Awareness through Performance | Research & Assessment on ATP
Evaluation of Awareness through Performance’s Impact on Students’ Awareness - Spring 2007
The study's aim was to inquire into how University Students’ current professional and personal self-concepts and living practices relate to their understanding of power and privilege before, and after exposure to Awareness through Performance. Our findings leave us optimistic that progress is being made and that exposure to issues of power and privilege through Awareness through Performance enhance students’ understanding of the two. This study also considers the level of students’ understanding of power and privilege, and compares that with the level of understanding by students who did not attend Awareness through Performance. The depth of understanding is based on the responses that students submitted voluntarily. While Awareness through Performance is one of the campus-wide resources for teaching students about the relationship between power and privilege, the research highlights that educators need to carefully consider the strategies they use to develop and gauge students’ understanding of power and privilege. The study examined the type of things/situations that students associated with power and privilege. It was predicted that Awareness through Performance would change the quality and quantity of students’ understanding of power and privilege. This hypothesis was supported by the results from both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to existing theory and suggestions for subsequent research and professional practice are made.
To read this document in its entirety, (PDF format), click here.