Abstracts Education

Student learning in a community college multicultural course

by Elizabeth F Barnett

There were two purposes for this study. The first purpose was to develop and validate an instrument for measuring the achievement of specified multicultural outcomes among community college students. The second purpose was to determine the effects of a required community college multicultural course on students' multicultural competence. This study used a researcher-developed Multicultural Questionnaire to determine the pre- and post-test multicultural competence of community college students enrolled in a required multicultural course. The statistical analysis revealed that it might be possible to assess multicultural competence in terms of awareness, knowledge, and skills. There were statistically significant (p < .001) differences on the measured dimensions, and significant differences (p < .001) between pre- and post-test scores on the three dimensions, Using the Multicultural Questionnaire. The results of this analysis revealed that the assessment of multicultural competence is a complex issue. A simple paper-and-pencil technique, although efficient, may not be sufficient to assess the multiple aspects of multicultural competence.