Book Review
"Diversity Across the Curriculum:  A Guide for Faculty in Higher Education" by Jerome Branche, John Mullennix, and Ellen R. Cohn (Eds.)
Review by M.E. Cooper, Ph.D., Central Michigan University

Ever wished there was a guide that could help those of us in higher education to teach more effectively in the area of diversity? Well, look no further! Branche, Mullenix and Cohn have compiled a collection of works from college professors and scholars who have weaved diversity into their classrooms. “Overall, the book provides a practical guide for college and university faculty members and staff to efficiently create culturally inclusive courses and learning environments across many different disciplines” (p. 3). The editors place these works in five sections: (1) introduction, (2) diversity initiatives at six institutions, (3) humanities, (4) health sciences and (5) natural and social sciences.

As you can imagine, there are so many lessons here that one could fill up an entire term of lectures, discussions, group exercises and tests from the ideas in just one section in this book! I was trying to find my favorite work and, although it was difficult, I settled on one that I thought would be of interest to all readers. This one, written by Barbara Fry, is entitled: Practices that facilitate diversity across the curriculum: Inclusive classroom assessment.

According to Fry (2007), “Students come to campus with different racial, ethnic, sexual, political, geographic, religious and economic backgrounds” (p. 23). With such diverse backgrounds as our learners possess, we must ultimately reach across various barriers to to motivate them! This article analyzes some useful strategies that will offer “…a flexible, comprehensive assessment strategy, and rubrics are presented as a strategy for delivering culturally responsive, objective feedback to learners” (p. 23). 

One item that this author points out is that, no matter how diverse our classroom is, we as instructors and an institution must establish clear and measurable goals for all students. We must set one standard to be met by every learner in the classroom. So, Fry has developed a “Rubric for Asynchronous Discussion Participation” for awarding points in an online discussion board forum. Here she outlines a matrix that gives points in the areas of: (1) frequency, (2) initial assignment posting, (3) follow-up posting, (4) content contribution, (5) references and support and (6) clarity and mechanics. Each of these are graded on a scale of unacceptable (0 points), acceptable (1 point), good (2 points) and excellent (3 points).

Fry points out that: “One major advantage of an analytical grading rubric is that the instructor clearly defines what constitutes success and the measurable criteria required to teach it” (p. 26). Although Fry discusses using this in an online learning environment, this rubric could easily be adapted for the classroom that uses an online discussion board in an on ground or hybrid classroom environment.

In closing, Fry summarizes by stating: “In a multiracial society, higher education faculty must develop instructional approaches and assessments that accommodate the needs of their diverse students” (p. 29). I would highly recommend this book as an excellent resource for culture diversity in higher educational settings!

Title:  Diversity Across the Curriculum:  A Guide for Faculty in Higher Education
Authors:  Branche, J., Mullennix, J., and Cohn, E. R. (Eds.)
Price:  $40.00 (hardcover)
Publisher:  Jossey-Bass
Year:  2007
Pages:  340