Summary
We asked 316 Ball State University students and
196 students from 11 other universities to complete a 28item questionnaire indicating their beliefs about student
evaluations of teaching effectiveness. Student samples
included 106 students from Large Public Universities, 57
from Liberal Arts Colleges and 33 from Community
Colleges. In general, students had a positive attitude
toward completing those measures and xxx
Undergraduates' Beliefs about Student Evaluations of Teaching
Effectiveness
Chinmay Aradhye & Mary Kite, Ph.D. (Faculty Advisor)
Department of Psychological Science, Ball State University
Results
• Suggestions for minorities
• Set a positive example (e.g., work hard in school and the workplace and not use
derogatory terms) was the most frequently cited suggestion made by both minority
(42%) and majority (25.8%) participants.
•Suggestions made by 10% or more of both minority and majority participants were:
•Educate others & stand up against racism (e.g. Educate majorities about minority
culture and voice opinions about race).
•Not emphasize differences (e.g., not single oneself out, ignore discrimination, or
ignore race).
•Not stereotype others (e.g., discriminate against majority, not assume everyone
is racist/prejudiced).
• Suggestions for majorities
•The two most frequently cited suggestions made by over 10% of both minority
were:
•Be less racist and think positively about minorities (71.6% minority,
65.2% majority participants).
•Educate others & stand up against racism.
Methods
Discussion
•The findings reported here are based on a subset of
data collected in a more comprehensive study on
diversity and teaching.
• In general, minority and majority participants generated similar suggestions for how
both minorities and majorities can reduce prejudice and discrimination.
•The suggestion that majorities think positively about minorities is consistent with
Oskamp’s (2000) cognitive approach of changing stereotypes and attitudes.
•Although there is empirical support for positive outcomes associated with interracial
interactions, this suggestion was made by fewer than 10% of participants.
• Procedure
•Participants were recruited through the psychology
subject pool and informed that the study was
designed to measure students’ attitudes and beliefs
about social issues.
•First, participants were shown a picture of either a
Black or a White professor.
• Then, participants saw a list of either White
Privileges or Black Disadvantages.
• Lastly, participants completed several
questionnaires and open-ended questions, including:
• What are some ways ethnic minorities (e.g., Black
Americans) can reduce racial discrimination and
prejudice in our society?
• What are some ways ethnic majorities (e.g,. White
Americans) can reduce racial discrimination and
prejudice in our society?
• A team of 8 undergraduate and graduate students
coded the open-ended responses. Interrater
reliabilities for all response categories were >.80
•Participants
• N = 886
• 88 Minority (9.9%) and 798 White (90.1%)
• 589 Female (66.6%) and 295 Male (33.4%)
• Mean age of 19.29 years
•To optimize the effectiveness of prejudice reduction strategies with college students,
educators should encourage and provide opportunities for students to think positively
about minorities and to practice speaking against racism.
• Generalizability Limitations:
• Significantly more White participants than minority participants.
• Students taking an introductory psychology course.
• Students attending Ball State University.
References
Poster presented at Ball State University’s Symposium, Muncie, IN. Address all correspondence to Brittany Pasay,
Department of Psychological Science, Ball State University, 47306 email: bpasay@bsu.edu. The research team would
like to acknowledge Meg Terranova and Kelly Barnes for their assistance.
Czopp, A.M., Monteith, M.J., & Mark, A.Y. (2006). Standing up for a change: Reducing
bias through Interpersonal confrontation. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 90, 784-803.
Pettigrew, T. F. & Tropp, L. R. (2005). Relationships between intergroup contact and
prejudice among minority and majority status groups. Psychological Science, 16,
951-957.
Oskamp, J. (2000). Reducing prejudice and discrimination. Mahwah, New Jersey:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.