When you’re in class and you hear someone speaking with what you consider an out-there perspective, do you really listen ?
A recent study led by Eric L. Dey at the University of Michigan and overseen by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) suggests that universities across the United States do not highlight and engage diverse viewpoints in the classroom. The data collected shows that students generally do not receive with enthusiasm or consider the perspectives of their peers.
University of Massachusetts public history Ph.D. student Dr. Margo Shea believes there may be a different way of interpreting the data.
“Argument and disagreement can be abrupt and graceless while we practice the arts of dissent or difference,” she said. “Students can come off as dismissive and even rude.”
The survey looked at four groups: Students, faculty, academic administrators, and student affairs professionals. Though the four groups tended to have negative views of the notion of respectful academic discourse, the differences in numbers were quite divergent between the groups. Only seven percent of campus professionals thought students were respectful of diverse perspectives when they enter college. In contrast, 63 percent of students believed that they entered college with an open mind.
Questions were posed to freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and the general consensus was that, as students got older, their optimism for provocative, varied discourse decreased.
However, the case may be slightly different on the UMass campus.
“Older students have come to realize that this is their education and are alternately engaged or disengaged based on their perception of the value of the material to them,” said Shea. “They have ideas and opinions and will talk a lot, but not always about the issue on the table.”
Qualitative research from the study found that students surveyed believed that controversial topics generally stimulated classroom discussion, which they said they were more likely to participate in.
“Discussions about issues that I actually care about are the ones that I am more inclined to listen to and want to engage in,” said UMass student Kelcie Sims. “I tend to tune out when all we’re doing is analyzing a text or an article. When all we do in a discussion is talk about something we had to read, a few of the smart kids tend to dominate the discussion and engage with the professor. Then I just stop listening,” continued Sims.
“If an average student is listening to a nonstop lecture, with no other types of content delivery or activities interspersed, it’s inevitable that he or she will tune out,” said one of the study’s authors, Molly Ott, a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan. “By incorporating different types of activities, professors can keep students engaged for longer and improve the chances that content is learned.”
When asked for some reasons why students tend to disregard their peers’ opinions, Shea continued, “Part of it might be that there is not enough access to cultural, political, economic, regional, and national differences; having dealt with differences make us better at dealing with difference. We become more relativistic as a matter of exposure.”
The surveyed students also agreed that if they participated in community service outside the classroom, they tended to have an enhanced ability to appreciate the perspectives of others. Almost half the surveyed students who participated in community service believed that they had developed an ability to understand and analyze the perspectives of others, even when they disagreed with those with the perspective of those around them.
“Incorporating credit-based service learning and community-based projects or research into the curriculum is an amazing way to encourage discussion and promote meaningful learning,” said Ott. “Nothing is black and white in the real world outside of the classroom, and service learning classes are a natural way to introduce the gray area in many topics that lends itself to student discussion and debate.”
Ashley Berger can be reached at [email protected]
