Nearly a decade ago Bob Yuan and I wrote a short article called “Journey Without Maps 1 ” in which we described an approach for helping science students deal with the racial/ethnic, cultural, and economic diversity of the global work environment. The approach involved a series of pedagogical activities and approaches that were adapted to a variety of science undergraduate classes. The journey we referred to was the intellectual, academic, and personal journey students take during their time at Maryland .

For most students, finding an educational and personal pathway through the often puzzling and complex University system is indeed a journey without maps. This is especially true for first generation college students, many of whom are minorities, first generation immigrants, international students or from rural areas. For first generation college students, entering into a new landscape without advice from and personal experiences of parents, siblings, or close relatives who have attended college is a disadvantage. Such students are faced with developing expectations and notions of what college is about from other less personal sources. They often arrive ill prepared and ill equipped for the journey and may become lost. As faculty and advisors it is our responsibility to help all students succeed; however we have a special responsibility to first-generation college students who are entering our strange academic landscape and may need more guidance, reassurance and help navigating the ivory corridors.

One way to provide support and guidance for all students is to make our syllabi clear and transparent with respect to expectations; e.g. how much work is required, how what is expected, when it is expected and where to find help and community. In addition, taking a few minutes of the first class to explain the goals of the class, your expectations, what University life is like, and a bit about your own journey, will help incoming students begin their journey on the right path. For faculty, who have been around universities and classes much of our lives, it is hard to image that the university landscape is foreign and may be uninviting. As one of the first members of my family to go college, I can remember arriving at university with no clue as to what was expected, how to proceed, or how to be successful. I was at the mercy of advisors, clerks, and long lines as I tried to get into classes based on what was available rather than what I might want or need for my own personal journey. Coming from an isolated rural community it was my first journey into new lands.

One of the great strengths of Maryland is its diversity. For some of our entering students it may be the first time they have encountered such wide diversity. Developing an understanding and appreciation of diversity is a University goal for our students and a component CORE. Diversity needs to be experienced for it to become valued and meaningful. A major challenge in getting students to experience diversity in our classes is finding ways by which students get to know each other and learn how to work together. Three simple approaches are i) having students post biographies on the class ELMS site or other class-specific electronic forum, ii) using cross-cultural course materials, and iii) integrating mixed student teams for project work.

At Maryland students usually associate with a rather small group of peers (often from similar backgrounds) and seldom get to know their classmates, especially in large classes. By having all students post a brief biography, you will help students begin to see and experience the diversity around them. In my own classes I start this process by posting my own brief biography and requiring my teaching assistants to so the same. I then make posting a brief biography one of the first class assignments. This simple assignment helps to establish community and sometimes results in students finding connections among their peers they would not otherwise be aware of, e.g., two students who went to the same grade school but different high schools, or grew up in the same town. It also can ease the formation of the work of teams.

Not all subject matter is equally accessible to the integration of cross-cultural perspectives; however with creativity and thought nearly all classes can, to some degree, accomplish this. In technology fields such as math and science it might take the form of briefly talking about historical contexts such as the math of ancient Egypt or Asia or the impacts of science or engineering in other cultures. For my own discipline of microbiology this is easily accomplished through the use of illustrative examples from non-western cultures, e.g., the use of soy sauce or kimchi to illustrate microbial fermentation versus yogurt, or infectious diseases that are endemic in non-western cultures versus prevalent western diseases.

Both of the previous examples are passive in that students are exposed to diversity and cultural perspectives but do not necessarily experience diversity. One powerful way for students to experience diversity is through teamwork. When we work with people with different cultural backgrounds and experiences we come to know and better appreciate individuals and cultures that are different from our own. When students were allowed to choose their own teams, they tend to select teammates from similar backgrounds. One way to overcome this homogeneous self-selection is for the teams to be assigned by the instructor. In my classes teams are generally mixed by the following criteria; race/ethnicity, gender, cumulative GPA, and, where appropriate, self-reported performance in prerequisite courses. This ensures that there is diversity in the teams. To ensure the teams work together the team projects are designed so they require an effort on the part of all team members, require information be shared within the team, and include both internal and external peer review.

If you are new to using student team-based projects or your use of them previously has been unsuccessful or problematic we (CTE) can help you make them more successful and efficient mechanisms for fostering student learning and experiencing diversity. There is a large body of literature on effective student team-based pedagogy, which we will gladly share to help you in finding the appropriate methodologies or pedagogies for your class.

Today - even more so then a decade ago - it is critical we establish educational processes that foster and emphasize the abilities of students from a variety of racial/ethnic and social economic backgrounds to work together toward a common goal, whilst being cognizant and tolerant of each other's differences. This is of the utmost importance for first generation college students working their way through the culturally alien environment of a large state university and for every graduate who will need to work in an ethnically and culturally heterogeneous global environment.

As you begin your fall classes think about how to make them more inviting, global and a community that is welcoming and values the diversity of experiences and learning styles of all your students.

By Spencer Benson
Director of CTE