Andrew Peck, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Richard Alan Carlson, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Sexual Assault Classroom Activity Intervention College Sexual Assaults
Abstract:
Sexual assault is a problem on college campuses. Classroom activities on topics such as sexual assault have been found to improve students’ views (Franiuk, 2007). We created a classroom activity that reflected gender differences in the interpretation of sexual intent. We then designed a lesson around this activity to shift students’ views of consent. We found partial support for this hypothesis; our lesson shifted the consent views of female, but not male, students. Peck, Stevenson, Lembo, Karg and Pagano (2013) found that women and high empathy men had similar views of consent, while the views of low empathy men differed. Based on this research, we expected that the lesson would have the greatest impact on low empathy men. This hypothesis was not supported by our study. Overall, the data suggested our lesson could support discussions related to sexual assault in a variety of educational settings.
