How Action Teaching Can Reduce Sexual Assault on Campus

VICKI BURNS (FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY)

Please note: Instructors are welcome to use or adapt these teaching ideas for their own classes, provided the use is noncommercial and appropriate credit is given.

Objectives

For students to: (1) learn about the problem of sexual assault on college campuses, including their own campus; (2) understand the principles of prevention planning; (3) become capable of applying psychological theories and research findings to real world problems; and (4) develop a sense of empowerment as change-makers on their own campus

Abstract

This action teaching assignment provides students with an academic space to create solutions to a serious problem that many students face in daily life; the assignment asks students to create an action plan to prevent sexual violence on campus. Students are educated on campus sexual violence as well as how to implement a prevention plan geared toward their peers and their college campus. Students are asked to familiarize themselves with current programming on campus and to create an innovative plan based on empirically supported prevention planning principles. In 2019, this assignment led students at Florida International University to develop two programs that were subsequently adopted: (1) Queering Sexual Assault Prevention, which broadened the school's coverage of sexual assault prevention by addressing sexual violence among LGBTQ+ students; and (2) Pleasure Theory, a student radio program that discussed topics such as rape culture, consent, relationships, and sexuality. Through increased awareness of social justice issues, students gained the experience of becoming change-makers for their communities. 

Description

Research has shown that approximately 20-25% of American women and 6-7% of American men report experiencing sexual assault while they are college students (Anderson & Clement, 2015). Unfortunately, most college and university resources and programming focus on responses to sexual violence rather than prevention of sexual violence (Linder, 2018). I hoped to address this gap through the creation of Florida International University’s (FIU) first campus sexual assault class. I wanted to answer these questions: How can we highlight and address the experiences of populations that are often ignored? How do students think we can best address this problem? And how can we use the classroom to take action in preventing sexual violence on our campus?

The course was organized around a final project that required students to create and present an action plan that they thought should be enacted on campus. This assignment was designed to give students agency and an opportunity to engage in social change in their community. With this approach, the academic classroom becomes a space for students to create solutions to problems they face on a daily basis. The assignment—as well as the course itself—is grounded in a theoretical framework that emphasizes intersectional pedagogy (Case, 2013, 2017). For example, the course prepared students for their project by asking them to consider privilege, oppression, and sexual assault across multiple identities (Case, 2013, 2017; Cole, 2009; Collins, 1990; Crenshaw, 1989). The assignment was also guided by principles of effective prevention programs from various authors (Nation et al., 2003), including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Dills, Fowler, & Payne, 2016).

I began the assignment by encouraging students to familiarize themselves with current sexual violence prevention efforts on campus, and to identify gaps in programming. I then asked students to compile and share possible project topics, and to identify the target populations for each project. After students shared their ideas, they self-enrolled in a project topic of their choice and interviewed fellow students as a part of an initial "needs assessment" that would guide their project.

As students developed their projects, I stressed the importance of focusing on the primary prevention of sexual violence on campus, instead of focusing on responses to sexual violence (e.g., campus support services for survivors). I also asked students to elevate the voices of the most marginalized students on campus, and I furnished them with the following rubric to ensure that they addressed all essential elements of an effective prevention project in their final report:

• Introduction/Statement of Problem

  • Include national and local statistics

  • Include data collected from current FIU students (needs assessment) 

• Intervention

  • Goals

  • Learning objectives

  • Explanation for how plan is innovative

  • Empirical evidence to support your approach

  • Provide intervention content (e.g., example activities)

• Methodology

  • Target audience

  • Resources needed to sustain program/plan (e.g., facilitators)

  • Frequency, duration, timing of program/plan

  • Marketing

  • Incentives

• Evaluation Plan

  • Examples of survey/evaluation questions

  • Timing of pretest/posttest

  • Describe what is being evaluated (e.g., skills, knowledge, attitude, behavior)

• Limitations/Weaknesses 

Evidence of Impact

In terms of effectiveness and social impact, projects from the first run of the course received media coverage from The Miami Herald, one of whose reporters attended the action plan presentations and wrote an article about it. In addition, two student projects have been implemented on campus and covered in Miami New Times, including a project entitled Queering Sexual Assault Prevention (QSAP) and another project entitled Pleasure Theory (Burns, 2020). These projects illustrate some of the ways that students applied what they learned from the course to create and implement an effective prevention plan.

Queering Sexual Assault Prevention

The QSAP project addressed the lack of LGBTQ inclusivity in campus sexual assault programs. Student Alyssa Pepio spearheaded the project by creating a detailed curriculum that ultimately became a Florida International University program. In carrying out this work, Alyssa partnered with the campus Office of LGBTQA Initiatives, which held focus groups and created a pilot program based on the QSAP curriculum. This campus program now covers topics such as campus sexual violence prevalence among LGBTQ+ students, consent, rape myths, and barriers to reporting and seeking help. Because of her pioneering work on this project, Alyssa is being sought out nationally by individuals who want to adopt the QSAP program. Additionally, with the help of the Miami community, students hope to offer QSAP workshops to the broader community.

Pleasure Theory

Student Radio Hosts of Pleasure Theory

Another implemented project is a student radio show called "Pleasure Theory" that discusses topics regarding rape culture, consent, relationships, and sexuality. The show provides a safe, educational, and open forum to explore topics central to student health and well-being. In fact, the reason students established this radio show is that they realized there was a need for a safe public forum for campus community members to speak about sexual violence. In addition, they realized that many of their peers hadn't been able to take courses or join campus groups related to sexual violence. Consequently, the student radio program provided an opportunity for all students to become actively engaged in dialogue as well as to ask questions of their peers in a safe and secure environment. The show is open to everyone in the Miami community, and students hope their effort is only the beginning of expanded conversations in the local community.

Tips on Implementation

In terms of implementation tips, instructors should first and foremost become familiar with sexual violence programming on their campus. This step is necessary to ensure that students aren't simply duplicating a program that already exists. In addition, I would advise limiting the course size. It can become quite difficult to manage 10+ different group projects given the amount of supervision and mentorship that's required for campus projects. Having a small number of students and fewer group topics can allow for higher quality projects.

I would also recommend assistance from a graduate student or an advanced undergraduate student so that each group has guidance not only from the instructor but from peers who are not enrolled in the class.  One semester I did implement project peer reviews from fellow class members, but students were so concerned about their own projects that they did not provide particularly valuable feedback to other groups. In addition, I found that having students sign up for specific tasks helped minimize social loafing in group projects. Each group had a task manager, and all students in the group had to sign up to be responsible for specific tasks (for an example, see Dividing Up Group Tasks).

Another suggestion is for instructors to check with their school's Institutional Review Board (IRB) to see whether institutional approval is needed to collect data from students. In my case, IRB approval was not needed because students were simply interviewing their peers for a class project and asking about the need for different types of campus programming. Students in the course were trained never to ask interviewees personal questions (e.g., whether the interviewee was a sexual assault survivor) and to keep the focus on primary prevention at the institutional level.

It's also worth noting that the project would not have been successful without positive working relationships with members from various offices, including the Dean of Students Office, the Victim Empowerment Program, Residential Life, Campus Police, Global Learning, LGBTQA Initiatives, and Orientation/First Year Experience staff. Members from each of these campus units were invited to attend final presentations that the students made, and the staff-student relationships that developed throughout the semester were extremely supportive. For example, administrators and staff from our LGBTQA office met with students, attended their final presentation, and continued to work with at least one of the students from the group to implement QSAP.

Pitfalls to Avoid

I was fortunate to have received strong administrative support for this project from the university president, provost, dean, and my peers. I realize, however, that other schools may be less supportive. For instructors who work at an institution that is reluctant to tackle sexual assault, focusing on prevention may alleviate some of this reluctance. By focusing on primary prevention, all campus stakeholders are on the same page because everyone wants to prevent sexual assault. An emphasis on prevention also signals that a university is invested in its students' physical, emotional, and psychological well-being.

Survivors of violence are often drawn to course offerings that focus on these topics. At my school, faculty are required to report cases of sexual violence, and I explain this requirement to students on the first day of class. I would urge instructors at other universities to find out whether their school has similar requirements so that students can be informed before they decide to disclose personal stories.

Student survivors have told me that coursework aimed at preventing trauma from happening to others has been empowering and a part of their healing journey. Nonetheless, because this project is central to the course and not something that I permit students to skip, I tell students about the project on the first day of class so that they can decide whether to remain in the course.

Suggested Variations

This primary prevention project can easily be adapted to address other important issues relevant to college campuses. For example, group project topics might focus on issues such as prejudice and discrimination, alcohol and drug use, bullying and other forms of violence, homelessness, or sexual health.

In conclusion, every school and study body are different, but my experience at Florida International University has been very positive. I hope that this project inspires other instructors and universities to consider an action teaching approach to addressing the challenges they face, and that they practice sexual assault prevention using an intersectional framework.

References

Anderson, N., & Clement, S. (2015). College sexual assault: 1 in 5 college women say they were violated. Washington Post.

Burns, V. L. (2020). Utilizing intersectional pedagogy in a campus sexual assault course [Special issue on Intersectionality in Education, Training, and Praxis]. Women and Therapy.

Case, K. (Ed.). (2013). Deconstructing privilege: Teaching and learning as allies in the classroom. New York: Routledge.

Case, K. (Ed.). (2017). Intersectional pedagogy: Complicating identity and social justice. New York: Routledge.

Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989, 139-167.

Cole, E. R. (2009). Intersectionality and research in psychology. American Psychologist, 64(3), 170-180. doi: 10.1037/a0014564

Collins, P. H. (1990). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of power. New York: Routledge.

Dills, J., Fowler, D., & Payne, G. (2016). Sexual violence on campus: Strategies for prevention. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Linder, C. (2018). Sexual violence on campus: Power-conscious approaches to awareness, prevention, and response. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing.

Nation, M., Crusto, C., Wandersman, A., Kumpfer, K. L., Seybolt, D., Morrissey-Kane, E., & Davino, K. (2003). What works in prevention: Principles of effective prevention programs. American Psychologist, 58(6-7), 449-456. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.58.6-7.449