Equity, Inclusion, Diversity, and Belonging in a Multicultural Psychology Course during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Little is known about the degree to which diversity courses facilitate the learning of multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. The aim of this study is to add to this area of research by identify what students learn through participation in a multicultural psychology course. A total of 71 undergraduate students participated in an assessment of a multicultural psychology course. Quantitative analyses indicate that students increased their cultural skills, leadership skills, problem-solving skills, social justice attitudes, multicultural knowledge, multicultural experiences, and empathy from the beginning to the end of the semester. Qualitative findings indicate that students increase their intercultural contact and perspective-taking skills and develop multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills over the semester. The use of a mixed-method approach increases the reliability of findings that multicultural attitudes, cultural skills, and empathy change over a semester long, multicultural psychology course.

1. Introduction

Institutions of higher education have an obligation to prepare students to think interculturally about complex challenges in society [1]. Colleges and universities have institutionalized diversity requirements so that students can think critically about racial and social inequality and successfully work with others who culturally differ from them to solve these problems [2]. Colleges offer a menu of educational pedagogies and practices, diversity programs, and multicultural courses with the goal of instilling cultural competence in students. Multicultural psychology courses serve as an instrumental role in meeting university diversity requirements [2]. It is crucial for liberal arts programs to examine and advance best practices for the promotion of cultural competence. The need for diversity content remains; however, little is known about the degree to which diversity courses facilitate the learning of multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. The purpose of this chapter is to identify what students learn through participation in a multicultural psychology course. This chapter will provide an overview of the literature, the research methodology, and data analyses. The results, implications, methodological limitations, and suggestions for further study are described in the discussion.

Research has examined the effectiveness of multicultural psychology courses using a longitudinal design comparing student attitudes from the beginning to the end of the course [2–4]. Most studies either measured pre-post changes in student racial or diversity attitudes in a single course [2, 3] or compared cultural competencies for students in face-to-face to online instructional modalities [1, 5, 6]. Iseminger and colleagues compared psychology majors in an online to a face-to-face diversity course and found that both student groups scored low in empathy [5]. Self-awareness, recognizing racial privilege and changing perspectives, and empathetic communication were common themes detected in qualitative studies of student learning in diversity courses [4, 7]. Fewer studies measured attitudes and skills by comparing students exposed to different high-impact practices (HIPs) [6–9]. Reich and colleagues found that students in a face-to-face counseling course improved their empathetic communication skills more than students in an asynchronous counseling course and those students in an internship [6]. Schmidt and colleagues similarly detected those students assigned to an intergroup dialog (IGD) approach in a diversity course increased their empathetic feelings and awareness of racial privilege from the beginning to the end of the course compared to students assigned to didactic diversity and non-diversity psychology courses [8].

Assessment of multicultural psychology courses has been criticized. Researchers have used different definitions and outcomes to measure student learning in diversity courses [2]. There is variability in the constructs to measure cultural competence [3]. Some researchers measure color-blind racial attitudes and ethnocultural empathy as characteristics of cultural competence [2, 3], while other scholars assess diversity and social justice attitudes as indicators of competence [10, 11]. In addition, the comparison of cultural competencies for students in face-to-face to online multicultural courses have limitations given the challenges associated with virtual or remote learning [1]. Cultural competence outcomes assessed with surveys or reflections in diversity courses limit the reliability and generalizability of findings [12]. Student learning outcomes gathered on students before and after exposure to a single high-impact practice in a diversity course further limit the results. Regardless of assessment limitations, it is imperative that the scholarship continues to understand if and how students develop competencies through participation in a diversity course. The purpose of this study is to add and expand this area of scholarship by measuring student learning outcomes for students exposed to HIPs in a diversity course using a mixed quantitative-qualitative research method. Quantitative analyses are used to assess learning from the beginning of the course, while qualitative findings are used to refine and extend the results. The three major questions that were used to guide this study include:

1. Are there differences in student learning outcomes (i.e., Color-Blind Racial Attitudes, Cultural Awareness and Skills, Leadership Skills, Social Justice Attitudes, Problem-Solving Skills, Empathy, and Multicultural Experiences) from the beginning to the end of the semester for students in a diversity course before, during, and after the pandemic?

2. What did students learn in a multicultural psychology course?

3. Is there consistency between the quantitative results and the qualitative findings about student learning?

2. Method

2.1 Participants

A total of 71 students enrolled in multicultural psychology courses from Fall 2015 to Spring 2022 at a private teaching university in a northern metropolitan area took part in the study. Fifteen percent of students participated in the course before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, 15% took the course during the outbreak of the pandemic, and 70% participated in the course after the pandemic (i.e., endemic stage). Most students identified as White (76%) and female (66%) with a mean age of 20.63 years (SD = 1.00). The remaining group of students identified as either African-American (8%), Latino/a (4%), Asian-American (3%), or Multiracial (6%), and either male (33%) or transgender (1%). Of these students, 29% reported taking a diversity course and another 35% reported taking a service-learning course prior to the current course.

2.2 Course content

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic required modifications to the instructional modalities and course assignments in the multicultural psychology course as shown in Table 1. The multicultural psychology course was taught synchronous through Zoom video-conferencing software during the COVID-19 pandemic. Course lectures and discussions were revised using a flipped learning approach [13]. The multicultural psychology course fulfills a distribution requirement in the African and African American Studies, Liberal Arts, and Psychology curricula and requires a service-learning component [9, 14]. This course incorporates two HIPs—diversity learning and service-learning [15]. The combination of diversity learning with service learning (DSL) requires students to connect the course content to the service context through critical reflection [10]. Students complete 15 hours of service at either a community-based program or a public school and answer structured reflection questions after each class and service experience. The structured questions are designed for students to critically analyze their thoughts and feelings about race and class concepts within the service and course context over the semester. Students also complete an immersion paper, a movie review paper, and an intercultural interview paper that are designed to increase their multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. Each assignment was modified because of the COVID-19 pandemic as also shown in Table 1. Experiential learning activities are used to generate small and group discussions about stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination, and sexism, classism, and racism, racial identity development, White privilege, micro-aggressions, and cultural competence.

Prior to pandemic			During pandemic			After pandemic
HIPs	Modality	Assignments	HIPs	Modality	Assignments	HIPs	Modality	Assignments
DSL	Face-to-face	Immersion paper	Eservice	Online	Multicultural awareness/getting to know you video	DSL	Face-to-face	Multicultural awareness/getting to know you video
Service-learning	Small-group dialog	Multicultural movie review	Diversity learning strategies	Small-group dialog	Multicultural knowledge/multicultural movie review paper	Eservice or service-learning	Small-group dialog	Multicultural knowledge/multicultural movie review paper
Diversity learning strategies	Large-group discussion	Intercultural interview paper	Experiential learning activities	Large-group discussion	Multicultural skill/intercultural interview	Diversity learning strategies	Large-group discussion	Multicultural skill/intercultural interview
Experiential learning activities		Structured reflections			Structured reflections/student choice of format via paper, presentation, or video	Experiential learning activities		Structured reflections/student choice of format via paper, presentation, or video

Table 1.

A comparison of educational practices in the multicultural psychology course before, during, and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

2.3 Measures and procedure

The measures were selected to measure course objectives and student learning outcomes (see [9] for more details about each measure).

2.3.1 A demographic questionnaire

A Demographic Questionnaire, developed by the researchers, was used to gather information on gender, race, age, and year in school. Student data were coded according to year of course completion and whether students participated in the course before, during, or after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

2.3.2 The civic attitudes, knowledge, and skills measures (CAKSM)

The Civic Attitudes, Knowledge, and Skills Measures (CAKSM), developed by Moely and Ilustre [11], are measures of constructs related to civic engagement such as cultural competence and social justice. The measures are derived from the Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire (CASQ) [16] yields scores on three domains with 11 subscales: 1. Attitudes (civic responsibility, social justice, community engagement, and cultural awareness); 2. Knowledge (knowledge about political issues, New Orleans culture, and current events); and 3. Skills (problem-solving, leadership, and cultural skills). The cultural awareness (i.e., respondents assess their interest in learning about different cultures) and cultural skills (i.e., respondents evaluate their ability to relate to people from a different race or culture), leadership (respondents evaluate their ability to lead), social justice attitudes (i.e., respondents rate their agreement with items expressing attitudes concerning the causes of poverty and how social problems can be solved), and problem-solving skills (i.e., respondents evaluate their ability to listen, work cooperatively, take the role of the other, think logically and analytically, and solve problems) subscales were used in this study. Coefficient alpha for each subscale ranged from .77 to 78.

2.3.3 The color-blind racial attitude scale (CoBRAS)

The Color-Blind Racial Attitude Scale (CoBRAS) assesses contemporary racial attitudes [17]. The CoBRAS, a 20-item self-report measure, yields scores on three scales: 1. Unawareness of Racial Privilege (i.e., respondents evaluate their lack of awareness of White racial privilege); 2. Unawareness of Institutional Discrimination (i.e., respondents evaluate their lack of awareness of racial issues associated with social policies, affirmative action, and discrimination); and 3. Unawareness of Blatant Racial Issues (i.e., respondents evaluate their lack of awareness of blatant racial problems in the United States). Cronbach’s coefficient alpha for each scale ranged from .86 to .88.

2.3.4 The multicultural experiences questionnaire (MEQ)

The Multicultural Experiences Questionnaire (MEQ) measures multicultural attitudes on two subscales [18]: 1. Multicultural Experiences is based on the number of multicultural experiences, and 2. Multicultural Desires is based on effort or desire to increase multicultural experiences. Cronbach’s alpha for the subscales ranged from .53 to .73.

2.3.5 The multicultural knowledge questionnaire (MKQ)

The Multicultural Knowledge Questionnaire (MKQ), developed by the researchers, measures the degree to which students learn diversity concepts and theories taught in the multicultural psychology course. Students are asked to rate their familiarity and ability to discuss diversity concepts using a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree (i.e., I am familiar with aversive racism, I am familiar with the research on micro-aggressions). Thirty-six items are added together to produce a total scale. Cronbach’s coefficient alpha is .96.

2.3.6 The psychological costs of racism to whites scale (PCRW)

The Psychological Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (PCRW) measures the costs of racism to Whites as an emotional, cognitive, and behavioral consequences experienced by White individuals as a result of racism on three subscales [19]: 1. White Empathetic Reactions Toward Racism (i.e., respondents assess their feelings about racial injustice); 2. White Guilt (i.e., respondents asses the degree to which they feel responsible for racism); and 3. White Fear of Others (i.e., respondents assess how much they trust or distrust people who culturally differ from them). The White Empathetic Reactions Toward Racism subscale was used in this study. Cronbach’s coefficient alpha for each subscale ranged from 63. to .78.

2.3.7 The Toronto empathy questionnaire

The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire measures empathy [20]. Sixteen items are added together to produce a total scale. The test-retest reliability score was .81, and Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was .87.

A triangulation mixed-methods longitudinal design was used to measure differences in student learning outcomes from the beginning to the end of the semester. Qualitative and quantitative data are collected at the same time, and the qualitative findings are merged with the quantitative results to understand student learning. The quantitative results are used to refine, explain, and extend the qualitative findings [21]. All the students completed an informed consent form and a pretest survey that measured the Civic Attitudes, Knowledge, and Skills Measures (CAKSM), the Color-blind Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS), the Multicultural Experience Questionnaire (MEQ), the Multicultural Knowledge Questionnaire (MKQ), the Psychological Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (PCRW), and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). Students completed the survey again at the end of the course. In addition, the cultural immersion paper, multicultural movie review, and intercultural interview paper assignments were collected according to the assigned date on the syllabus. Students answered structured reflection questions that required them to analyze their thoughts and feelings about service experiences, connect the service context to the class content, and evaluate how their cognitions did or did not change throughout the semester [14]. Structured reflections and course assignments were analyzed after final grades were awarded.

2.4 Results

2.4.1 Quantitative analyses

A repeated measures analyses of variance with post hoc Tukey’s HSD analyses were conducted to examine student learning outcomes, i.e., Civic Attitudes, Knowledge, and Skills Measures (CAKSM), the Color-blind Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS), the Multicultural Experience Questionnaire (MEQ), the Multicultural Knowledge Questionnaire (MKQ), the Psychological Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (PCRW), and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) for students in a multicultural psychology course before, during, and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic from the beginning to the end of the semester. The COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., before, during, and after) was used as the independent variable, and pretest and posttest survey scores were used as dependent variables. There were no significant differences in student learning outcomes for students who took part in a multicultural psychology course before, during, or after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A paired t-test was conducted on student learning outcomes, i.e., Civic Attitudes, Knowledge, and Skills Measures (CAKSM), the Color-blind Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS), the Multicultural Experience Questionnaire (MEQ), the Multicultural Knowledge Questionnaire (MKQ), the Psychological Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (PCRW), and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) for students in a multicultural psychology course. Students increased their cultural skills, leadership skills, problem-solving skills, social justice attitudes, multicultural knowledge, multicultural experiences, and empathy from the beginning to the end of the semester as shown in Table 2.

	Time points
	Pretest		Posttest
Measures	M	SD	M	SD	n	t-test
CAKSM
Cultural skills	30.32	4.59	32.95	4.34	49	−3.05**
Leadership skills	19.44	2.84	20.64	2.96	50	−2.12*
Problem-solving skills	43.30	5.54	46.22	2.98	49	−3.28**
Social justice attitudes	31.12	3.03	34.24	4.03	49	−4.06***
CoBRAS
Racism	10.14	3.35	9.70	3.40	47	.59
Institutional discrimination	15.83	5.59	14.66	5.82	48	.94
White privilege	15.87	5.62	14.31	5.29	47	1.59
MEQ
Multicultural desires	26.60	2.71	25.29	3.30	48	.45
Multicultural experiences	27.29	5.57	29.87	4.16	46	−2.40**
MKQ
Multicultural knowledge	92.75	23.10	120.15	28.51	40	−5.03***
PCRW
Empathetic reactions	27.19	2.42	22.93	2.80	31	5.87***
White guilt	13.44	4.81	14.65	5.91	47	−1.05
TEQ
Empathy	68.21	7.24	71.78	6.10	28	−2.05*

Table 2.

Mean scores, standard deviations, and paired t-tests for pre- and posttest scores for CAKSM, MEQ , MKQ , PCRW, and TEQ.

***

p < .001.

**

p < .01.

*

p < .05.

2.4.2 Qualitative analyses

Two independent coders read course assignments from a purposeful sample of 36 students. The purposeful sample included assignments from students who participated in the course during the pandemic and endemic phases of COVID-19. Coders compared and analyzed four sources of information (i.e., reflection responses, intercultural interview papers) using open, selective, and axial coding to construct a common framework of student learning in a multicultural psychology course [21]. Open coding consisted of categorizing and naming the data according to theoretical concepts of service-learning [10], while selective coding consisted of categorizing the data according to diversity concepts [22] as shown in Table 3. Categories and themes that emerged from the data were compared using the constant comparative method. Discrepancies between how coders identified categories, and themes were discussed until agreement was reached. Axial consisted of systematically analyzing the data according to time. Major themes, minor themes (i.e., themes that occurred less often), and time periods were further compared using the constant comparative method. Data were grouped into time patterns as shown in Table 4. Major themes that emerged from the data included multicultural awareness, intercultural contact, multicultural knowledge, perspective-taking/empathy, and multicultural skills as also shown in Table 4. COVID-19 impact on student learning was an unexpected theme that emerged from the data at the beginning and end of the course.

Categories	Open coding	Selective coding
Interpersonal intercultural skills	Intergroup contact/exposure to peer and recipients who racially and culturally differ	Multicultural skills
	Service-learning: Student and recipients learn from each other
Relationship building	Intergroup contact	Multicultural skills
	Service-learning
Racial identity development models (African American, White, and Cultural RID)	Racial-ethnic-cultural identity models	Multicultural knowledge
Clark’s doll study	Multicultural theories	Multicultural knowledge
Modern racism	Multicultural theories	Multicultural knowledge
Aversive racism	Multicultural theories	Multicultural knowledge
Stereotyping (Recognize racial stereotypes and can respond to them)	Recognize racial stereotypes and how to respond to them	Multicultural skills
Old fashion racism	Multicultural theories	Multicultural knowledge
Perspective-taking skills	Service-learning	Multicultural skills
	Multicultural content
Communication skills	I learned how to actively listen and reflect on what one is saying and validate one’s feelings	Multicultural skills
	Intercultural communication skills
Self-awareness	Service-learning	Multicultural awareness
	Multicultural content/immersion assignment
Empathy	Service-learning	Multicultural skills
	Reflection
	Experiential activities
Self-reflection	Service-learning	Multicultural awareness
	Reflection questions
Reflection skills	Intercultural communication skills	Multicultural skills
	Experiential activities
Micro-aggressions	Multicultural content and experiential activities	Multicultural knowledge
White privilege	Multicultural content and experiential activities	Multicultural knowledge
Male privilege	Multicultural content and experiential activities	Multicultural knowledge
LGBTQ+	Multicultural content and experiential activities	Multicultural knowledge
	Multicultural movie review
Steps to be an Ally	Multicultural content and experiential activities	Multicultural skills
Service-learning	Service-learning: Connection between the course and field	Multicultural knowledge
Thoughts and feelings about the course at the beginning of the semester	Self-awareness	Multicultural awareness
Thoughts and feelings about taking this course at the end of the semester	Self-awareness	Multicultural awareness
COVID-19 impacts	Service-learning	Multicultural awareness
	Self-awareness

Table 3.

Open and selective coding.

Timeframe	Major themes	Minor themes	Examples
Beginning of the semester	Multicultural awareness	Self-awareness/awareness	I was excited to start this class. I was nervous but eager to become educated on the topics we would be learning in class.
			I learned about race from my parents, school, and personal experiences.
			I was taught not to see color.
			I censored my thoughts on controversial and uncomfortable topics because I did not want to offend anyone.
			I felt anxious in the beginning of class.
			Self-reflection taught me about myself and what I need to work on this class.
		Multicultural awareness	I became aware of the recent racial movements which in turn pushed me to reflect on topics of racism.
			The recent protests such as Black Live Matter made me aware that I need to be educated more on racism and other related topics.
	COVID-19 impacts	COVID-19 impacts	I learned to adjust to being online and then learning to adjust to being in-person for class and service was hard.
			I was frustrated that the university did not have a transition period. We went from online to in-person.
Begging to middle of the semester	Intercultural contact	Intercultural contact	I took part in Eservice and enjoyed tutoring and building a relationship with the child I was paired with.
			I felt that service would have been a good experience and was disappointed it had to abruptly end because of COVID-19.
		Relationship building	I learned how to connect with my peers; I learned to make connections to the children.
			I learned to be vulnerable by sharing my thoughts and feelings.
			I learned to actively listen; I learned to listen in group.
Middle of the semester	Multicultural knowledge	Multicultural knowledge	I learned about racial identity development, modern racism, old fashion racism, aversive racism, White privilege, male privilege, micro-aggressions, and steps to become an ally.
			I learned to apply the information from class to my service and vice versa.
	Perspective-taking/empathy	Intercultural Communication Skills	I learned to actively listen and reflect on what they were saying and validate their thoughts and feelings.
			I learned to go deeper in a conversation.
		Perspective-taking skills	I learned to accept individuals where they are not where I want them to be; I gained perspective-taking skills.
			I gained a new perspective by interacting with my peers and in the community.
		Perspective-taking/empathy	I gained empathy; I learned to see things from another’s point of view. I learned to put myself in a peers/recipients place so I could see things the way they do.
Middle-to-end of the semester	COVID-19 impacts	COVID-19 impacts	I am still emotionally and physically drained from the pandemic; I am disappointed that could take part in Eservice because my fingerprints were held up due to COVID-19; I relearned how to manage school with work and service.
End of the semester	Multicultural skills	Recognizing and responding to stereotypes	I learned to pick up on racial stereotypes that I had not noticed before. I learned to respond to racial stereotypes.
			I developed a critical consciousness. I realize there needs to be continuous change regarding racial issues regardless of what is going on otherwise progress will not be made.
		Multicultural skills	I learned to discuss uncomfortable topics.
			I gained awareness, knowledge, and skills about topics I was unfamiliar with such as White privilege.
			I learned how to be an ally.
			I learned to go out of my comfort zone and reflect on differences.
			Self-reflection taught me about myself and what I need to do to be culturally competent; this course was just the beginning.

Table 4.

Major themes about student learning that emerged from the begging to the end of the multicultural psychology course.

3. Discussion

Institutions of higher education have opened the door to diversity. In fact, the college population has become increasingly diverse over the past few decades, which in turn has prompted institutions to make changes to reflect diversity in both the curriculum and co-curricular programming for undergraduate students. Intercultural contact and cross-racial exchanges in and out of the classroom provide students with opportunities to develop cultural competencies [1]. The goals of this study were to detect what students learn in a multicultural psychology course that utilized diversity learning and service learning as primary pedagogical strategies, and examine differences in student learning for students enrolled in this course before, during, and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic using a mixed quantitative-qualitative methodological approach. There was no observed difference in student learning outcomes for students enrolled in the multicultural psychology course before, during, and after the outbreak of the COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic did not impact student learning even though it required the course instructor to make substantial revisions to the multicultural psychology course. This was the first time the multicultural psychology course was taught online and included an optional virtual service-learning component (i.e., Eservice). Making the online course a close replication of the in-person course may have contributed to the lack of observed difference in student scores.

The effects of multicultural psychology education have been investigated and reports document that taking one course can increase cultural competencies in students [3, 5]. Evidence from the current study suggests that students change their attitudes and acquire skills from the beginning to the end of the multicultural psychology course. Key aspects of cultural competence such as cultural skills, multicultural attitudes, and empathy increased over the course of the semester. Students increased their intercultural interactions and improved their ability to relate to and take on the perspectives of others who racially and culturally differed from them, consistent with previous research on cultural competence [2, 3]. In contrast, students reduced their anger and sadness related to racial injustices. The White Empathetic Reaction subscale measures anger and sadness. The political climate and the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted racism worldwide. Students were aware of Anti-Black and Anti-Asian racism, and the protests that occurred in response to racial injustices in the United States, which, in turn, may have contributed to their lack of anger and sadness, thus contributing to their increased empathy. Students also increased their multicultural knowledge, leadership skills, understanding of social injustices, and ability to solve problems by the end of the course, congruent with research on service-learning [9–11]. Our findings advance assessment research that suggests that exposing students to both diversity content and diversity service-learning contributes to changes in their attitudes and skills [9].

Another goal of this study was to detect what students learned in a multicultural psychology course using student assignments (i.e., multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills and structured reflections). Five major themes emerged from the data, including multicultural awareness, intercultural contact, multicultural knowledge, perspective-taking/empathy, and multicultural skills. At the beginning of the course, most students described being excited and nervous to take the multicultural psychology course. Some students felt the need to censor their opinions out of fear they would offend a peer, while other students described the need to become more educated about racism. Students completed a multicultural awareness or an immersion assignment to increase their own self-awareness and cultural awareness. Almost all students opted to complete the multicultural awareness assignment. The multicultural awareness assignment required students to make a video about their own culture and describe how they learned about racism or Whiteness. Students discussed their family’s culture, traditions, and history related to racism or Whiteness, as well as their concerns about discussing issues related to race, class, and culture in class. Students watched their own video and then summarized what they did or did not learn about themselves and what they need to develop as a learner. The multicultural awareness assignment contributed to students’ self-awareness and awareness of multicultural issues. As one student stated, “I am nervous but eager to become educated on topics that we will be covering in class. The recent racial movements made me aware that I need be educated about racism. Self-reflection taught me about myself and what I need to work on.” Intercultural competence is a developmental process that is ongoing and challenging because it requires intentional effort from students to examine their own perspectives that are shaped by their cultural upbringing and lived experiences [5].

Intergroup racial contact is an essential component for instilling intercultural competence in students. In a classroom setting, students engage in dialogs with peers who racially and culturally differ from them. Likewise, students who participate in service-learning are often immersed in a cultural that differs from their own. Students learn about the community, forge relationships with service recipients, and acquire information that negates preconceived views [23, 24]. Students are required to systematically analyze their service experiences and connect them to the course content. All students completed structured reflection questions after each class and service experience that required them to critically analyze their thoughts and feelings about race and class concepts within the course and service context over the semester. In addition, almost all students applied their service experiences to the course content in the multicultural movie review (i.e., multicultural knowledge) assignment. Students watched a diversity film (i.e., Forrest Gump, The Blind Side), applied diversity theories to explain the main theme of the movie, and described what they did or did not learn in terms of racial identity development and cultural competence. As one student observed, “I learned to apply information from class to my service. I observed racism and classism first-hand. The students did not have access to a computer or technology, so they attended the after-school program to keep up with their studies. The teachers did not respond to my questions, so we had to figure out how to do the math without resources or assistance. Although I could connect this to the movie I reviewed for the assignment, as well as to the class discussions, I was deeply saddened because what I experienced at service would never happen at a White middle-class school.” Students developed a deeper understanding of the course concepts by completing the multicultural knowledge/movie review and critical reflection assignments; therefore, it is not surprising that multicultural knowledge emerged as a major theme.

Intergroup racial contact is also central component for student development of perspective-taking, empathy, and intercultural communication skills [3, 6]. Most students noted that they acquired intercultural communication skills and perspective-taking skills in their critical reflections. As one student commented, “I enjoyed building a relationship with the child with whom I was paired with at Eservice. I learned to be vulnerable and actively listen. I would reflect on what he was saying and validate his thoughts. I learned to see the world through his eyes. By doing this I was able to have deeper conversations with him and developed empathy.” Student reflections provide insight into how some students develop intercultural communication and perspective-taking skills during the course [5].

Students acquired multicultural skills through their intercultural experiences that occurred in and out of class. Most students described the development of their intercultural communication and interpersonal problem-solving skills through their critical reflections and intercultural interview assignments. The intercultural interview assignment required students to develop interview questions on any topic related to multicultural psychology (i.e., classism, ageism, and racism), interview two individuals who differ in one cultural characteristic (i.e., age, race, religion, sexuality, nationality, education, gender, or socioeconomic status), and compare participant responses. Students were also required to integrate theory and research to explain the main findings from the interviews. Some students interviewed each other, while other students interviewed family members or participants recruited from local establishments such as Dunkin Donuts or Wawa. The intercultural interview and critical reflections assignments influenced student development of cultural skills. As one student reflected, “I learned to pick up on micro-aggressions. I would not have picked up on micro-aggressions prior to this course. I also learned to respond to them by engaging in a dialog even though it was incredibly uncomfortable. I learned to step out of my comfort zone and engage in difficult conversations. The self-reflections taught me about myself, what I need to do to be an ally in the real sense, and that this course is just the beginning.” Student development of cultural skills depends on the interventions (i.e., assignments and activities). Course assignments and activities should be intentionally designed to increase student reflection, cultural awareness, and intercultural skills.

Most students also noted how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their development of awareness, knowledge, and skills at either the beginning or end of the semester in their critical reflections. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted in-person service-learning activities. Some students were unable to take part in service-learning either in-person or online because they could not acquire the required clearances to engage in service work. About half of the students who took part in the multicultural psychology course during the pandemic and endemic phases reported that they thought their service work would have been better under “normal” circumstances. Students reported that the felt emotionally and physically drained from the COVID-19 pandemic and had to relearn how to be engaged as a student, consistent with research that found that students had low motivation and lacked engagement during the pandemic [25]. The impact of COVID-19 was an unexpected major theme that emerged from the data.

A final objective is to compare the qualitative data with quantitative data to detect similarities and differences. Except for the impacts from COVID-19 on student learning, similarities were detected between the qualitative and quantitative findings. Similarities were observed in cultural competence between student surveys and course assignments. Students reformulated their attitudes, acquired knowledge, and developed cultural skills through their intercultural interactions with peers in class and children in the community. Students also developed empathy over the course of the semester. In contrast, differences were noted for cultural and racial awareness. Student survey reports revealed that they did not improve their cultural awareness or color-blind racial awareness from the beginning to the end of the semester, although self-awareness and multicultural awareness were detected in their critical reflections, incongruent with previous research [3, 9]. The political and social climate that occurred at the same time as the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic may have influenced students’ racial and cultural awareness prior to taking the course. Protests about the removal of statues, the violence against Black and Asian Americans, and Black Lives Matter movement were documented on social media and in other mediums in general. Most students noted that they needed to be more informed about these issues at the beginning of the course; therefore, they may have rated their awareness of White privilege, racism, and institutional discrimination higher than previous student groups [9]. It is also plausible that ceiling effects are associated with student survey reports of cultural awareness and racial color-blind attitudes [12]. Students may have rated their responses too high at pretest, which would limit the amount of change that could be measured at posttest, thus contributing to the lack of observed difference in cultural awareness and color-blind attitude scores.

3.1 Implications

Student learning in a multicultural psychology course is predicated on the diversity content, pedagogical strategies (i.e., diversity learning and service-learning), intercultural experiences (i.e., in and out of class), and interventions (i.e., assignments and activities) [1]. Diversity learning and service-learning practices were intentionally integrated with each other to increase self-reflection, cultural awareness, and multicultural knowledge in students. These high-impact practices can be incorporated into any undergraduate course to advance student learning of cultural competence. The course assignments were purposely designed to increase students’ multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills, while the critical reflections were designed so that students could connect the course content to the service context and examine their own learning over the course of the semester. The assignments also lend themselves to any undergraduate course that includes diversity, social justice, or critical thinking objectives and outcomes.

3.2 Limitations

Assessment of student learning should be ongoing, and data should be used to refine teaching to improve student learning. It is important to point out that we did not detect differences in student learning outcomes for students enrolled in face-to-face and online courses. The multicultural psychology course was taught synchronously and was a close replication of the in-person course. An asynchronous multicultural psychology course that does not replicate in-person activities online may contribute to differences in student learning outcomes. Future researchers should measure differences in student learning of cultural competencies for students in diversity courses exposed to asynchronous, synchronous, and face-to-face instructional modalities. In addition, more than half the sample of students took the multicultural psychology course during the pandemic and endemic phases of COVID-19. There is a degree of uncertainty if the COVID-19 pandemic influenced student attitudes. Similarly, there is a degree of uncertainty if the racial and political climate in the United States influenced student social justice attitudes, cultural skills, or general empathy. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to racism and violence against Asian Americans in the United States. Protests, movements, and marches occurred as a result. Moreover, on January 6, 2021, a mob of supporters attacked the United States Capital Building in Washington, D.C., in an effort to prevent Congress from counting electoral college votes so that President Donald Trump would retain his position of President of the United States. Student awareness of both the attack and protests (i.e., the attack made me aware that I need be more aware politically, I need to work on my own racism) may have influenced their attitudes. A replication of this study post-pandemic would address some of the historical research limitations that are most likely associated with the results. Homogeneity effects are most likely associated with our sample of White females at a teaching university in a metropolitan area, which limits our ability to generalize the results. Researchers should expand this area of scholarship by replicating this study with larger and more diverse samples of students.

4. Conclusion

The goal of a multicultural education is to instill cultural competence in students. Multicultural psychology courses provide students with the foundational skills so that they can continue to develop and improve their intercultural competence beyond the course [1, 5]. The most salient finding from this study was that students improve their multicultural and social justice attitudes, increase cultural and problem-solving skills, and develop empathy after engaging in intercultural interactions in and out of a multicultural psychology course. The use of a mixed-method approach expands previous scholarship and increases the reliability of our findings that characteristics of cultural competence such as multicultural attitudes, cultural skills, and empathy shift over the semester in a multicultural psychology course. Additional research is warranted if this area of scholarship is to advance. Future researchers should replicate and expand this study with a larger and more diverse sample of students enrolled in diversity courses in different academic disciplines at multiple institutions located in and beyond the United States. Researchers may want measure differences in student learning outcomes for students enrolled in diversity courses that use different instructional modalities including face-to-face, synchronous online, and asynchronous online formats.