It is an ethical imperative that faculty and staff develop a level of cultural competence in order to work effectively with increasingly diverse student bodies, as well as to prepare students to effectively participate in a diverse, global workforce. Online learning offers a promising way to provide meaningful, in-depth diversity and inclusion education to faculty and staff who typically have limited time to devote to professional development activities. However, little is known about the effectiveness of such learning interventions. The current project utilized a pretest-posttest design to examine the effectiveness of a 4-week instructor-led web-based course facilitated on Blackboard Learning Management System. Effectiveness was defined as increasing participants’ cultural competence in terms of cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning related to building a more inclusive campus environment. The findings of this study provide initial evidence for the use of this online course to support the development of faculty and staff cultural competence. Results indicate that participants developed a greater understanding of the value of diversity, an increased openness to learning about other cultures, and a greater awareness of their social privileges. Results also suggest that individuals’ geographic background and comfort level with computer-mediated communication moderate the effectiveness of the course in terms of learning outcomes. Finally, qualitative data from the open-ended questions help support the quantitative analyses and provide a richer understanding of participants’ experiences and learning in the online course. Implications for research on the effectiveness of online diversity courses are discussed.

中文翻译：

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为教职员工测试在线多元化课程的有效性。

教职员工培养一定程度的文化能力，以便与日益多样化的学生团体有效合作，并让学生为有效参与多元化的全球劳动力做好准备，这是道德上的当务之急。在线学习提供了一种很有前景的方式，可以为通常时间有限的教职员工提供有意义的、深入的多元化和包容性教育。然而，人们对这种学习干预的有效性知之甚少。当前项目利用前测-后测设计来检查在 Blackboard 学习管理系统上促进的为期 4 周的讲师指导的基于网络的课程的有效性。有效性被定义为提高参与者在认知、情感、和行为学习与建立更具包容性的校园环境有关。本研究的结果为使用此在线课程支持教职员工文化能力的发展提供了初步证据。结果表明，参与者对多样性的价值有了更深入的了解，对学习其他文化的态度更加开放，并且更加了解他们的社会特权。结果还表明，个人的地理背景和以计算机为媒介的交流的舒适程度会影响课程在学习成果方面的有效性。最后，来自开放式问题的定性数据有助于支持定量分析，并提供对参与者在在线课程中的体验和学习的更丰富的理解。