Poetry Commons^™

Accessing Poetry In A Global Age: An Applied Pedagogical Assessment, Amanda Byars

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

Teaching poetry is a challenge, yet historically, poetry is a foundation of our society and an oral tradition dating back to ancient Greece, with the first recorded poem, The Odyssey. This paper assesses a course on global poetry designed to teach the exploration of differing world views presented through poetry. A mixed methods approach includes both quantitative and qualitative data; a pre/post-test combined a personal experience survey about poetry with a cumulative review of content and various written assignments and reflections. The results of a paired t-test show that students had a statistically significant increase in appreciation and knowledge …