Discussions

Your Name and Title: Dr. O'Shan D. Gadsden, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology

School or Organization Name: Alliant International University, California School of Professional Psychology

Co-Presenter Name(s): Jeffrey Woods, Heather Moore, Theresa Blaklesy

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: West Coast-CA

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s): "2013Teachers"; "2013Curricular".

Short Session Description (one line): The presenters will discuss the development of Alliant International University’s “Intercultural Rating Sheet.”

Full Session Description (as long as you would like): Many heated debates concerning the integration of multicultural content and pedagogical practice, across disciplines have been raised within the ivory towers of academia. According to Clark (2000), the development of multicultural curriculum content is the inclusion of the representation of those who have been traditionally either under or unrepresented within it.  It is this integration that allows for a critical analysis regarding whether or not scholarship truly integrates both theory and social context (Stanley, 2000). With this supposition in mind, Alliant International University resolved to examine whether or not their instructors (across disciplines) incorporated multicultural content into their pedagogical practices beyond rhetoric.  Alliant’s mission articulates the belief that knowledge must reflect the social and cultural contexts; and must examine issues of power reflected in both the construction and operationalization of that knowledge. The presenters will discuss the development of Alliant International University’s “Intercultural Rating Sheet.” The rating sheet assessed the inclusion of multicultural content within pedagogical practice along four dimensions: Syllabus Structure, Teaching Method and Assessment, Course Process, and Integration-Praxis. Doctoral level students were trained to rate 300 syllabi (across disciplines). The final data and corresponding themes that emerged will be discussed. Discussion will also include: seminal and current literature that informed this institutional research; the process of training students to rate syllabi; the results and themes which emerged; the limitations of this institutional research; and its pedagogical implications.