Prepared by:
Keith Wurtz
RRN
499
Research Brief
Language Course CCSSE Results
Spring 2009, Spring 2010, and Spring 2011
Overview: The Crafton Hills College (CHC) American Sign Language department developed the
following Program Level Outcome:
 Students will be able to define the concept of culture, appreciate other cultures, and interact
with members of those cultures in relation to their own.
This brief illustrates the relationship between enrolling in ASL, Japanese, and Spanish courses with
student responses to four questions on the Community College Survey of Student Engagement
(CCSSE). The CCSSE is administered to students enrolled in randomly selected weekly census
sections. Results are combined from administrations of the CCSSE in Spring 2009, Spring 2010, and
Spring 2011. The next administration of the CCSSE will occur in Spring 2013.
Two sets of two questions each were examined from the CCSSE. The first set of questions asks
students the following: In your experiences at this college during the current school year, about how
often have you done each of the following?
 Had serious conversations with students of a different race or ethnicity other than your own.
 Had serious conversations with students who differ from you in terms of their religious
beliefs, political opinions, or personal values.
Students responded to these questions on the following four-point Likert scale: Never, Sometimes,
Often, or Very Often.
The second set of questions asks students the following: How much has YOUR EXPERIENCE AT THIS
COLLEGE contributed to your knowledge, skills, and personal development in the following areas?
 Understanding people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds
 Contributing to the welfare of your community
Students responded to these questions using the following four-point Likert scale: Very little, some,
quite a bit, or very much.
Summary of Findings:




58% of the students in language courses reported that they had a serious conversation with
students of a different race or ethnicity other than their own compared to 56% of students in
all of the other courses surveyed
55% of the students in language courses reported that they had a serious conversation with
students who differ from them in terms of their religious beliefs, political opinions, or personal
values compared to 52% of students in all of the other courses surveyed
38% of the students in language courses reported that their experience at Crafton
contributed to their understanding people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds compared to
45% of students in all of the other courses surveyed
17% of the students in language courses reported that their experience at Crafton
contributed to their contributing to the welfare of their community compared to 28% of
students in all of the other courses surveyed
1
In your experiences at this college during the current school year, about how often have you done
each of the following?
Had serious conversations with students of a different
race or ethnicity other than your own.
Percent Often or Very Often
70%
60%
66%
56%
56%
58%
56%
SPAN-101, 102, &
103
Total Language
All Other Courses
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
ASL-101
JAPN-102
Had serious conversations with students who differ
from you in terms of their religious beliefs, political
opinions, or personal values.
Percent Often or Very Often
70%
60%
66%
55%
55%
52%
Total Language
All Other Courses
46%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
ASL-101
JAPN-102
SPAN-101, 102, &
103
2
How much has YOUR EXPERIENCE AT THIS COLLEGE contributed to your knowledge, skills, and
personal development in the following areas?
Understanding people of other racial and ethnic
backgrounds
Percent Quite a Bit or Very Much
70%
60%
50%
40%
45%
44%
36%
38%
33%
30%
20%
10%
0%
ASL-101
JAPN-102
SPAN-101, 102, &
103
Total Language
All Other Courses
Contributing to the welfare of your community
Percent Quite a Bit or Very Much
70%
60%
50%
40%
28%
30%
21%
21%
20%
10%
17%
4%
0%
ASL-101
JAPN-102
SPAN-101, 102, &
103
Total Language
All Other Courses
3