Online Senior Assessment 2013: Multicultural
INTRODUCTION
The second component of the OSA contains questions for the Multicultural core. The first
questions ask the participants about how they fulfilled their Multicultural core requirement.
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Gail Alleyne Bayne, June 2013
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Online Senior Assessment 2013: Multicultural
The following table shows the number and percentage of participants who selected each
response to the first question regarding where students took their core curriculum course. The
number of participants selecting each response adds up to more than the 1,578 total
participants because participants were instructed to select all that apply.
Response
How did you complete your multicultural requirement?
% of Sample
n
I took a multicultural class through dual credit in high school.
74
4.7%
I took an advanced placement multicultural class in high
school.
42
2.7%
I took a CLEP exam for multicultural credit.
3
0.2%
488
30.9%
1,113
70.5%
93
5.9%
I received transfer multicultural credit for a class that I took
at another institution.
I took my core curriculum class at Tech.
I received multicultural credit for having done a study abroad
course (either through Texas Tech University or elsewhere).
For the analysis in this report the 1,578 participants will be divided into the “TTU” group and
the “ELSE” group. The TTU group will represent the 1,113 participants (70.5% of the sample)
who selected “I took my core curriculum class at Tech.” The participants who selected one or
more of the other responses were asked if the class they took outside of Tech counted for their
core curriculum credit. The ELSE group will represent the 338 participants (21.4% of the
sample) who reported that a class taken outside of Tech did count for their Multicultural core
curriculum credit. These 338 participants were asked which course counted. The following
table shows the number and percentage of the sample who selected each response.
Which one?
Response
A dual credit class.
An advanced placement class.
A CLEP exam.
A class I took at another institution.
I don't know.
Total
n
23
20
1
283
11
338
% of Sample
1.5%
1.3%
0.1%
17.9%
0.7%
21.4%
127 participants (8.0% of the sample) reported that they did not know if a course taken outside
of Tech counted for their Multicultural core curriculum credit. These 127 participants will be
excluded from any TTU vs. ELSE group analyses.
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Gail Alleyne Bayne, June 2013
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Online Senior Assessment 2013: Multicultural
RESULTS
The student learning outcomes for the Multicultural core are:


Demonstrate awareness and knowledge of cultural differences within one or more
distinctive sub-cultures of the United States, or
Demonstrate awareness and knowledge of cultural differences within one or more
global societies (Outside the U.S).
The Multicultural section of the OSA contains seven knowledge questions. Both student
learning outcomes apply to all seven questions. They are all knowledge-type questions with
one correct answer. A screenshot and summary of responses for each question is shown on the
following pages.
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Gail Alleyne Bayne, June 2013
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Online Senior Assessment 2013: Multicultural
Multicultural Question 1:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers to the first question for participants who
took their class for the Multicultural core requirement at TTU (red) and participants who took
their class for the Multicultural core requirement elsewhere (blue). Answer 2 is the correct
choice. It can be seen that a majority in both groups chose the correct answer. However, there
are also quite a few participants in both groups who chose one of the other answers. Overall, a
few more people in the TTU group chose the correct answer as compared to the ELSE group
(63.5% vs. 60.4%), but this difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level. This means
that on average students who took their class for the Multicultural core requirement at TTU do
not do better with this question than students who took their class for the Multicultural core
requirement elsewhere.
13.5%
Primarily based on universal and objective
criteria
13.0%
63.5%
Primarily based on culturally derived criteria
60.4%
Primarily based on definitions provided by
philosophers
TTU
22.3%
Primarily based on personal criteria
ELSE
26.0%
0.7%
0.6%
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
Percent of Sample
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Gail Alleyne Bayne, June 2013
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Online Senior Assessment 2013: Multicultural
Multicultural Question 2:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers to the second question for participants who
took their class for the Multicultural core requirement at TTU (red) and participants who took
their class for the Multicultural core requirement elsewhere (blue). Answer 3 is the correct
choice. It can be seen that a large majority in both groups chose the correct answer. There are
only a few participants in both groups who chose one of the other answers, which may mean
that this question is not a good discriminator of Multicultural understanding. A few more
people in the TTU group chose the correct answer as compared to the ELSE group (92.3% vs.
91.1%). This difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level. This means that on
average students who took their class for the Multicultural core requirement at TTU do not do
better with this question than students who took their class for the Multicultural core
requirement elsewhere.
Objectively defined by physicists
Defined by national laws
0.8%
0.6%
0.9%
0.9%
Defined by tradition and customs
Defined by standards associated with
Greenwich Meridian Time
0.0%
92.3%
TTU
91.1%
ELSE
6.0%
7.4%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
Percent of Sample
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Gail Alleyne Bayne, June 2013
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Online Senior Assessment 2013: Multicultural
Multicultural Question 3:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers to the third question for participants who
took their class for the Multicultural core requirement at TTU (red) and participants who took
their class for the Multicultural core requirement elsewhere (red). Answer 1 is the correct
choice. It can be seen that a large majority in both groups chose the correct answer. There are
only a few participants in both groups who chose one of the other answers, which may mean
that this question is not a good discriminator of Multicultural understanding. Overall, a few
more people in the TTU group chose the correct answer as compared to the ELSE group (91.0%
vs. 90.8%). This difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level. This suggests that on
average students who took their class for the Multicultural core requirement at TTU do not do
better with this question than students who took their class for the Multicultural core
requirement elsewhere.
91.0%
First, being aware of one's own culture
90.8%
4.1%
First, taking a course in cultural competence
Having a best friend who is from a different
culture
3.6%
0.7%
TTU
1.2%
ELSE
Being familiar with the laws that deal with
discrimination
0.0%
4.1%
4.4%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
Percent of Sample
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Gail Alleyne Bayne, June 2013
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Online Senior Assessment 2013: Multicultural
Multicultural Question 4:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers to the fourth question for participants who
took their class for the Multicultural core requirement at TTU (red) and participants who took
their class for the Multicultural core requirement elsewhere (blue). Answer 4 is the correct
choice. It can be seen that just over half of both groups chose the correct answer. The fact that
so many participants chose the same wrong answer (i.e., answer 2) might indicate a lack of
understanding in this area or that the answer choice was confusing. It appears that students
probably did not understand the difference between discriminatory action and a stereotype.
More people in the TTU group chose the correct answer as compared to the ELSE group (58.8%
vs. 56.8%). This difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level. This suggests that on
average students who took their class for the Multicultural core requirement at TTU do not do
better with this question than students who took their class for the Multicultural core
requirement elsewhere.
An accurate observation of Wigi by the Grogs
2.2%
3.0%
24.6%
A discriminatory action against Wigi by the
Grogs
An expression of personal identification
24.9%
14.5%
TTU
15.4%
ELSE
58.8%
An exaggerated and demeaning stereotype of
the Grogs
0.0%
56.8%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
Percent of Sample
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Gail Alleyne Bayne, June 2013
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Online Senior Assessment 2013: Multicultural
Multicultural Question 5:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers to the fifth question for participants who
took their class for the Multicultural core requirement at TTU (red) and participants who took
their class for the Multicultural core requirement elsewhere (blue). Answer 1 is the correct
choice. It can be seen that a large majority in both groups chose the correct answer. There are
also quite a few participants in both groups who chose one of the other answers. More people
in the TTU group chose the correct answer as compared to the ELSE group (71.9% vs. 68.6%).
This difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level. This suggests that on average
students who took their class for the Multicultural core requirement at TTU do not do better
with this question than students who took their class for the Multicultural core requirement
elsewhere.
71.9%
Discrimination
Stereotyping
Unique intercultural understanding
The right of that society to control its
population
0.0%
68.6%
6.6%
6.5%
11.9%
TTU
11.8%
ELSE
9.5%
13.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
Percent of Sample
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Gail Alleyne Bayne, June 2013
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Online Senior Assessment 2013: Multicultural
Multicultural Question 6:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers to the sixth question for participants who
took their class for the Multicultural core requirement at TTU (red) and participants who took
their class for the Multicultural core requirement elsewhere (blue). Answer 1 is the correct
choice. It can be seen that a majority in both groups chose the correct answer. There are also
quite a few participants in both groups who chose one of the other answers. More people in
the ELSE group chose the correct answer as compared to the TTU group (69.9% vs. 71.0%). This
difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level. This means that on average students
who took their class for the Multicultural core requirement elsewhere do not do better with
this question than students who took their Multicultural class at TTU.
69.9%
Identity, history, and culture
71.0%
11.9%
Genetics, skin, and eye color
9.5%
Inherited characteristics and language
The same government
16.6%
TTU
17.2%
ELSE
1.5%
0.0%
2.4%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
Percent of Sample
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Gail Alleyne Bayne, June 2013
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Online Senior Assessment 2013: Multicultural
Multicultural Question 7:
The chart below shows the distributions of answers to the seventh question for participants
who took their class for the Multicultural core requirement at TTU (red) and participants who
took their class for the Multicultural core requirement elsewhere (blue). Answer 2 is the
correct choice. It can be seen that a majority in both groups chose the correct answer. There
are also quite a few participants in both groups who chose one of the other answers. Overall, a
few more people in the ELSE group chose the correct answer as compared to the TTU group
(72.8% vs. 71.7%). This difference is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level. This means
that on average students who took their class for the Multicultural core requirement elsewhere
do not do better with this question than students who took their Multicultural class at TTU.
19.8%
Egocentric
14.5%
71.7%
Ethnocentric
Empiricist
Stoic
0.0%
72.8%
TTU
6.8%
ELSE
9.2%
1.7%
3.6%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
Percent of Sample
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Gail Alleyne Bayne, June 2013
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Online Senior Assessment 2013: Multicultural
Multicultural Average:
The table below compares the differences between TTU and ELSE when the results are
averaged (e.g., if a student got 5 out of the 7 questions correct, his score will be 5/7 = .71).
Participants who took their course for the Multicultural core requirement at Texas Tech have a
higher mean than participants who took their course elsewhere. This difference is not
statistically significant at the 0.05 level. This suggests that on average students who took their
Multicultural course at TTU do not perform better on the Multicultural section of the OSA than
students who took their Multicultural course elsewhere.
n
Multicultural
Overall
1,113
Core at TTU
Mean
SD
74.1%
n
20.0%
Core Elsewhere
Mean
SD
338
73.1%
20.2%
t-stat
p-value
0.86
0.1945
The chart below shows the distributions of scores for participants who took their class for the
Multicultural core requirement at TTU (red) and participants who took their class for the
Multicultural core requirement elsewhere (blue). The distributions are fairly similar. The main
difference appears to be that the TTU group had a few more participants who answered all of
the questions correctly.
Multicultural Questions: TTU vs. ELSE
30.0%
26.5%
Percent of Sample
25.0%
26.3%
26.3%
26.9%
19.2%
20.0%
15.7%
15.0%
8.3%
2.6%
1.1%
4.1%
0.3%0.0%
1.2%
0.0%
0%
14%
29%
43%
TTU
ELSE
8.3%
10.0%
5.0%
17.2%
16.0%
57%
71%
86%
100%
Percent Correct
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Gail Alleyne Bayne, June 2013
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Online Senior Assessment 2013: Multicultural
The table below shows a comparison of the average scores for the participants selecting each
course option within the ELSE group.
A dual credit class
An advancement placement class
A CLEP exam
A class I took at another institution
I don't know
Total
n
23
20
1
283
11
338
Mean
68.3%
87.9%
42.9%
73.0%
62.3%
73.1%
SD
19.7%
10.6%
19.9%
22.4%
20.2%
Based on the mean, students who took their Multicultural course through advanced placement
are the highest-performing group and students who took a dual credit class are the lowestperforming group, excluding the one student who took a CLEP exam and the students that did
not know which course counted.
The following table shows a summary of the correlations between the percentage of
Multicultural questions answered correctly and the following variables of interest: gender, age,
SAT score, ACT score, transfer credit hours, total credit hours, cumulative GPA, Humanities
major, Mathematics major, Natural Sciences major, and Social and Behavioral Sciences major.
Gender
Age
SAT score
ACT score
Transfer hours
Total credit hours
Cumulative GPA
Humanities major
Mathematics major
Natural Sciences major
Social/Behavioral major
Correlation
0.04
0.03
0.37
0.35
-0.08
0.02
0.14
0.07
-0.02
0.03
-0.01
p-value
0.1137
0.2570
<.0001
<.0001
0.0010
0.4172
<.0001
0.0034
0.4905
0.3191
0.6653
n
1,575
1,578
897
743
1,578
1,578
1,576
1,578
1,578
1,578
1,578
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Gail Alleyne Bayne, June 2013
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Online Senior Assessment 2013: Multicultural
The following tables summarize the regression model using these same variables of interest
with Multicultural scores on the OSA as the outcome variable. Note that the variables SAT
score and ACT score were combined into one variable, SAT/ACT score, to include more students
in the one model. This variable was created by using a conversion table from the ACT website
to convert ACT scores to the SAT score range (see http://www.act.org/solutions/college-careerreadiness/compare-act-sat/).
Regression model predicting Multicultural score
n
F-value
p-value
R2
1,183
21.59
< .0001
0.1556
Variable
B
SE
β
Intercept
-0.0216
0.0721
Gender
0.0320
0.0116
0.08**
Age
0.0062
0.0021
0.09**
SAT/ACT score
0.0005
0.0000
0.38***
Transfer credit hours
-0.0001
0.0002
-0.01
Total credit hours
0.0001
0.0003
0.01
Cumulative GPA
0.0209
0.0099
0.06*
Humanities major
0.0095
0.0259
0.01
Mathematics major
-0.0214
0.0169
-0.04
Natural Sciences major
-0.0038
0.0182
-0.01
Social and Behavioral Sciences major
0.0205
0.0134
0.05
Note: * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001; gender: 0 = male, 1 = female
The model overall is significant at the 0.05 level (R2 = 0.1556). For this model gender, age,
SAT/ACT score, and cumulative GPA were significant predictors at the 0.05 level for
Multicultural scores on the OSA. The model suggests that when controlling for the other
variables in the model female students, older students, students with higher SAT/ACT scores,
and students with higher GPA’s, on average, score higher on the Multicultural section of the
OSA.
Office of Planning and Assessment, Devin DuPree and Gail Alleyne Bayne, June 2013
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