Students in EDU 230 questioned the extent to which discrimination exists at EMCC. They unanimously suggested this should be investigated. The author facilitated the process which included: survey creation, research into discrimination on college campuses, applying for Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval (and receiving it), and applying for the Student Conference (coincidentally about a month from the start of the project) and being accepted. Students went through ethical research (CITI) training. The completed survey was submitted to OPIE to be converted into an analysis-friendly copy. Students disseminated the survey, and 543 respondents contributed. Files attached: "Narrative of Process" explains the entire process from a teacher's perspective; "Discrimination at EMCC: Real or Imagined" are the results of the survey as reported by OPIE; and "Discrimination at EMCC" is the Ppt presented at the student conference.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| narrative-process.docx | 17.66 KB |
| discrimination-emccreal-or-imaginededu230-cultural-diversity-survey.pdf | 314.97 KB |
| discrimination-emcc-arrows-horizontal.pptx | 2.23 MB |
Comments
This was one of those "teachable moments" when students initiate a new direction. The final lesson I learned from this experience was this: engaging and immersing students in the research process for a legitimate cause is the highest form of education, for they learn from their research, and from each other. In effect, they were taught how to teach themselves. Isn’t that the ultimate goal of any teacher, at any level?
In reply to This was one of those teachable moments when students by Peter Turner
What do you think was the most surprising moment for the students?
Also, do you think a similar project down the road could be assessed with SAAC's Scientific Inquiry assessment?
The final lesson I learned was this: engaging and immersing students in the research process for a legitimate cause is the highest form of education, for they learn from their research, and from each other. In effect, they were taught how to teach themselves. Isn’t that the ultimate goal of any teacher, at any level?
Erik - I absolutely believe this could have been assessed with the Scientific Inquiry Assessment. As far as the most surprising moment for the students, the statistic that 64% of the respondents indicated that the quality of education at Estrella as been negatively influenced by discrimination really surprised them (and me!).
What a great student project! This would be a great project to incorporate with the social, civic and global responsilibity assessment. Thanks for sharing with us! It has inspired me to do a similar project in a future course, perhaps with my honors cohort.
Hi Pete, This is a very interesting research project. It is so important to encourage students to engage in a critical examination of their world, and to practice a bit of self-examination in the process. I especially appreciate that you presented the results in a variety of formats. I am assigning more "out side the classroom" research projects myself and this presents an excellent model.
This is an exceptional project, Pete, not only for what your students discovered through their research but for their initiative and follow through in completing it. I especially liked the Processing Project slide in the attached slide show, which states that most of the observed discrimination is student to student, a fact that could be easily overlooked in the data. The group then suggests activities to promote awareness and inclusiveness among students in particular. That is closing the loop in a big way!
Pete- What an amazing example of a teachable moment. I am always pushing my students to think critically about research. This experience allowed your students to immerse themselves in it. Wonderful!