Students enrolled in a special topics gender-dialogue course are not only studying the topic this fall but are being studied themselves.
As part of a 10-school research project, students enrolled in an intergroup dialogue course on gender are being used as subjects in a three-year study to find out if a semester in the course will actually make them more accepting of other people.
The researchers want to know if participating in the dialogue class with people of other races and genders will help students relate to each other better.
"It's not about mind games or poking you with stuff," said Thomas Walker, the senior program coordinator for the Intergroup Relations Center and head of the project at ASU.
The study, which consists of two race and two gender classes each year for three years, will test whether students who interact with other students in a class gain a better understanding of other genders and races.
As a facilitator of the group, Walker said the class is set up in four stages: understanding what dialogue is, explaining the vocabulary associated with the class, discussing hot topics, and a "so-what" phase in which students put their knowledge to use on a service project.
The experimental part of the class is set up for students "to understand each other, not to prove each other wrong," Walker said.
Walker said he was unable to comment on specific questions that will help researchers measure results because he didn't want to impact the outcome of the study.
The Program of Intergroup Relations at the University of Michigan, the parent research school, hopes the research will help answer critical questions involving race and gender.
The University of Michigan started the concept of intergroup relations on college campuses. The idea spread to ASU along with many other colleges in the nation.
"It might help open people's eyes," said Jennifer Jambor, a broadcasting senior.
But she said because all students know they are involved in the study, "they might tell you what you want to hear, not what they necessarily feel."
To give the study perspective, students in the dialogue class along with students in an unrelated course will both take a test evaluating their tolerance and acceptance of other views and beliefs.
Students in both classes took the self-reporting test at the beginning of the semester. To measure their progress, facilitators will administer follow-up tests at the end of the semester, one and five years after the class.
Walker encourages students to enroll in the class because it teaches students communication skills, how to appreciate diversity, critical-thinking skills and teamwork skills, he said.
Due to low attendance, only one gender class is full this semester. Next semester two race courses and another gender class will be available, Walker said.
Jonathan Berg, the program director for Hillel Jewish Student Center, said the project could work, depending on the people selected.
If people are closed-minded and think that their views are completely right, then the project will fail, he said.
"It depends on what mindset people go into it with," he said.
Reach the reporter at amanda.m.gonser@asu.edu.
