Child, Youth, and Family Studies, Department of

 

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

Summer 2011

Citation

Journal of Youth Development 6:2 (Summer 2011), Article 110602PA001

Comments

Copyright (c) 2011 Maureen Todd, Maria Rosario T. de Guzman and Xiaoyun Zhang. Used by permission.

Abstract

This paper speaks to the potential for simulation and experience-based educational programs in delivering changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviors, as well as the utility of mixed-methods approaches to program evaluation. The authors discuss a mixed-methods study which evaluates the impact of a poverty simulation program on college students at three Midwestern universities. Findings suggest multiple benefits of the experience, including changes in attitudes and beliefs about how serious the experience of poverty can be, an understanding that poverty is complex and can be caused by multiple factors, and a decrease in their biases and stereotypes about people in poverty. Qualitative findings corroborate these data.

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