Welcome back to our series, “Eight Elements of High-Impact Practices,” where we unpack practical strategies for integrating the teaching strategies that give High-Impact Practices (HIPs) their transformative potential. The second additional HIPS element is “experience with diversity”. As of 2023, the USG has emphasized “diversity of thought” as a core principle. How does that principle interact with HIPS and what does that phrase mean in practice, exactly? To me, this looks like the work that we have always done at GSU:
- We introduce students to diverse worldviews, frameworks, and theories within our disciplines.
- We help students analyze the different histories, values, arguments, and propositions embedded in these schools of thought through a diversity of analysis techniques.
- We hope that students will go back to their communities and into the wider world with a set of tools and lenses to help make things better.
This is undoubtedly high-impact teaching and learning. You’re probably already doing this work, but you might want to be a little more intentional about it or need some additional help. First, let’s review two databases that you or your students might use to explore diverse viewpoints:
Two Helpful Databases: CQ Researcher and POV Source
Provides unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy, 1991 present.
This database offers multiple friendly ways to search and browse. All articles are comprehensive and provide a helpful overview, pro-con sections, and a timeline feature. Do be aware that CQ researcher only provides these kinds of overview articles and that all citations in articles send you out to external sources. This is a great place to get an overview.
These are just a few of many ways to integrate substantive interactions in your course. If you’d like to think about this more, set up a time to talk to a teaching and learning partner at CETLOE. Stay tuned for the next post in the series, where we’ll offer tips on integrating experiences with diverse viewpoints and backgrounds into your courses.
Points of View Reference Source
Containing resources that present multiple sides of an issue, this database provides rich content that can help students assess and develop persuasive arguments and essays, better understand controversial issues and develop analytical thinking skills.
This database is very similar to CQ researcher, but the search features and search displays are a bit clunky. I do like that POV includes a reading guide for its research articles. One other big advantage of POV is the inclusion of primary and secondary news sources right inside of the database. This is a great place to dig a little deeper.
From Database to Activity
As you can see, we have some great resources that you can use to get started. But, what kind of course activities might you construct using these kinds of databases? Here are just a few examples:
- Guided Analysis (Basic): Have students find and analyze an overview article within these databases. As an accompaniment, create a reading and analysis guide for your students or find one that already exists. These guides are critical in helping model disciplinary thinking for your students.
- Simulation (Advanced): If students already know how to find and analyze opposing viewpoints, consider a simulation. Think of a simulation like a play – there may be a bit of improv, but, like plays, simulations are usually scripted and highly programmed by the faculty member. Our friends at Clayton State have created a detailed lesson plan that you can use for developing simulations. With simulations, consider using the CQ and POV databases to help you write your script.
- Role Play (Advanced+): If you’re teaching even more advanced students, then consider a role play. Unlike simulations, most of the onus here is on the students themselves. Once again, Clayton State delivers a detailed plan for role plays. Here, students might use the CQ and POV databases as an aid in their role play preparations.
Reach out to the GSU library if you need more help finding viewpoint diversity content. Reach out to CETLOE you’d like help thinking about how to more intentionally integrate diverse viewpoints into your curriculum. Next time we’ll turn to the fifth element frequent, timely, and constructive feedback.
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