses stressing
multicultural, ethnic and/or gender related content," according to
the Undergraduate Catalog.) But apparently, the evaluation of such
courses is not so widespread-until now.
     "Of those institutions with a multicultural requirement, we
have not been able to find one that has systematically evaluated
its multicultural requirement for graduation," Judy Bailey,
associate director of the University's Center for Teaching
Effectiveness, said.
     An exploratory survey recently completed at the University of
Delaware forms the first stage for such an evaluation effort and
also gives an early indication that such courses are providing new
information to students on multicultural issues and attitudes.
     The project began last spring after meetings between
University President David P. Roselle and concerned students. As a
result, the Center for Teaching Effectiveness developed a pilot
survey in an attempt to validate an instrument that could be used
in multicultural courses.
     The survey, which was conducted in May 1991, involved 11
courses randomly selected from that semester's list of 78 courses
approved by the Faculty Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies
to meet the multicultural requirement. Faculty in these courses
agreed to have their students surveyed.
     The 11 courses, from three colleges and 10 departments, had an
enrollment of 495.
     Students who took the survey were asked 22 multiple choice
items, such as "As a result of taking this course, I have a better
understanding of other cultures or points of view which are
different from my own: strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor
disagree, disagree or strongly disagree" and eight open-ended items
asking questions such as "What did you learn in this course that
was really NEW and which added to your understanding of other
peoples?" and "How has the course met your expectations?"
     Faculty for those courses completed a parallel survey.
     Of all those surveyed, 361 (74 percent) student surveys were
included in the final results, and 8 (73 percent) of 11 faculty
surveys were returned.
     According to the students responding:

*    83 percent indicated that they had a better
understanding of other cultures or points of view as a
result of taking the course;
*    98 percent said they were treated respectfully in the
course, regardless of their race or gender;
*    94 percent responded that they could freely express
views that were different from the professor or other
students;
*    89 percent found the approaches used to teach the
courses successful in representing different perspectives;
*    91 percent said the professor was committed to help
them learn about other people's points of view;
*    79 percent said they would recommend it as a
multicultural course to friends; and
*    86 percent said the course met the "40 percent or
more" criterion for content in the area of race/ethnic or
non-Western European perspectives.

     In the short answer section, the majority of students said
that the course met or exceeded their expectations, and generally
they said they were broadened by the experience.
     The survey is a good first step. "Our results are
encouraging," Bailey said, "and we have identified some items that
people can use either to evaluate multicultural courses or to
examine the multicultural content of courses that are included in
the official listing.
     "Student ratings are one valuable piece of information that
along with many other sources can help provide meaningful
evaluation of teaching, " she said. "Ultimately, we would like to
establish a clear and measurable definition of the intent and
characteristics of multicultural courses and design a longer-term
study to generate an evaluation tool that could be used in all
courses to provide feedback on multicultural content."
     A report of the exploratory survey has been sent to the
Commission to Promote Racial and Cultural Diversity and to the
associate provost for academic affairs.
     In addition, all deans and department chairpersons have
received the report, along with a list of recommended items for use
in evaluation at their own discretion.