Respond to Diversity: Graduate Minority Students’ Perceptions on Their Learning Experiences in an American University

Author: Huanshu Yuan, University of Washington, United States of America
Email: yuanshelly67@gmail.com
Published: March 1, 2017
https://doi.org/10.22492/ije.5.1.02

Citation: Yuan, H. (2017). Respond to Diversity: Graduate Minority Students’ Perceptions on Their Learning Experiences in an American University. IAFOR Journal of Education, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.22492/ije.5.1.02


Abstract

The increasing population of minority students in higher education in the United States makes it relevant to focus on the issue of how to improve current educational philosophies, instruction and curriculum design, investment, and organization to meet the needs of minority students. A “teaching gap” between minority students’ learning needs and pedagogical responses to these needs exists in American postsecondary education. This qualitative research study addressed this knowledge gap by using five semi-structured interviews with five graduate education major minority students to examine their learning and the teaching practice of faculty in a specific university in the United States. The results of this study indicated that situating teaching and learning in a cultural context and improved faculty multicultural awareness were important to improve minority students’ learning experiences and academic outcomes.

Keywords

multicultural education, culturally responsive teaching, teacher education, minority student learning, higher education