Diverse Perspectives & Cultures – What We’ve Learned, Where We Go Next

by | Oct 31, 2017 | Academy

Submitted by the Learning Assessment Committee

Did you know?
One of Harper’s five General Education Learning Outcomes is Diverse Perspectives & Cultures: “Examine diverse perspectives and cultures as they relate to the individual, the community, and the global society.” Last spring, the Learning Assessment Committee and its Diverse Perspectives and Cultures Work Group assessed this outcome in a selection of classes, gathering over 500 student artifacts. Student work was assessed on a 4-point scale (4=excellent, 3=good, 2=fair, and 1=poor) in relation to three rubric categories: Assumptions/Biases, Skills, and Knowledge/Use of Evidence. In reviewing the results, the work group determined that the highest quality results were those for assessment Question 1, Assumptions/Biases and Skills:

We are particularly interested in the performance of students with 45+ credit hours earned, in comparison to other groups:

The assessment also included a student feedback question: “To what extent have you addressed/discussed questions similar to the ones on this survey in your classes at Harper?”

What do these results mean? What do we do next?

Based on the results shown above, the Learning Assessment Committee and General Education-Diverse Perspectives and Cultures Work Group have been gathering feedback to inform development of a Diverse Perspectives & Cultures Improvement Plan. The plan will be completed in Spring 2018, implemented in FY2019, and follow-up General Education assessment of this outcome will also be conducted in FY2020.

We’d love to hear from you!

Complete this survey to share your ideas about these results and improving students’ abilities related to Diverse Perspectives & Cultures!

For more information about this assessment and the assessment results, please visit the Diverse Perspectives & Cultures HIP page. Or, learn more about how well students are learning in relation to all five of Harper’s General Education outcomes.

Learn more about the Learning Assessment Committee.