1. FACILITATING AND ASSESSING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND STUDENT LEARNING ACROSS DISCIPLINES Dr. Marie Walker, Psychological Science Dr. Angelique Dwyer, Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures Dr. Kristian Braekkan, Economics and Management

2. Demographics of Gustavus Adolphus College Private Lutheran Liberal Arts College in rural MN $40,000+ tuition Trying to improve interdisciplinary collaboration Working toward Carnegie classification Who Are Our Students? 18-22 yrs, majority White, Christian, MN natives Millennials, midwest, expectation of more community involvement Students are engaged, but not used to uncertainty or working outside comfort zone

3. Summary of Projects Spring, Fall 2012 - 3 rd, 4 th year students - 75% women - Multiple majors - 3 classes of 25 students 1. Determine format and feasibility of a Mental Health Forum in St. Peter Chill Out: Mental Health Wellness Fair 2012 2. Use social media in marketing Mobile Crisis Team for Mankato’s South Central Crisis Center 3. Fund an Intermediate Care Facility for Children with Developmental Disabilities with Nicollet County Social Services Abnormal Psychology

4. Summary of Projects Fall 2011, 2012 - 3 rd, 4 th year students - 75% women - Multiple majors From Latin America to Latinos in the U.S. Intercultural Mediator: Latino Student 1 Latino Family 2 Spanish Students Language Buddies Model

5. Summary of Projects Justice and Equity in the Workplace Fall 2012 - 1 st year students - 62% women - Multiple majors - 1 class of 13 students College professors Groups of 3-4 students Diversity Council Purpose: Developing a “joint” understanding of the employment relationship Context: Immigration, race, gender, and poverty

6. Assessment of Projects 1. Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment Tools: - Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire CASQ (Moely et al., 2002) - Open-Ended Reflection Questions 2. Assess multiple times (Beginning, Middle and End of semester) - Learn student perspectives at different points in semester to be prepared for concerns, questions

7. The Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire (CASQ) Measure of Civic Action, Interpersonal and Problem-Solving Skills, Political Awareness, Leadership Skills, Social Justice Attitudes, Diversity Attitudes CASQ values (ceiling effects – social desirability) Self-report Made available to all faculty at Gustavus on SurveyMonkey, allows for control groups, frequently used by community based learning fellows and other faculty 44 items Moely, et al., 2002), five-point scale Internal consistencies (Cronbach’s coefficient alpha) values range from.69 to.88 (based on two samples; N = 761 & N = 725)

8. Results: Quantitative Assessment for All Classes N = 179 with different classes and control groups 61% women 39% men MEANS for CASQ Subscales Civic Action = 4.05, SD =.56 Interpersonal Problem Solving Skills = 4.28, SD =.38 Political Awareness = 3.15, SD =.65 Leadership Skills = 3.77, SD =.61 Social Justice Attitudes = 4.01, SD =.48 Diversity Attitudes = 3.85, SD =.52

9. Results: Quantitative Assessment - CASQ At Time 1 – Similarities/Differences from the Outset Significantly highest subscale score on Interpersonal and Problem Solving Skills for entire sample Lowest subscale scores on Political Awareness Justice and Equity FTS had higher scores on Political Awareness (topic or age?) Latin American Cultures had higher Social Justice Attitudes

10. Your Students and Civic Engagement Where will your students stand at Time 1 as a function of your discipline, course level, gender, college?

11. Results: Quantitative Assessment - CASQ CBL vs. Control at Time 2 – Bottom Line Social Justice and Diversity Attitudes were significantly higher in the CBL group vs. the Control. For Abnormal Psych, Civic Action was higher, too. Women higher than Men on Civic Action, Interpersonal and Problem-Solving Skills, Social Justice Attitudes and Diversity Attitudes

12. CBL vs. Control Can you find a control group? Which class can you use? What differences are you expecting? Which will you find? Would you have similar findings for all your CBL classes?

13. Results: Quantitative Assessment - CASQ Significant Subscales Change Over Time (not including Latin American Cultures) – perhaps due to age, topic and CBL Civic Action went down in Justice and Equity FTS over time, especially the Men. Similar effect in one of the Abnormal Psychology classes. Also, Interpersonal and Problem Solving Skills, Leadership Skills and Social Justice Attitudes went down in Justice and Equity FTS for Men over time. Political Awareness went down in Justice and Equity over time. Political Awareness went up in one section of Abnormal Psychology. Both effects were due to Men only. Leadership Skills went down for Men over time. Diversity Attitudes went up for Women and down for Men in Justice and Equity FTS over time.

14. Changes in Civic Engagement Across Time What constitutes positive or negative change? As a function of gender? Age? Discipline? What is the time span that you are devoting to the CBL project? Will you be able to discern change?

15. Results: Qualitative Assessment for All Classes Before beginning the projects Mid semester At the end of the projects

16. Results: Qualitative Assessment for All Classes Before beginning the projects STUDENTS: Put theory into practice Gain real world experience Group work Increase individual knowledge Application of specific skills Benefit the community / contribute Nervousness and/or excitement

17. Results: Qualitative Assessment for All Classes At the end of the projects STUDENTS: Not enough time Recognition of amount of work Got a glimpse of “reality” Mixed feelings: “disappointed” yet “proud” Pushed out of our “comfort zone”

18. Pre and Post Qualitative Reflection Will your students recognize change in themselves? Have you seen different responses in your classes?

19. Benefits of Conducting Assessment Across Disciplines Recognizing general goals of liberal arts curriculum that apply across all disciplines Sharing instruments Learning better ways to engage in this type of learning Broaden network of colleagues conducting CBL Differences in use of technology to help do the CBL Learn about differences and similarities in your own majors Reinforce development of applied skills across the curriculum Through assessment, identify areas of need for curricular change

20. What benefits do you foresee in working with colleagues from other disciplines? What have you experienced already? Is CBL assessment college-wide on your campus? Can it be?