On the Shelf in the Library Media Center: Journal of Diversity in Higher Education
From our home in the Library Media Center (LMC) we in the e-Learning center have the opportunity to closely investigate the resources available to the college community within our own Bellevue College Library Media Center. The journals are on the first floor just outside the eLearning Center and were a convenient place to start the investigation.
I pulled a copy of the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education from the shelf to see what it had to offer. In Volume 9, Number 1, March 2016 I found an interesting article on interactional diversity in community colleges. The author, who maintains that few studies have closely examined the interactional diversity at community colleges, used data pulled from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSE) to look at predictors of interactional diversity among college students. Two predictors that stood out in the study were prior interactional diversity experience and the educational level of the parents. As an open enrollment educational institution drawing from a large geographical base and attracting many first-generation college students, these are factors working against interactional diversity experiences at Bellevue College.
To BC’s advantage however, the data also shows that large, open enrollment educational institutions, particularly community colleges, provide more opportunities for interactional diversity experience than do smaller colleges or those with admission requirements. Although these opportunities are available to students, the study showed that small pockets of students sharing a common language and a common culture were less likely to engage in interactional diversity experiences than other students enrolled at the same institution. The study suggested that college engagement, time socializing on campus, group projects, and supportive faculty were key to breaking down these barriers.
To learn more about this study check out Volume 9, Number 1 March 2016 Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Interactional Diversity in Community Colleges.
The instructional designers and instructional technologists in your e-Learning center can help you with more than just Canvas issues. Many of us are voracious readers and avid researchers. We are also housed within the LMC and have access, as do you, to the skills and expertise of our librarians. Visit us to see what we can do to help you.
~ Debi Griggs
Last Updated January 9, 2017