Diversity Enriched Course Process

Intercultural Competence (.pdf): the ability to understand and function effectively across cultures, think and adapt behavior appropriately, and communicate and work with people from different backgrounds. 

Explore:

• Intercultural Knowledge and Competence Value Rubric (.pdf)
• Becoming Interculturally Competent (.pdf)

Faculty Expectations:
In order to teach a DE course, a faculty member should be committed to building their own intercultural competence and teaching with access and inclusion.

ACTION: Need to include at least two of the three — preferably all three — intercultural competency outcomes in course design, outlined below.

NOTE: Outcomes are interconnected, and it is common for one activity or assessment to address multiple outcomes.

Tools:

• critical self-reflection activities (.pdf)
• critical thinking activities

OPTIONAL: Include any or all of the following Intercultural Competence Outcomes.

1. Intercultural outcomes (minimum 2 out of 3)
   1. Cultural Awareness
   2. Non-Judgmental Examination
   3. Critical Thinking
2. Universal Design following that includes accessibility and a minimum of 2 of the following DE elements
   1. Inclusive Syllabus 
   2. Multiple engaging learning and teaching strategies; 
   3. Multiple assessment formats
3. Describe other diversity or intercultural enrichments in the course experience that support diversity enrichment. 

Checklist for designing an inclusive syllabus

• Use inclusive language, gender-neutral language, and is respectful of pronouns
  • Resources: Using gender neutral language in academic writing (.pdf) AND University Gender Equity Policy (regarding pronouns)
• Curriculum content does not discriminate against different cultures, genders, races, ethnicity, life experience, values, etc.
• Contains clear Learning Outcomes or Student Development Outcomes
• Contains a diversity statement
  • Diversity & inclusion syllabus statements
  • Diversity statement examples
• Cognizant of religious holidays and practices
• Contains “class contract”
  •  (i.e. encourages students to develop “rules of engagement” for class conduct, e.g., One speak at a time, critique ideas not people, emphasize reflective listening)
• Provides opportunities for student feedback throughout course
  • Sample Tools
    • Early term feedback survey
    • Mid-term feedback survey
    • Critical incident questionnaire
• Accessibility
  • Examples
    • Use multiple formats
    • Course material accessible to all students (visual subtitles, print, audio, online materials available by screen readers, etc.)
    • Incorporate accessible documents such as Word, Google Docs, accessible PDFs

Resources: 

• https://cei.umn.edu/active-learning
• https://teaching.berkeley.edu/active-learning-strategies

Examples:

• Think-Pair-Share, Muddiest Point, jigsaw, case studies, application activities, compare & contrast perspectives activities, critical reflection opportunities, cooperative and collaborative projects, work groups, study groups, discussion groups, frequent student-teacher interaction, etc.
• Critical reflection strategies to allow students to learn about individual differences and reflect on their own assumptions and beliefs (i.e., journals, five-minute write, etc.)
• High impact practices: service learning, community engagement, panel presentation, internship, study abroad, etc.

Resources:

• Cultural competence assessments (.pdf)
• Types of assessment

Examples:

• Projects, presentations, group assessments, portfolios, papers, rubrics, exhibits, posters, demonstrations, multiple drafts for students to demonstrate learning progress prior to final grading, etc.