Core objective #10: Diversity & equity
Objective: Advanced areas of focused inquiry
Brief description of learning objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of diversity through courses that focus on topics including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, physical ability, language, and/or social class with an emphasis on equity. Students will learn and apply critical approaches and/or methods to analyze diversity and equity, as well as examine social barriers to their promotion.
Standards or Requirements for Verification
Within the context of the Core requirements at the University, Diversity refers to an understanding of cultural difference as influenced by social identities such as race, ethnicity, gender, social class, national origin, and other socially constructed categories. Equity refers to efforts to enhance societal fairness while valuing those differences. Courses addressing this objective may examine various topics, such as the historical or contemporary experiences of particular groups of people; the origins and application of ideas about difference; theories of racial or gender oppression; and efforts to improve the living conditions or treatment of marginalized groups. Where appropriate, majors are encouraged to develop this objective within their courses, and if possible to integrate this objective into the Core Capstone course.
This Core Objective will typically be satisfied with a single course that devotes at least 1 credit of student effort (e.g., 15 hours of instruction) to this objective, or that has prerequisite courses that cumulatively devote sufficient attention to the objective.
Courses or sequences satisfying this Core Objective should:
- Include the Core Objective, together with its brief description, on the course syllabus in its original form.
- Include 1 or more student learning outcomes addressing this Core Objective on the course syllabus, along with other student learning outcomes appropriate to the course.
- Identify in the course syllabus the teaching techniques and student experiences that will help students acquire the competencies described in the Core Objective.
- Assess whether students have acquired the competency described in the student learning outcomes and use methods for collecting and analyzing data that can be reported to the Core Curriculum Board.
Capstone courses that integrate CO10 should include among their student learning outcomes some that specify, advance, or broaden this Core Objective.
Some examples of approved student learning outcomes and assessment methods are listed later in this document. Faculty may incorporate 1 or more of the examples from this list or propose their own student learning outcomes and methods of teaching and assessing the objective.
Suggested student learning outcomes and assessment methods
Faculty may incorporate one or more of the examples from this list or propose their own student learning outcomes and methods of assessing the objective.
Students will develop a set of cognitive, affective, and behavioral skills and characteristics that support effective and appropriate attentiveness to and analysis of diversity and equity.
Courses that satisfy CO10 and Capstones that integrate it may include such SLOs as the following, as appropriate for the level and intent of the course:
Students will be able to:
- identify the complex elements important to members of a diverse cultural group or groups in relation to its/their history, values, politics, economy, or beliefs and practices
- use models and theories of cultural difference to investigate topics in diversity and equity
- select and apply appropriate methods of inquiry to analyze complex questions about cultural difference and/or equity
- describe the perceptions, viewpoints, or life experiences of people in at least 1 society or culture outside of the United States or in non-dominant or marginalized groups within the United States
- articulate an awareness of some of the central historical and present diversity issues addressed in the course, including race, ethnicity, gender, social class, religion, sexual identity, ability, national origin, or other identities
- demonstrate knowledge of the history, customs, worldviews, /or other cultural markers of 1 or more groups of national origin outside of the United States or of minority status within the United States
- analyze and interpret information about cultural differences, cultural rules, and cultural biases in their own society or about non-dominant or marginalized groups
- analyze ways in which cultural groups differ and how such differences position them in relation to one another
- articulate ways in which social identities such as race, class, and gender intersect in order to influence individual life experiences and/or perspectives
- integrate, synthesize, and apply knowledge of other cultures in both focused and broad interdisciplinary contexts.
All courses that are verified as satisfying a Core Objective will be assessed on a regular basis to determine how well students are learning the knowledge and skills described in the objective. Instructors are expected to develop ways of directly measuring student learning (through evaluating the work students produce in the course) and to report these measurements to the Core Board upon request.
Courses satisfying CO10 must also include assessment methods and plans. The following are suggestions for assignments that may generate measurable data for assessment, along with some potential measurement tools:
- shared (standard, program-wide) exam questions that require demonstration of knowledge of the history, customs, worldviews, and/or other cultural markers of 1 or more groups of national origin outside of the United States or of minority status within the United States (multiple-choice questions of this kind might be subjected to item analysis; short written responses might be scored by programmatic raters using a rubric keyed to CO10 SLOs)
- writing assignments that require students to discuss and/or analyze cultural differences, cultural rules, and cultural biases in their own society or outside of the United States or about non-dominant or marginalized groups within the United States (arguments or essays thus generated could be collected and scored against a rubric articulating features for 1 or more CO10 SLOs)
- writing assignments and discussion questions that encourage students to integrate, synthesize, and apply knowledge of 1 or more central diversity issues, including race, ethnicity, gender, social class, religion, sexual identity, ability, national origin, or other identities (reports or essays thus generated could be collected and scored against a rubric articulating features for 1 or more CO10 SLOs)
- oral presentations that critically discuss history, customs, worldviews, and/or other cultural markers of 1 or more groups of national origin outside of the United States or of minority status within the United States (in the context of a live or recorded student performance, these critical analyses might be assessed by 2 or more expert raters using rubrics keyed to the CO10 SLOs).