Research and Practice on Preparing College Students for a Diverse Democracy Preparing College Students for a Diverse Democracy University of Michigan Funded by OERI, Department of Education Sylvia Hurtado, Shirley Greene, and Mark Kamimura

Session Overview Introduction to the Project Conceptualizing Diversity Research Activities Participating Institutions Small Group Activity Student Outcomes Summary & Final Remarks

Project Goals To learn how colleges are creating diverse learning environments To discover how students are learning from diverse peers To understand and share how different campuses achieve goals for cognitive, social, and democratic outcomes

Conceptualizing Diversity Structural Diversity: Representations of Different Groups Interactions with Diverse Others: Quality, Nature, and Experience Diversity in the Curriculum: Content and Pedagogy Campus Diversity-related Practices: Nature, Form, and Impact

Research Activities Inventory of campus practices Campus site visits – Case studies of participating campuses – Student focus groups National survey of institutions Longitudinal survey of students Focused classroom-based studies

Student Focus Groups Student focus groups on each campus - Racial/ethnic majority student group(s) - Largest minority group(s) - Students engaged in diversity and civic initiatives - Specific ethnic groups unique to each campus & geographic region Student experiences with diverse peers - In what contexts do diverse interactions occur? - What/how have they learned from diverse peers?

Participating Institutions Arizona State University Norfolk State University University of California- Los Angeles University of Maryland University of Massachusetts-Amherst University of Michigan University of Minnesota University of New Mexico University of Vermont University of Washington

Participating Institutions

Campus Practices and Student Outcomes What specific practices on your campus prepare students for a diverse democracy? What key cognitive, social, and democracy related-skills should institutions focus on developing among students?

Outcomes for Preparing Students to Live in a Diverse Democracy Cognitive Outcomes – Complex thinking skills – Critical thinking dispositions Social Cognitive Outcomes – Perspective-taking – Willingness to discuss complex social problems with others Democracy Outcomes – Interest in the public good – Civic engagement

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