Module and Course Development Grant
University of Southern Indiana
Online Learning Module for Teacher Continuing Education in Diversity
Abstract
This proposal describes an online learning module to be offered on the internet as continuing education for primary and secondary education teachers in Indiana. The topic of Diversity Education for Addressing the Needs of Sexual Minorities will be addressed in 10 chapters, including such features as text, quizzes, static and animated graphics, streaming video/audio, self-evaluations of attitudes and knowledge, and an overall evaluation for the module. Registrants for the module will also receive a hard copy of orientation materials. The project represents collaboration between social work and psychology departments as a response to needs cited by students and community leaders, and acknowledged by the U. S. Department of Education.
Narrative
1. Evidence of significant need for the module.
The proposed module involves an exciting collaboration between the Department of Psychology in the School of Liberal Arts and the Department of Social Work in the Bower-Suhrheinrich School of Education and Human Services. The project will involve development of an online module that will offer general information and values clarification exercises related to working with gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and people who are transgendered, that is, people whose gender identity does not match their physical bodies (G.L.B.T.). This type of training will fulfill a significant need in workforce education for the state of Indiana as it relates to educating professionals. Teachers and school counselors frequently deal with students whose backgrounds and individual characteristics differ widely from those found in the general population. Traditional programs that have sought to increase sensitivity to diversity issues have primarily focused upon such categories as race, religion, national origin and sex. However, the life experiences narrated by children who are struggling with issues of sexual identity reveal that sexual minorities are also at risk for harassment, abuse and discrimination (Walters & Hayes, 1998). These types of abuses can have long-lasting negative effects on its victims, including lower self-esteem, increased anxiety, decreased academic performance and increased risk of suicide (Garnets, Herek, & Levy, 1992). Consequently, students dealing with issues of sexual identity are quite likely to experience substantial barriers to obtaining a full education (ERIC, 1994). Over the past 20 years, professional organizations in the human services fields (e.g., American Psychological Association, National Association of Social Workers) have advocated diversity education related to issues specific to people who are G.L.B.T. More recently, this stance has extended to the field of education (e.g., National Education Association, American School Health Association).
Students preparing to be professional educators often indicate that situations dealing with sexual minorities present a particularly difficult task for them, and they express a need for additional training in this area. In preparation for this proposal, 457 students in Social Work (n = 83), Psychology (n = 263) and Education (n = 111) completed surveys (Homophobia Scales) that assessed attitudes to G.L.B.T. individuals. The results revealed a relatively high level of discomfort related to working with G.L.B.T. people and issues. Perhaps more relevant to the present proposal, as compared with students majoring in other disciplines, the Education students demonstrated a particular need for additional information related to G.L.B.T. issues. Their average score was significantly higher than that for the rest of the sample. Even professionals already working in the field encounter difficulties due to a lack of information or difficulties with clarifying their personal values with their professional responsibilities. One survey of psychologists found that 99% had encountered at least one homosexual client and that the average portion of a practice devoted to homosexual or bisexual clients was 13% (Garnets, Hancock, Cochran, Goodchilds, & Peplau, 1991). Of these therapists there was great variability in their ability to adequately meet the needs of their clients in these categories (Garnets et al., 1991).
The U. S. Department of Education has acknowledged that harassment directed at G.L.B.T. students may constitute sexual harassment (U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights [U.S.D.E], 1999). In addition, the Department advocated that sexual orientation be included in school policies related to hate crimes (U.S.D.E., 1999). Ninety-seven percent of high school students acknowledge hearing homophobic remarks from their peers--25 times a day, on average. Eighty percent of gay and lesbian youth report verbal abuse, 44 percent report threats of attack, 33 percent report having objects thrown at them and 30 percent report being chased or followed (P.F.L.A.G., 2000). Of particular importance in reaching out to students who may be gay or lesbian is the recent research finding that gay teens are two to six times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers, and they account for 30% of all teen suicides (P.F.L.A.G., 2000). Some states (e.g., Massachusetts) have incorporated G.L.B.T. diversity training into statewide education policy, and some individual school systems have incorporated gay and lesbian issues into student life curricula (e.g., Fairfax County, Virginia, Chicago suburbs, New York City). Colleagues in the U.S.I. teacher education program responded favorably to the concept of this module, noting G.L.B.T. issues as a critical topic that appears many of [our] students know little about. They are enthusiastic about reviewing a beta version of the module.
These issues reflect a significant but often overlooked need to educators in the state of Indiana to have access to accurate and unbiased information regarding scientific and social issues that related to working with students who are G.L.B.T., or who are questioning their sexual orientation. This proposal outlines the development of a teaching module to be made available via the internet for teachers to use for continuing education credit. Ms. Barbara Green of the Indiana Professional Standards Board has indicated that this topic would seem to be appropriate for a continuing education module. (Official approval would require a formal application.) For the 1999 - 2000 school year, the Indiana Department of Education reported that there were 52,748.4 full-time equivalent teachers in Indiana public schools. Ostensibly, any of these individuals could benefit from participating in the module; of these teachers, those seeking Continuing Renewal Units (C.R.U.) would be particularly well-served. As further detailed below, this module might also be easily included in other curricula to contribute to workforce development as part of core courses at U.S.I.
2. Evidence that the need for this module or course is not now being met in another way.
Professional educators and school counseling personnel may have difficulty locating continuing education related to working with sexual minorities. For example, of the 415 continuing education home study courses advertised in the September 2000 American Psychological Association Monitor,(which would support continuing education for school psychologists) none addressed issues of therapy with G. L. B. T. clients. The Indiana Professional Standards Board (for Teacher Education) does not currently maintain a list of approved educational programs in the state; consequently, it was not possible to compare the content of this program to existing programs. This program is, however, consistent with the guidelines for C.R.U.'s for Indiana's secondary education teachers who hold the master's degree. Although these issues are addressed on a limited basis within the curriculum of certain undergraduate and graduate programs of study, they are not addressed in a consistent or comprehensive manner for most of the students. In addition, students express that they have difficulty exploring diverse opinions in a class format. The design of this module would allow its use with students who are preparing to enter the field of education, as well as serving continuing educational needs of professionals already working in the schools. At U.S.I., it could supplement current learning opportunities within the Human Sexuality courses taught in the departments of Psychology and Nursing and in the graduate-level Social Work course in Human Diversity.
3. Rationale for choice of module or course and technology or technologies to be used.
Teachers, principals, superintendents, and teacher's aides, as well as support staff such as secretaries and janitors, could benefit from new or expanded skills in the area of coping strategies around the development of sexual orientation. Some of the above-mentioned personnel who interact in the K-12 environment periodically are required to earn C.R.U.'s to maintain and renew their professional license. Continuing education for school personnel is valued by school administrators and required by state laws. The time constraints and lack of course availability prevents many school personnel from earning C.R.U.'s on important topics. By employing online technologies the teachers will be able to conveniently schedule their use of the module. The module will be provided in a manner that will allow teachers to pace their own progress with the materials. Offering this module will create an educational opportunity that does not exist at present. Presenting these materials online will afford statewide (and nationwide) access to the materials and relieve barriers related to travel time and expense. In addition, by individually accessing these materials online, learners will be able to explore privately explore issues that tend to be quite emotionally charged. At the same time, the asynchronous chat room feature of the module will allow individuals to share ideas and questions. Formatting the materials for the internet will allow the future possibility of transferring the materials to other audiences and/or to CD-ROM format for individuals who do not have internet access.
4. Institutional support for the project.
The University of Southern Indiana is a regional leader in providing Distance Education. The institution has a firm commitment to provide distance education as evidenced by its development of a well-staffed Distance Education office, which offers numerous online courses from a dedicated computer server. In addition, Instructional Technology staff members have been consulted on this proposal and are committed to supporting the module's development, should funding be approved. This project represents a cross-disciplinary project, which is supported by the respective deans of the School of Education and Human Services and the School Liberal Arts. (See letters of support in Appendix.) Both of these Schools have a long history of offering courses through distance education. These efforts are also consistent with the report of Dr. H. Ray Hoops' (President of U. S. I.) Task Force on Economic Workforce Development, which notes an increasing need for well-trained secondary education and special education teachers and gives priority to University efforts that work toward that end.
5. Institutional priority.
To be determined by institutional representative.
6. Instructional design and delivery plan.
This learning module will be delivered in full on the World Wide Web (www), primarily using the Blackboard educational delivery software package. Individuals who register for the module will be mailed orientation materials explaining the format of the module and a time-limited password to be used for up to four weeks. The module will be divided into ten Chapters, which will address one particular area within the broader topic. Chapters within the module will include the following: (a) rationale for module and overview, (b) values clarification and pretests, (c) cross-cultural and historical review, (d) theories of development of sexual orientation, (e) issues in society for G. L. B. T. individuals, (e) overview of G. L. B. T. culture, (f) legal summary related to G. L. B. T., (g) G. L. B. T. and issues of mental health, (h) G. L. B. T. and physical health, (i) religious perspectives of G. L. B. T., (j) G. L. B. T. and the business community, and (k) review and evaluation of the module. Each of the chapters will be accessible from the module's table of contents page, so that learners may easily stop and restart their training sessions, based on individual scheduling needs. The particular delivery style for each chapter will be designed to offer the best fit for that particular material. Delivery styles may include narrative text, brief video excerpts from commercially available documentaries (pending copyright permission), video or audio clips of interviews with G. L. B. T. individuals to be conducted by the module designers/instructors, links to other online resources, printable information sheets and handouts, and animated or static graphic illustrations. In addition, training materials will include links to pertinent information on related websites and reading lists of fiction, nonfiction, and peer-reviewed journals that deal with issues related to sexual minorities. The module will be made available on the U. S. I. distance education server and will be available from any computer connected to the internet. The entire module will take approximately 3 hours for learners to complete. Drs. Hipps and Jaquess will use a digital video camera to record and edit for interviews related to experiences of G. L. B. T. individuals in dealing with society, resolving issues related to religion, legal difficulties, the coming out process, and learning that one's children are G. L. B. T.. The interviewees will be volunteers recruited through the Tri-State Alliance (a regional G. L. B. T. advocacy organization) and the Parents, Family, Friends of Lesbians and Gays (P.F.L.A.G.) Chapter of Evansville, Indiana / Henderson, Kentucky.
At the end of Chapters D, F, H, and J, the module will include self-assessments in which learners will answer content-related questions in a multiple choice (radio button) format. Learners will be able to repeat these quizzes to a satisfactory criterion. Also, after those four units, learners will be required to add comments to an asynchronous chat room that will address individual values and attitudes. Both of the primary faculty members (Jaquess or Hipps) will facilitate delivery of the module and materials posted to the chat room; the facilitators will be available by telephone or email.
As an example, the unit on cross-cultural and historical review might start with a table of contents page in the form of a world map with particular countries marked with stars. The stars would then be linked to pages presenting information related to views and practices related to sexual minorities within that culture. At a minimum these links would refer to the United States, the Netherlands, Central Europe, (Ancient) Greece, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, East Asia, Sambia New Guinea, Australia, and Latin America. Each page for one of these cultures would include narrative text, photographs and maps. Pending copyright approval, the page about the United States could include video clip(s) from such films as "The Life and Times of Harvey Milk" (the first openly gay man to be elected to public office), or new footage of various events related to G. L. B. T. events.
7. Explanation of how the instructional design will serve the need of target audience.
A survey was conducted specifically asking questions about individuals' attitudes towards homosexuality. The survey collected data from current U. S. I. students pursuing a degree in education. The survey also collected data from U. S. I. students in other disciplines and from the Welborn Clinic employees. Upon completion of design for the module, a small stipend will be paid to five U.S.I. Education Professors who have agreed to access the module and will provide feedback regarding what they found valuable, easily understood, and useful for the modern K-12 teachers. In addition, they will provide feedback about any material that might be best deleted. Material in the module will be reviewed and evaluated by the U.S.I. Education Faculty reviewers three times during the developmental stages. After implementation of the module, there will be required student evaluation instruments, internal and external peer evaluations, and external professional evaluations. Arrangements have been made with Welborn Clinic employees to complete the external professional evaluations which is intended to provide information on the degree of transferability this module has to training others outside the K-12 teaching profession.
8. Module evaluation plan.
As the designers create the module, they will consult with instructional design and technical support staff to assure that the module is operational. After the beta version is developed, it will be reviewed by potential learners who will provide feedback about each chapter and the flow of the module overall. In addition, the technical support person will review the module to assure that it will operate effectively with different web browser interfaces.
Once the module is offered online, evaluation and modification (if indicated) will continue. Each learner will complete questionnaires regarding their individual attitudes before and after completing the module; after every few chapters, each learner will also complete quizzes to test knowledge of the materials. In addition, learners who complete the course will be required to complete an on-line evaluation questionnaire to give feedback regarding their use of the module. In the development phase, a group of potential enrollees will be recruited to complete a beta version of the module as part of free in-service training.
9. Quality and/or transferability plans and/or strategies.
With very minor modifications, this module will have very wide applicability. These diversity issues are equally relevant for psychologists, social workers, and marriage and family therapists, all of whom must complete continuing education requirements. Recent additions of the sexual minorities to equal opportunity statements and extending health benefits to same-sex partners for Indiana employers (e.g., Ford; GM; Cummins Engine Co.; Red Lobster, Olive Garden & Bahama Breeze Restaurants; Southwest Airlines; US Airways; Continental Airlines; Marriott International), have created a need for training human resource managers, which a modified version of this module would serve. The module could be modified for the general education needs of students in several majors in the Schools of Health Professions, Human Services, Psychology, and Education. This module could also be easily transferred to compact disc format for use by learners without access to the Internet.
10. Evidence of module's significance in a statewide context (Track: K-12 Education):
This module is equally relevant to all areas of Indiana. Although G. L. B. T. individuals tend to gravitate toward urban areas, there is no geographic pattern for where such individuals may be born and go to school. G. L. B. T. individuals typically begin to become aware of their sexual orientation as children, and research suggests that 3% - 5% would be a conservative estimate of the proportion of our youth who will find themselves struggling with questions about their sexual orientation. Unfortunately for many of them, they know of no one to whom they may turn at home or in school. Even worse, the vast majority of messages they receive are negative and present little hope for a healthy resolution to their conflicted feelings. Children from all types of backgrounds have reported having experienced harassment from other students and even the school personnel themselves. The type of focused training contained in the proposed module would allow teachers, social workers, counselors, psychologists, and administrators to offer healthy support to children struggling with these issues.
11. Marketing Plan.
The U. S. I. office of Extended Services will market the module in the following ways: through semester schedule, through distance education bulletins, advertisements in professional journals, through the I-Collegiate Network schedule, and through profession list serves to ensure that the module can be easily found. In addition, the module will be publicized through the nine Regional Educational Service Centers (for teacher continuing education), which publish newsletters and list continuing education opportunities on the World Wide Web. Alumni from the U. S. I. graduate programs of social work (210 alumni) and master's of education (283 alumni) will be mailed flyers announcing availability of the module. In the Evansville community, flyers will be sent to University of Evansville, Ivy Tech State College, and the Evansville-Vanderburgh and Warrick County school systems (which are not members of the Southern Indiana Educational Service Center). In addition, the module will be used to teach topical units within two U. S. I. courses: Social Work 610 Human Diversity and Psychology 298 Human Sexuality. This module also has the potential to be used in nursing and other health fields.
12. Timeline
| Start Date | Project Phase | Personnel Involved |
| March 15, 2001 | Update review of literature related to diversity issues with G. L. B. T. populations; obtain copyright permissions for proposed assessment questionnaires and possibly for commercial video clips | Hipps, Jaquess, Owen |
| May 15, 2001 | Create detailed script for the module, including information to be included and how each unit of information will be delivered (e.g., text, slides, animation, video, etc.) | Hipps, Jaquess, Reasons, Hall |
| June 15, 2001 | Design and test web pages for module | Reasons, Hipps, Jaquess, Willett |
| August 31, 2001 | Test full beta version of module with potential learners (area teachers and/or teacher education faculty and students) | Hipps, Jaquess |
| October 15, 2001 | Revise module to incorporate editorial feedback from beta version trial | Reasons, Hipps, Jaquess |
| November 15, 2001 | Mail brochures for marketing plan; schedule publication for Distance Education Bulletin | Reasons, Hipps, Jaquess |
| December 1, 2001 | Begin module delivery with continued support and revision as indicated | Reasons, Hipps, Jaquess |
13. Key Module Development Personnel.
- Phyllis A. Hipps, M.S.W., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Social Work
(see Appendix)
- David L. Jaquess, M.S., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology
(see Appendix)
- Saxon G. Reasons, M.S, Ed.D. Programming Manager, Instructional Technology
Services
- Dana Willett, Media Production Manager, Instructional Technology
Services
- Ginny M. Hall, B.S., M.S.W, L.S.W. Senior Administrative Assistant,
Office of Graduate Studies and Sponsored Research
- Cindy Owen, B.S., Graduate Student Assistant
Salaries, wages, and fringe benefits.
Drs. Hipps and Jaquess will contribute the primary effort for the project, including designing the content, creating web pages and conducting interviews for video footage. They will be reassigned from other professional development and research duties during academic year ($3086.00 salary; $1235.00 fringe) from March 15 to May 15, 2001 and August 15 to December 15, 2001, and they will work on the project with grant funding equivalent to the salary for one credit hour of teaching for the three summer sessions ($5140.00 salary; $1316.00 fringe); . Ms. Cindy Owen will support the project as a graduate assistant at five hours per week from April 1, 2001 to December 15, 2001 ($1850; $0 fringe); her participation will focus on updating literature reviews and obtaining relevant articles for module content, contacting local G. L. B. T. support service organizations to solicit input, obtaining copyright permissions for evaluation questionnaires and commercial video clips, establishing correspondence with area school corporations and other professional support duties.
Consulting services.
Instructional Technologies Services at U. S. I. will provide extensive consultation related to instructional development, web page design, editing video footage and use of Blackboard instructional interface software ($1200); A group of ten professional educators will be recruited from the U. S. I. teacher education program faculty and community schools to pilot the beta version of the module and provide program (10 @ $150.00 = $1500.00). U. S. I. will make an in-kind contribution of proof-reading, editing and other support services provided by Ms. Ginny Hall in the Office of Graduate Studies and Sponsored Research ($350.00).
Supplies and Expenses.
U. S. I. will contribute support for duplication expenses related to publicity fliers ($171.00), instruction handbooks for the beta version of the module ($74.00), and for envelopes to mail fliers in the initial promotion of the module ($55.00). It is anticipated that 500 fliers will be mailed to alumni from the Masters of Education and Masters of Social Work programs from U. S. I. and another 75 to administrators for school corporations in southwestern Indiana ($185.00, postage). U. S. I. will make in-kind contributions of licenses and server time for using Blackboard ($300.00); and license for FrontPage software ($150.00). Prior to posting the module on the Internet, the designers will contract for copyright permission for the use of standardized assessment questionnaires ($100) and clips from commercially-produced videos ($600). Videos from which the clips are to be taken will cost ($700.00). Training fees for workshops related to using FrontPage (Drs. Jaquess and Hipps) and Blackboard (Dr. Jaquess) will be covered by in-kind donations from U. S. I. ($450.00). Additional support materials (e.g., software manuals, books related to module content) are anticipated to cost $360.00
Travel.
None
Other direct costs.
None
15. Budget Sheet
16. Appendix
Faculty Qualifications
Phyllis A. Hipps, M.S.W., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Social Work, U. S. I.
| EDUCATION | |
| Ph.D., Clinical Psychology | Northern California Graduate University |
| M.S.W. | California State University, Sacramento |
| M.H.S.L. | University of San Francisco |
| B.S. | University of Mary |
EXPERIENCE WITH MODULE CONTENT
Dr. Hipps has taught undergraduate courses in Human Sexuality at California State University, Sacramento and University of Southern Indiana. In addition, she teaches Human Diversity in the graduate masters in Social Work Program at University of Southern Indiana. Dr. Hipps has participated in a poster presentation titled, "Student Responses on Human Diversity Questionnaire" at Society for Social Work and Research Conference in Austin, Texas on January 20, 1998. Dr. Hipps was a panelist speaking about human diversity issues at the Diversity Conference: Beyond Stereotypes in Charleston, South Carolina on November 5, 1999. She has co-authored a journal article titled, "Teaching Human Diversity" which is published in the New Global Development: Journal of International and Comparative Social Welfare, 2000, XVI. She also served as co-facilitator and co-organizer for the First Annual "Diversity in Clinical Practice" Conference. Mulberry Center, Evansville, Indiana (June 2000)
EXPERIENCE WITH WEB PAGE DESIGN
Dr. Hipps has participated in a workshop on how to design web pages and has completed the Blackboard Workshop. She is presently placing one of her courses she is teaching in the fall of 2000 on the web.
David L. Jaquess, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology, U. S. I.
| EDUCATION | |
| Postdoctoral Fellowship | Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine |
| Ph.D., Clinical Psychology | Virginia Tech |
| M.S., Clinical Psychology | Virginia Tech |
| B.A., Psychology | Hanover College |
EXPERIENCE WITH MODULE CONTENT
Dr. Jaquess has taught undergraduate courses in Human Sexuality at the University of Southern Indiana and Ferrum College. In addition, he has presented seminars related to G. L. B. T. issues at the post-doctoral level at Johns Hopkins University and Virginia Tech Counseling Center. He has acted as regional consultant to a National Institute of Mental Health funded research project dealing with H.I.V. prevention with gay men, and he founded a gay/lesbian youth support group in Charleston, South Carolina. He served as chapter secretary for Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays in Roanoke, Virginia.
EXPERIENCE WITH WEB PAGE DESIGN
Dr. Jaquess has extensive experience in designing basic text pages for use with supplemental materials related to his courses. He has experience in using html code as well as web page editor packages.
References ERIC. (1994). Improving the school experience for gay, lesbian, and bisexual students. ERIC Digests, 101.
Available: http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed377257.html
Garnets, L., Hancock, K. A., Cochran, S. D., Goodschilds, J., & Peplau, L. A. (1991). Issues in psychotherapy with lesbians and gay men: A survey of psychologists. American Psychologist, 46, 964-972.
Garnets, L., Herek, G. M., Levy, B. (1992). Violence and victimization of lesbians and gay men: Mental health consequences. In G. Herek & K. Berrill (eds.). Hate Crimes: Confronting Violence Against Lesbians and Gay Men. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. (2000). PFLAG president speaks out on safe schools. Available: http://www.pflag.org/schools/beeman.htm.
Walters, A. S., & Hayes, D. M. (1998). Homophobia within schools: Challenging the culturally sanctioned dismissal of many students and colleagues. Journal of Homosexuality, 35, 1-22.
