IDST 81B - Diversity: Anti-Semitism/ Anti-Arabism - Stage 5 - Rosenwasser/ Muller
Assessment
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| Assessment Description | Our class of 38 students met for 2 8-hour Saturdays in March 2013. All of the Student Learning Outcomes were listed on the syllabus, which was emailed to all students, and hard copies of the syllabus were handed out to all students as well. In the morning of the first class, we explained the importance of the SLO’s – not as a test they would be graded on, but crucial for CCSF accreditation – to encourage them to take this process seriously. 1) We then passed out a survey that morning, asking students to evaluate their learning about all 10 of the SLO’s (rating 1 – 5) -- to write their name on the survey and hand these back in to us. We handed these out again near the end of class on the second Saturday, to re-take the survey and rate themselves again. We also explained that the 2 SLO’s we would be evaluating their learning in more detail were: A. Discuss and have insight into your own emotional defensiveness as it relates to issues of anti-Semitism and anti-Arabism B. Explain key concepts and definitions commonly used in the study of anti-Semitism and anti-Arabism, such as Semitic, anti-Semitism, Jew, Gentile, Zionism, Arab, anti-Arabism, Muslim, Islamophobia. 2) Additionally, near the end of class the second Saturday, we handed out quizzes focusing on these two SLO’s (above) in particular. We explained that these would not be graded and that they did not need to put their names on them. 3) Also, at the very end of the class on the 2nd day, we had students take turns orally telling us a highlight or key learning from the class (which we wrote down), and we had each student fill out a written evaluation of the class overall: what learning modalities worked best for them, what they learned, what they would change next time, any feedback on the instructors, etc. Using all of these methods, along with our assessment of class participation for the two days – a significant level of participation from almost every student |
| Learning Outcomes | ALL, with two in more focus (see above comments) |
| Number of Sections | 1 |
| Number of Instructors | 2 |
| Number of Students | 38 |
Data Analysis
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| Data Sharing Methods | |
| Data Summary | 1) From the general surveys, given at the beginning and ending of the class, where students rated their learning on a 1-5 scale: --for SLO A regarding insights about emotional defensiveness, 7 students indicated no change in their learning, 20 indicated an increase in their awareness by one or two points, and 4 indicated an increase in their learning by 3 points or more --for SLO B about key concepts and definitions, 4 students indicated no change in their learning, 21 indicated an increase in their awareness by one or two points, and 6 students indicated an increase in their learning by 3 points or more. Several students said that key concepts could be explained better, and repeated more often, so we will make those definitions clearer next time and repeat them both days 2) From the quizzes given at the end of the class, to ascertain student’s learning regarding SLO’s A and B in particular: --Regarding SLO A about insights into one’s emotional defensiveness regarding anti-arabism/anti-Semitism, the vast majority of the students responded “somewhat” to this question; and some spoke more about what they had learned about anti-arabism and/or anti-semitism. A few of them clearly had no idea what we were referring to. From this we realize that we need to discuss/explain more the idea of emotional defensiveness, even give examples. One place to do this would be at the beginning of the class when we talk about the guideline about being aware when one is “triggered.” --Three noteworthy comments from students in response to this question: * “I noticed other students getting together and changing ideas.” * “The class was fairly basic and so it didn’t really push my boundaries.” * “Now I can really stop the internalized anti-Semitism inside me.” [Note: However, from our observation of the class discussion, we noticed a remarkable openness to learning and often a lack of defensiveness overall. We attribute some of this to the three hours we spend at the beginning of the first class: where students learn about each other, where we establish guidelines of respect and listening and non-blame, where we discuss triggers and stereotypes, where we set a guideline of being open to multiple perspectives.] --The vast majority of students gave accurate descriptions of the definitions in SLO B in relation to anti-Semitism, Jews, anti-Arabism, Arabs, etc. Several students expressed confusion about Zionism, and we realize we need to allow time to discuss this in more depth, to examine the different meanings and complexities, etc. 3) Examples of comments from oral and written evaluations, regarding student’s learning of SLO’s A and B in particular: *feel much more informed about anti-arabism and anti-Semitism (many comments about this) – including history and context, “juxtaposition of two topics allows for deeper understanding of complexity” *many misconceptions were cleared up, felt more equipped to be an ally, felt more empowered – want this to be a semester class, also offer it more often (many comments about this) *Arab culture was demystified *Learned how Zionism is interpreted differently, has different meanings to different people *Learned a lot more about Jews and anti-Semitism (many comments about this), including about Arab Jews *Helpful to learn that criticizing Israeli policy does not make you anti-Semitic *Most significant was learning more about myself, relating this class to my personal life *Learning to put myself in someone else’s shoes *Grasping the universality of some of these issues *Learning about the oppressions, and also the similarities that unite the two cultures *Helped me dispel many myths and lies *Appreciated hearing all the personal experiences *Appreciated learning about Christian Zionists and Arab Jews *Appreciated learning the difference between Muslims and Arabs: “before the course I had many misguided information and thoughts about Arabs/Muslims; after the course I feel more informed, enlightened and empowered to become an ally for Anti-arabism.” 3) Examples of comments from students’ oral and written evaluations, regarding their learning overall: *Some students were motivated to want to visit Palestine to see for themselves, to be of use *stunning to see the film on the Warsaw Ghetto (several comments about this) and witness “un-sanitized” anti-Semitism not that long ago, very “historically potent” *motivated to read more of Edward Said (many comments about this), very moved by him *“brilliant” presentation (by instructors) of stereotypes, triggers, and the complexities *“we were grumbling coming in to the class that first morning, but left the second afternoon congratulating ourselves for taking the class” *enlightening to learn about different Jewish ethnicities *had been misguided about Israel-Palestine issue, this class was “life-changing,” great to learn about it from a peace-perspective *understands the Israel-Palestine issue more clearly, understands where both groups are coming from *loved learning about the two topics together, will help her be a better ally, more aware of complexities (many comments about all these) *one student expressed being “more confused” *want to learn more! *“I’m a much better person to have been here” *excited to learn about orientalism *“one of the best classes I’ve ever had” *appreciated hearing about so much support among Jews for Palestinian human rights *“too much to learn!” (a few students said this) |
| Analysis Summary | Students need to be able to define and apply the terms adequately. |
| Next Steps Planned | IN SUMMARY: changes we will plan to make next time we teach this class: * Several students said that key concepts could be explained better, and repeated more often, so we will make those definitions clearer next time and repeat them both days. * Especially, we need to discuss/explain Zionism in more depth – its various interpretations and complexities. * We need to discuss/explain more the idea of emotional defensiveness, even give examples. One place to do this is the beginning of the class when we talk about the guideline about being aware when one is “triggered.” |
| Learning Outcomes | IN SUMMARY: changes we will plan to make next time we teach this class: * Several students said that key concepts could be explained better, and repeated more often, so we will make those definitions clearer next time and repeat them both days. * Especially, we need to discuss/explain Zionism in more depth – its various interpretations and complexities. * We need to discuss/explain more the idea of emotional defensiveness, even give examples. One place to do this is the beginning of the class when we talk about the guideline about being aware when one is “triggered.” |
Tentative Future Plans
| Term | Spring 2014 |
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| More Details | No answer |
SLO Details Storage Location
- HARD COPY - In my personal filing system (my office)
- HARD COPY - In a department filing system (department office)
- ELECTRONIC COPY - In my electronic filing system (hard drive or web server)
Additional Highlights
Based on the students’ oral and written evaluations, what we as instructors did well:*providing a safe and respectful space for students to express themselves, learn, and interact with each other
*creating an atmosphere of non-blame and acceptance of multiple perspectives
*students love the team teaching and consider us a good team, they appreciate hearing our various experiences and perspectives, and that we each know about both issues
*students were very engaged in group discussions and appreciated the videos as well as guest speakers