Teaching toward
international
learning outcomes
Hilary E. Kahn, Director
Center for the Study of Global Change
Teaching with a strategy
• Critically considering one’s teaching
• Analytically exploring students’ learning
• Rewarding for faculty and students
• Fairly simple process (backward course
design is extremely useful; consider the
Course Development Institute: CDI)
• Once course goals are defined,
everything falls into place….including
assessment
Human Rights and the Arts
Course Learning Outcomes
By the end of the semester, my students will be able to…
• summarize human rights issues in numerous world areas
• analyze a specific human rights issue as it is constituted locally
and/or globally
• differentiate complex interrelationships between local and
global phenomenon
• recognize and critically explain cultural differences
• use art as a form of education and advocacy
Evidence of Student Outcomes
Since the course is about the intersection of art and human
rights, it made perfect sense to encourage the students to come
up with their own forms of art and social action. This lead to the
development of the Social Action Art Project.
The Social Action Art Project consists of four parts:
• a written proposal
• an artistic representation that informs, engages, and encourages
action
• a research paper
• a class presentation
The other significant medium of assessment of the outcomes is
the Final Essay Exam.
Criteria for scoring art piece
(created in consultation with students)
• EDUCATION (40%): provides content about a particular subject, demonstrates
complexity of research, shares information, explores and expands a topic of
human rights, teaches, provides a framework of understanding, i.e., educates
EFFECTIVENESS (25%): this includes the ability of the work to create a reaction,
to spur intellectual responses, to move individuals to act, to teach and have an
emotional impact, to evoke a response, to make change at an individual or
broader level, to alter one’s perspective, to be engaging, i.e., to have agency
• EFFORT AND CREATIVITY (20%): this incorporates most of the pre-product
thinking, the conceptual ideas, the complexity of research and thought; also
includes overall time and effort, appropriate use of symbols, aesthetics,
originality, and overall cohesiveness
• ORGANIZATION (15%): includes the ability to communicate and make accessible
a coherent and clearly-defined message. It also includes neatness of
presentation, overall cohesiveness, and how well it represents the problem on
hand
Why Visual Methods?
• Critical Pedagogy for cultural learning
• Active Learning: students have the opportunity to work
through and embody a critical understanding of culture as
constructed of invisible flows and intersections that provide
meaning to the visible
• Challenges dichotomous ways of thinking about the world that
often prevent students for recognizing the complex
interrelationships of the global and local.
• Art can be guide for seeing the world, for self-reflection, and
for facilitating a sense of global responsibility
Blood Diamonds
Commodity Chains and Hijab
Social Action Research Paper: The Criteria
DEFINING THE ISSUE (Who? What? When? Where? Why?)****
• History, cause, context
• Linking the issue to other human rights, to law, declarations, treaties, etc.
• Include multiple perspectives (regional, disciplinary, political, community perspectives, etc.)
• Case Studies
THE ROLE OF “ART”
• Discussing topic through various mediums
• Potential of art to make change
ACTION (What is the next step?)
• Stakeholders that need to be involved for action
• How can individuals get involved, in Bloomington and elsewhere
BIASES
• Thinking about cultural biases (yours and others)
• Consider conflicting ideas about human rights (whether culturally determined or more universalistic)
• Impact of this issue on your own life and education
ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION AND PRESENTATION
• Bibliographic scholarly resources (should have at least 12 at a minimum)
• Organization
• Clarity, grammar, spelling, writing, etc.
• Punctuation and punctuality
•
Final Essay Exam Question
• WHAT DOES ART HAVE TO DO WITH HUMAN RIGHTS? WHAT DO
HUMAN RIGHTS HAVE TO DO WITH ART? WRITE A TWO TO THREEPAGE ESSAY THAT EXPLORES THE INTERSECTION OF ART AND
HUMAN RIGHTS. MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE:
• A DISCUSSION ON WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
• A CONSIDERATION OF HOW ART IS A TOOL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
• THE POLITICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT OF THE PRODUCTION OF
ART AS A FORM OF ADVOCACY
• EXPLAIN RELATIVISM (POLITICAL, HISTORICAL, CULTURAL) AND
UNIVERSALISM OF HUMAN RIGHTS. DEMONSTRATE HOW BOTH
PERSPECTIVES ARE IMPORTANT WHEN TAKING ACTION
• MAKE SURE YOU PROVIDE AND DISCUSS AT LEAST THREE SPECIFIC
EXAMPLES FROM CLASS AND/OR READINGS.
• THIS IS AN OVERALL SYNTHESIS OF HOW HUMAN RIGHTS IS LINKED
TO ART, SO PLEASE CONSIDER THIS ESSAY DEEPLY AND FROM THE
MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES DISCUSSED THIS SEMESTER
Final Essay Exam Questions
• COFFEE, FAIRTRADE, AND GLOBALIZATION: WHAT CAN
COFFEE TEACH YOU ABOUT THE WORLD? WHAT SHOULD
YOU KNOW ABOUT YOUR MORNING CUP OF COFFEE?
• HOW IMPORTANT ARE MEMORIES AND TRUTH IN
RECONCILIATION AND OVERCOMING HUMAN RIGHTS
ABUSES? HOW DOES ART BECOME AN AVENUE FOR THIS
REMEMBERING AND RECOGNITION? PROVIDE EXAMPLES
FROM READINGS, LECTURES, AND DISCUSSIONS. MAKE SURE
YOU INCLUDE A DISCUSSION ON TESTIMONIO AND
TESTIMONY.
• MURALS AND PUBLIC ART: CONSIDER THE USE OF MURALS,
GRAFITTI, AND OTHER FORMS OF PUBLIC ART AS A FORM OF
PROTEST OR AS VICTIMS OF CENSORSHIP. PROVIDE
EXAMPLES FROM CLASS AND READING.
Mapping to Gen. Ed. Outcomes
Category
Description
Knowledge
(World Languages and Cultures
Common Ground)



Skills
(World Languages and Cultures
Common Ground)



Understands culture within a global and
comparative context (that is, the student
recognizes that his/her culture is one of many
diverse cultures and that alternate
perceptions and behaviors may be based in
cultural differences).
Demonstrates knowledge of global issues,
processes, trends, and systems (that is,
economic and political interdependency
among nations, environmental-cultural
interaction, global governance bodies, and
nongovernmental organizations).
Demonstrates knowledge of other cultures
(including beliefs, values, perspectives,
practices, and products).
Uses knowledge, diverse cultural frames of
reference, and alternate perspectives to think
critically and solve problems.
Communicates and connects with people in
other language communities in a range of
settings for a variety of purposes, developing
skills in each of the four modalities: speaking
(productive), listening (receptive), reading
(receptive), and writing (productive).
Uses foreign language skills and/or knowledge
of other cultures to extend access to
information, experiences, and understanding.
Your Evidence of Student Learning (Outcomes)
If I were to map my outcomes to Gen. Ed….
Category
Description
Knowledge
(World Languages and Cultures
Common Ground)



Skills
(World Languages and Cultures
Common Ground)



Your Evidence of Student Learning (Outcomes)
Understands culture within a global and
• My question about Fair Trade,
comparative context (that is, the student
Coffee, and Globalization on my
recognizes that his/her culture is one of many
Final Essay Exam would provide
diverse cultures and that alternate
sufficient evidence (or lack of
perceptions and behaviors may be based in
evidence) of this outcome. We spent
cultural differences).
much class time discussing how the
Demonstrates knowledge of global issues,
commodity chain is full of
processes, trends, and systems (that is,
inequalities that traverse nations
economic and political interdependency
and peoples, the role of NGOs and
among nations, environmental-cultural
human rights treaties, and the
interaction, global governance bodies, and
ramification of these broader global
nongovernmental organizations).
issues on local practices and
Demonstrates knowledge of other cultures
peoples. A very successful essay
(including beliefs, values, perspectives,
would represent this knowledge and
practices, and products).
complex interconnections.
Uses knowledge, diverse cultural frames of • The Social Action Research Paper
reference, and alternate perspectives to
and the Final Essay Exam both
think critically and solve problems.
specifically require students to
Communicates and connects with people in
speak about relativistic and
other language communities in a range of
universalistic understanding of
settings for a variety of purposes, developing
human rights and how these
skills in each of the four modalities: speaking
perspectives are vital in promoting
(productive), listening (receptive), reading
social change
(receptive), and writing (productive).
Uses foreign language skills and/or knowledge
of other cultures to extend access to
information, experiences, and understanding.
If I were to map my outcomes to Gen. Ed…
Category
Description
Knowledge
(World Languages and Cultures
Common Ground)



Skills
(World Languages and Cultures
Common Ground)



Your Evidence of Student Learning (Outcomes)
Understands culture within a global and
• The question from my final essay
comparative context (that is, the student
exam on murals and public art will
recognizes that his/her culture is one of many
demonstrate knowledge of other
diverse cultures and that alternate
cultures. We discussed murals in at
perceptions and behaviors may be based in
least five different cultures and
cultural differences).
world regions. Students will be
Demonstrates knowledge of global issues,
expected to provide examples from
processes, trends, and systems (that is,
multiple regions and cultures.
economic and political interdependency
among nations, environmental-cultural
interaction, global governance bodies, and
nongovernmental organizations).
Demonstrates knowledge of other cultures
(including beliefs, values, perspectives,
practices, and products).
Uses knowledge, diverse cultural frames of
reference, and alternate perspectives to think
critically and solve problems.
Communicates and connects with people in
other language communities in a range of
settings for a variety of purposes, developing
skills in each of the four modalities: speaking
(productive), listening (receptive), reading
(receptive), and writing (productive).
Uses foreign language skills and/or
knowledge of other cultures to extend
access to information, experiences, and
understanding.
•
The Social Action Art Project is
specifically designed to educate,
inform, and create an experience
that leads to greater understanding
of human rights and culture. They
are graded on how well the art
projects educate and engage, i.e.,
how well they communicate and
disseminate information about other
cultures and the world.
Concluding..
• My outcomes are obviously easy to map onto the Gen Ed.
Outcomes due to the subject matter of the course
• However, I imagine that most faculty can find intersections with
the Gen. Ed. outcomes
• The most important thing is to focus on what you want your
students to learn
• Then focus on how you will know when they learn it
• Everything else will fall into place…