Defining Diversity: an analysis of student stakeholders’ perceptions of a diversity-focused learning outcome

ABSTRACT

This study investigates stakeholder perceptions of a communication studies department’s diversity-focused learning outcome. Drawing from critical communication pedagogy and based on thematic analysis, we argue that the language of our department’s diversity-focused learning outcome (similar to two of the National Communication Association’s learning outcomes) allows current and former students to privilege some understandings of the skills and knowledge necessary for communicating in a diverse world over others. The corpus of data for this study includes student-authored self-reflective essays about our diversity-focused learning outcome and focus-group interviews with current and former students. Drawing on Eisenberg’s concept of strategic ambiguity and Freire’s notion of the banking model of education, we suggest that engaging students in dialogues about diversity-focused learning outcomes may help students understand both how and why to accomplish those outcomes. This study offers an entry point for discussing ways in which we present, implement, teach, and assess our learning outcomes about diversity in communication studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Learning outcomes
• diversity
• difference
• critical communication pedagogy

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Funding

This work was supported by University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.