The Center for Academic Excellence is promoting dialogue that explores new approaches to curriculum across the campus. As always, these discussions strive to introduce new perspectives on the curriculum. This includes cross departmental collaboration on projects, sharing ideas and approaches to our content and pedagogy, the exploration of new areas of research, etc. These discussions also reflect the possibility of introducing Distance/Digital Education as a viable component of various disciplines; deliberately including discipline specific technology and computer skills into degree programs; creating courses that meet specific community needs; and promoting/supporting programs that are pioneering new areas of and approaches to research.

This is part of the commitment by Millersville University and the Center for Academic Excellence to be a Community of Learners. We will continue to rethink our knowledge and methods of instruction as we strive to be learners as well as instructors (knowing that the two inform each other).

UNIV 179 Documents:

• UNIV 179 Syllabi
• FYS Proposal-v4
• First Year Seminar-Proposal Instructions-2006
• Expectations for UNIV 179
• Fall 2006 First-Year Seminars/Learning Communities Brochure
• UNIV Proposals: First-Year Seminars/Learning Communities
• Fall 2005 Learning Community Brochure
• FYE fall 05 mid-term survey results

FYE Newsletters:

• FYE Newsletter-August Volume I Issue I
• FYE Newsletter-October Volume I Issue II
• FYE Newsletter-November Volume 1 Issue III

AACU Presentations:

• AAC&U October 2006 Presentation: Embedding Diversity in a New Model of First-Year Programming
• AAC&U March 2006 Presentation: Alternative General Education Models of First-Year Programming

AAC&U
AAC&U has provided national leadership on the issue of diversity in higher education since 1971. AAC&U's current work in this area focuses primarily on deploying diversity as an educational asset for all students, and preparing future graduates for socially responsible engagement in a diverse democracy and interdependent world. Both are key elements of a quality liberal education. AAC&U has created a community of institutions committed to making diversity an integral part of educational excellence and civic engagement.[from website]

This website has links to AAC&U initiatives (such as anational survey of diversity requirments and two of their major initiatives: American Commitments (older) & Inclusive Excellence (recent), AAC&U Publications (including the newsletter Diversity Digest and many monographs), notices of meetings, and links to other resources and websites.

Curriculum Reform
Starting point for teachers who are determined to create a more inclusive, multicultural curriculum for their students. This website also includes links to informative sections on Steps Toward Multicultural Curriculum Transformation and Key Characteristics of a Multicultural Curriculum.

Diversity Innovations: Curriculum Change
This section of DiversityWeb focuses on how institutions have integrated diversity across the curriculum at multiple levels. Resources include principles and practices that are guiding many of these changes, various kinds of diversity requirements, revised general education models and courses, advanced courses on U.S. and global pluralism, traditional disciplinary majors that systematically address diversity, and new interdisciplinary programs.

Transformed Courses within the Disciplines
Describes specif courses in the humanities, social sciences, sciences, and others, which include diversity. Offers more than 40 individual course descriptions in the humanities, social sciences, sciences, and others, which include diversity.

Click here to link to the General Education Webpage References Document

Cornwell, G.H & Stoddard, E.W. (2006). Freedom, diversity, and global citizenship. In academic freedom. Special issue of Liberal Education, Vol. 92(2), Spring 2006. Washington D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

"Students have to learn both how to think critically about their own positionalities and how to engage various other perspectives on the issues they seek to understand and to judge. This need for multiple perspectives is the grounds of a global epistemology; it is also the most basic argument for diversity in liberal education."

Koolsbergen, W. (2001). Approaching diversity: Some classroom strategies for learning communities. In Learning communities: A sustainable innvoation? Special issue of Peer Review, Vol. 3/4, Summer/Fall 2001. Washington D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Based on experiences teaching in a diverse urban environment, Kolsbergen discusses approaches to dealing with diversity including ground rules for discussions of diversity and classroom activities to foster meaningful dialogue.

Smith, D. (1997). Diversity works: The emerging picture of how students benefit. Washington D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

This report is a literature review and annotated bibliography of research on the impact of campus diversity on American college students by one of the foremost scholars on diversity in higher education. It is an expanded and revised edition of a 1996 study. The authors use the mantra, “the impact of diversity on students,” as their theme and focus on literature published since 1992. The research reviewed in this report ranges from quantitative studies using large national databases of thousands of students to research about a particular program using case studies a handful of students. The authors specifically include two sections on diversity in the curriculum (beginning on page 31) and teaching strategies (beginning on page 34). Both of these sections discuss general issues from their literature review rather than offing concrete and practical tools for the classroom. The annotated bibliography covers nearly 90 pages and hundreds of articles, books, and monographs, mostly dated from the early to mid-1990’s.

Trent, J.S. (Ed.) (2002).Included in communication: Learning climates that cultivate racial and ethnic diversity. Washington D.C.: American Association for Higher Education.

Despite gains made in access to higher education, numerious studies show that students of Color remain underrepresented at every degree level and in many disciplines. Despite all that we have learned about effective teaching and learning and about the importance of diversity in general, we have not done enough to translate that general knowledge into specific disciplinary and teaching practices. This book is one of three volumes (see citation for the other volumes in “Other Sources subsection below), which attempt to make the connection between diversity and teaching/learning more intentional and to provide the faculty with concrete strategies for enacting those connections in their discipline. One example of activity from Part Two (Instructional Practices) is “Exploring Personal Prejudices” which is designed to develop students’ interpersonal communication competence.

Wlodkowski, R.J. & Ginsberg, M.B. (1995). Diversity and motivation: Culturally responsive teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

“This book provides teachers and trainers with sensitive and practical help in working effectively woth groups of culturally diverse learners. Using a motivational framework for culturally responsive teaching complete with extensive examples and illustrations, the authors describe the values, learning strategies, and structures necessary to establish inclusion, develop attitude, enhance meaning, and engender competence. By considering a set of eight guidelines, teachers and trainers can learn how to revise syllabus and assessment formats, form cooperative collegial groups, and create action plans for implementing a culturally responsive pedagogy.” (Taken from book sleeve)

Other Books/Articies in Gen Ed Collection:

Associations of American Colleges and Universities (1995). The drama of diversity and democracy: Higher education and American commitments. Washington D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Musil, C.M. (1995). Diversity in higher education: A work in progress. Washington D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Other Sources:

Chin, J., Berheide, C.W., & Rome, D. (Eds.) (2002). Included in sociology: Learning climates that cultivate racial and ethnic diversity. Washington D.C.: American Association for Higher Education. [Available thru PALCI]

Fowler, S.B. & Villanueva, V. (Eds.) (2002). Included in English studies: Learning cliamates that cultivate racial and ethnic diversity. Washington D.C.: American Association for Higher Education. [Available thru PALCI]