Faculty Support Awards-->2003-2004 Winner
Dr. Linda Faye Williams
DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM: A CASE STUDY OF CORE SOCIAL SCIENCE COURSES AT UMCP
Dr. Linda Faye Williams is studying the extent to which curriculum and pedagogy in core courses in the social sciences at UMCP promote "a more welcoming and inclusive campus community for all." The main purpose of the project is to study the extent to which difference is valued in curriculum and pedagogy in core courses in the social sciences at the University of Maryland. In particular the project compares and contrasts the inclusion of diversity themes in "distributive studies" (defined as courses "intended to lay the foundation of a social education") and "human cultural diversity courses" (defined as courses "intended to broaden your perspective...by exposing you to gender, ethnic, racial and cultural differences") in Fall 2003.
The general proposition of the project is that diversity-specific courses are not enough; broader distributive studies courses, taken by far more students, must become part of the mix IF diversity efforts in curriculum and pedagogy are to be advanced. Through using a mixed methodology--surveys of faculty and students; purposive interviews of faculty; focus groups of faculty and students, aggregate data analysis, and quantitative and qualitative content analyses of syllabi, the project seeks to answer the following questions in regards to offerings in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.
- How do our curriculum and pedagogy in core social science courses show we value difference?
- How well do our core distributive studies courses incorporate diversity themes in particular?
- What is the best way to incorporate diversity themes in distributive studies courses?
- Where are the curricular and pedagogical models for promoting diversity efforts found?
- Does the race, ethnicity, age, gender, etc. of the professor and/or the content-focus of the course have an effect upon student receipt of diversity themes?
BSOS was chosen as a case study because of the importance of the social sciences in focusing on societal problems and finding solutions to them, and yet the relative paucity of diversity core offerings in BSOS when compared to the College of Arts and Humanities (COAH). In conducting the study, the hope is to contribute to addressing one of the recommendations of the 2000 President's Diversity Panel, that is to: "[e]nhance the curriculum for diversity by initiating a collaborative review of the existing curriculum diversity initiatives; by encouraging development of courses that expand acceptance, and enhance understanding of the value of diversity...[and] to encourage students to learn better how to live in a diverse society."
Initial findings of the study include the following:
A substantial majority of diversity courses in BSOS are not taught by full-time BSOS faculty. Sixty five core courses listed under BSOS in the Fall 2003 semester were studied.. Of these 15 were core diversity courses and the rest were distributive core courses.. Significantly of the total number of core diversity courses, only four were taught by staff actually affiliated with departments in BSOS; the remaining 11 were taught by staff affiliated with other colleges (mainly COAH, followed by Education). While in general a large proportion of core courses across-the-board in BSOS are taught by non-full-time faculty (45 percent), diversity courses were disproportionately likely to be taught by staff who are not full-time faculty (73 percent). Although probably the mainly graduate assistants teaching diversity courses do an excellent job, nonetheless it is telling that full-time faculty are either not electing nor being assigned to teach diversity courses in BSOS.
With, not surprisingly, the exception of Afro-American Studies (AASP) distributive core courses, there is little to nothing in the vast majority of non-diversity core courses that focuses on inclusiveness or diversity as themes. Neither reading assignments, lecture/class discussion topics, nor invited speakers demonstrate a concern with diversity: Books and/or articles written by authors from diverse backgrounds are not included in more than 90 percent of the formal curricula of core distributive courses; there are virtually no guest speakers with diverse backgrounds who might serve as role models for students with similar backgrounds. In sum, there is little evidence that the professor made an explicit attempt to include diversity themes such as class, race, and gender in the curriculum; indeed from the assessment of syllabi, many core diversity courses in the social sciences are not much more directed toward inclusiveness. Further, regarding diversity core courses, it is important to note that the diversity theme and inclusiveness is much more likely to appear and be developed (at least in a single unit) when they are taught by full-time professors in general and especially when professors are women and/or racial minorities. When diversity themes were covered in core distributive courses, women, racial minorities, and classes were about equally as likely to be covered, but only in two instances were all these sources of diversity covered.
Some faculty, however, report that their syllabi are not reflective of their coverage of issues of diversity. These issues, they report, come up in some sections although the titles of these sections may not indicate it. In addition, many faculty report that students bring their own experience/background to discussions as well as through their assigned research.
Introduction to Sociology, Section 701 came closest to a role model for the inclusive syllabus in Fall 2003. This professor (a graduate student) used literature from a wide range of sources including authors with diverse perspectives and demographic backgrounds; provided time for specific diversity themes to be developed in the context of both long-standing theories and wide-ranging methodological approaches; and encouraged students to consider difference as part of both scholarly and real world debates. The course provided choice in homework assignments that allowed students to go beyond the class and study what was important to them, and students reported that the professor took seriously her responsibility to mentor all students, but especially those with a history of past discrimination.
Future research in the project will focus on identification of "best practices" and other information useful to furthering faculty efforts to promote diversity--as developed from focus groups and surveys of students and faculty.
