Diversity-related content as a gateway to critical thinking: A case study of a freshman seminar

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Diversity-related content as a gateway to
critical thinking A case study of a freshman
seminar

• CAUSE Webinar
• 12 August 2008

Kathryn M. Plank The Ohio State University
Michele DiPietro Carnegie Mellon University
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As teachers, we include diversity-related content
for many reasons, such as

• It is necessary in order to represent the content
  of the discipline.
• It can create a more welcoming learning
  environment for a wider range of students.
• It can provide a context and examples for course
  concepts that students care about.
• It can help students develop better critical
  thinking skills.

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William Perrys model of Intellectual and Ethical
Development (1970)

• Dualism--Theres one right answer, and the
  teacher has it.
• Multiplicity--There are lots of right answers
  and my answer is as good as yours.
• Relativism--There are disciplinary ways of using
  evidence to make decisions about what answer is
  best.
• Commitment--In a world of uncertainty, I have
  to make the best decisions possible and commit to
  them because it matters.

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Craig Nelsons metaphors

• Dualism--Sergeant Friday
• Multiplicity--Baskin Robbins
• Relativism--Teachers Games
• Commitment--Adult thinking

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Facilitating students movement through this
model of development means supporting them where
they are, removing obstacles that might hinder
their development, and giving them a gentle nudge
to the next stage.
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Content/teaching methods to facilitate
transitions

• Dualism gt MultiplicityMakes uncertainty safe
  resists a single right answer.
• Multiplicity gt RelativismDemonstrates that
  personal opinion alone is insufficient.
• Relativism gt CommitmentExplores the values
  implicit in decisions and the significance of the
  paradigms they use requires they take ownership
  of their thinking.

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Diversity-related content is particularly
well-suited for guiding (encouraging, motivating,
prodding) students through these transitions and
helping them reach higher levels of critical
thinking.
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A unique course

• From Ten Percent to Couples per County The
  Statistics of the Gay and Lesbian Population
• First of its kind!
• Freshman seminar
• Restricted to HSS students
• Enrollment capped at 20 (had a small waitlist)
• Additional goals
• Ease transition from HS to college
• Create community
• Establish study skills and habits

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Course Structure

• Initial concept maps to assess LGBT and stats
  knowledge
• 5 content units
• Student presentations
• Final concept maps
• Assessments
• 8 homework problem sets (20)
• 5 paper analyses (20)
• Weekly journal entries (15)
• Oral presentation companion literature review
  paper (30)
• Class participation (15)

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Initial concept map Student K
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Initial concept map Student J
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The 5 units

• Who is gay? Defining variables
• Sampling LGBT folks Sampling
• Counting LGBT folks (Prevalence)
  Estimation/Bias
• Understanding homosexuality Hypothesis
  Testing
• Nature of homosexuality
• Causes of homosexuality
• Stability of sexual orientation Synthesis

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Sample Activities

• Minimal groups (extracting patterns from data)
• Gaydar (classification)
• ProjectImplicit (validity reliability)
• https//implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
• Letter to the editor of the Chronicle of Higher
  Education concerning M. Baileys research on
  transsexuals (research methodology and ethics)

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Final concept map Student K
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Final concept map Student J
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Journal excerpts

• Before I took this class, I believed what studies
  I heard about very easily My impression was
  that Kinsey had only one, infallible statistic
  10.

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Journal excerpts (contd)

• One of the most difficult questions for me was
  when we were given different scenarios and asked
  to put them in categories of homosexual,
  bisexual, or heterosexual. From this we were
  supposed to construct a definition. At first this
  looked easy Once I was done, I realized my
  definition and the categories did not match up.
  When reading in an article the definition they
  came up with it seems so simple and easy This
  assignment is actually one of the first times I
  actually had to think. I didnt copy things from
  a book or take someone elses analysis. It was
  mine.

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Journal excerpts (contd)

• It just might be me who is second-guessing
  studies but sometimes I think one article/piece
  of information isnt enough to completely
  convince me if something is true or not.
• If theres anything Ive gotten out of this
  semester, its an impression that
• We know nothing because every study can be
  heavily critiqued
• We never will know anything because all future
  studies can be disqualified, and
• Even the most biased, homophobic studies have
  some redeeming factors that, in my head,
  partially validate their evidence!
• I now know too much to know anything.

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Journal excerpts (contd)

• In the end, I was disappointed as to how few
  answers there really were concerning the GLBT
  population. There were many results and theories
  and conflicting views, but few real tangible
  answers. Or at least black and white answers.
  But such is the nature of life, apparently. In
  the real world, things arent always black and
  white and numbers are never pretty and complete.
  But although I do not yet know what the answers
  are, I am much more informed than I was at the
  start of the semester.

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Journal excerpts (contd)

• I learned that despite how accurate stat classes
  make data look if the p-value shows significance
  but the sample size or method were bad it means
  very little.
• How cool would it be to trick people into
  thinking they were participating in a random
  response test when they really werent? For
  instance, if you were the Hub and you knew
  everybodys SSN, you could email everyone who has
  an even last digit of their SSN and ask them to
  participate in a survey You then get the
  people together and ask them to respond based on
  whether the last digit in their SSN is odd or
  even. The test would be very effective because
  you could take your data much more seriously.
  Your N would not have to be very large to
  estimate a very small p. While dishonest, it
  sounds like a fantastic plan to me!

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Journal excerpts (contd)

• I really like the matched pairs way of surveying.
  I think that in class we have clearly shown how
  hard it is to do a random statistical sampling of
  the GLBT population and so, barring that option,
  I think matched pairing, like in the Hooker
  study, is a very good way of gathering data. In
  calculus class, we are looking at 3-D objects
  which are almost impossible to visualize and
  draw. And so rather than trying to draw the
  entire object, we take slices of it along various
  axes and planes. Even though we are only taking
  cuts of the object, the synthesis of those cuts
  is a very good approximation of what the object
  truly is, and much easier to draw. It seems like
  the Hooker study is doing a similar thing rather
  than sample the entire population poorly, it
  takes a very concrete cut of the population and
  examines it very well and accurately. If similar
  studies could be performed on other sections of
  the LGBT population, perhaps they could be
  combined to form a relatively clear picture of
  the population as a whole.

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Journal excerpts (contd)

• I really liked the final paper and
  presentation. Almost everybody so far has given
  a really fascinating presentation, and I think my
  knowledge has gone way up. I personally really
  liked the topic me and ___ did. I thought it was
  so cool that we actually went out and found
  studies - that we got data and info straight from
  the source. It was quite satisfying to actually
  ask my own questions of a topic I think is
  important, and then find the answers. When ___
  and I actually realized that most of the studies
  we were looking at had results that could be
  compared to each other, as well as very similar
  recommendations for the future, we were both
  stunned. How cool is it that you do a bunch of
  research and the answers you find are consistent,
  and thanks to part of your research, you also
  know they are correct. It totally made me feel
  like an expert in the field, that I could collate
  and compare these professional studies, and come
  up with clear, justified answers.

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References

• Nelson, C. E. 1999. On the persistence of
  unicorns The tradeoff between content and
  critical thinking revisited. In B.A. Pescosolido
  and R. Aminzade, Eds., The Social Worlds of
  Higher Education Handbook for Teaching in a New
  Century. Pine Forge Press
• Perry, W. G. 1970. Forms of intellectual and
  cognitive development in the college years. New
  York Holt, Rinehart, Winston.
• Plank, K. M., Rohdieck, S. V. 2007. The value
  of diversity. NEA Higher Education Advocate
  24.6.