Dr. Emily M. Wadsworth and Dorothy R. Mennen
Assistant Director, Women in Engineering Programs and Professor Emerita of Theatre
Purdue University

Abstract

This paper introduces Classroom Climate Workshops for Graduate Teaching Assistants, a program that has been offered at Purdue University in 1995 and 1996 under a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Analyses of pre-questionnaires for both years indicated female engineering and science graduate teaching assistants had a more accurate awareness of gender equity than male engineering and science graduate teaching assistants. Findings from post-questionnaires for 1995 and 1996 revealed that in terms of workshop components, use of dramas was the most valued and highest quality component followed by discussion of dramas, facilitators, advice and suggestions, and statistics. Results of follow-up surveys for both years showed that treating all students fairly was an action step that was important, was implemented, and had a positive impact on classroom climates. Additional accomplishments in the form of pilot faculty workshops, future plans to institutionalize workshops across all schools at Purdue University, and presentations at other institutions are delineated. Finally, recommendations for improving classroom climates are shared.

Introduction

In college classrooms today we need climates where all students are treated equitably. Classrooms that are characterized by gender equity are ones in which all students, regardless of their gender, have an equal opportunity to learn and master course content. However, gender inequity is currently found throughout institutions of higher learning and it is particularly acute in fields like engineering and science where the majority of faculty members, graduate teaching assistants, and undergraduate students are male. Female students in these two fields experience not only isolation, but also gendered language and teaching styles that are more appropriate for males (Davis & Rosser, 1996; Ginorio, 1995; Sadker & Sadker, 1994; Seymour & Hewitt, 1994). Classrooms with these characteristics hinder the learning of women, lower their self-esteem, and adversely affect their retention (Arnold, 1993; Ginorio, 1995; Sadker & Sadker, 1994; Sandler, Silverberg, and Hall, 1996). Therefore, challenges for college educators today become ones of: creating a comfortable environment for all students through setting the classroom tone (Ginorio, 1995); fostering learning of all students by establishing classroom management techniques (Rosser, 1995); and promoting interactions between all students through encouraging classroom participation (Henes, 1993; Rosser, 1995).

Gender inequity often results from a lack of awareness, unexamined assumptions, and inadvertent actions on the part of educators (Henes, Bland, Darby, & McDonald, 1995). One means of raising awareness of particular problems in education, dealing with a sensitive issue like gender equity, and considering behaviors to improve the climate for learning, is through workshops utilizing interactive theatre as a medium (Keehner & Wadsworth, 1996).

Objectives of Workshops

The three major objectives of the Classroom Climate Workshops at Purdue University were to:

• examine awareness of gender equity issues

• assess major components of gender equity workshops

• encourage educators to consider a variety of action steps to take in order to achieve gender equity in classrooms.

These objectives were the framework for the program and set the path for growth of this effort.

Process of Development

The process of developing Classroom Climate Workshops for graduate teaching assistants began in January, 1995. The initiative was a joint venture involving the Schools of Engineering, Science, and Liberal Arts. One coordinator from each of these schools was selected to create workshops that required a sequence of steps.

The first steps were meetings between coordinators and primary stakeholders who were Deans and University Administrators involved in the effort. Later, advice was sought from Heads of the Schools of Engineering and Departments in Science and suggestions were given by these people regarding facets of the workshops. All this was done in order to form early commitment to and ownership of this program.

A Staff Leadership Team was formed which consisted of the following: three Coordinators; one Facilitator; six graduate teaching assistants equally representing Science and Engineering; one graduate teaching assistant from the Division of Theatre who wrote scripts and directed cast members; and one administrative assistant. All team members were compensated because it was felt that payment was equated with performance. Team members collectively conducted a review of classroom climate literature, distributed surveys to female engineering and science students, and pondered results regarding major gender equity issues for these particular students at Purdue. Staff members were then divided into three task groups, drama, discussion, and evaluation that were headed by one of the three coordinators. These groups operated simultaneously in order to fulfill their responsibilities by the start of the first workshops.

Task Groups

Drama Task Group

The Drama Task Group was composed of a Liberal Arts Coordinator, a Facilitator, and three graduate students, one each from Engineering, Science, and Liberal Arts. The Facilitator was a faculty member whose research and teaching expertise was in gender and communications. The engineering and science students had interest in and some experience with theatre. The student in Liberal Arts majored in Directing within the Division of Theatre and was part of the Professional Training Program in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

Interactive Theatre, incorporating dramas and discussions, was selected as a medium for the Classroom Climate Workshops. This form of theatre was non-threatening and highly effective when presenting and dealing with sensitive issues like gender equity. Workshops included three dramas that each lasted approximately seven minutes. Audience members were attentive, involved, empathetic, and able to project solutions to problems highlighted in dramas without taking major risks on their part.

The facilitator introduced the workshops, set the audience at ease, and then provided data on gender equity studies. During discussion periods between dramas that incorporated questions and answers, the facilitator was the link between actors and audience members and the dialogue that ensued. The facilitator was also the person who directed the audience regarding completion of pre and post workshop measures and then brought the workshops to closure.

Production of scripts was a long and detailed process for the Drama Task Group. Results of returned surveys from female engineering and science students regarding gender equity revealed major issues at Purdue and survey comments included actual classroom experiences that became the basis for three scenarios. Guidelines for scenes were these: settings had to be realistic; characters needed to be believable; classroom situations had to reveal conflict with several possible solutions. Also, the entire dramatic structure needed to engage the audience in identification with setting, characters, and conflict. This encouraged workshop participants to consider changes in their behavior that would make classroom climates more effective. Drafts of scripts were shared with members of the Leadership Team at monthly meetings. Numerous ideas were exchanged and scenes underwent many revisions over a span of six months.

Cast members for workshops were selected by the Liberal Arts Coordinator and Director of Dramas from among a pool of graduate students in the Professional Actor Training Program at Purdue. When this was not possible, senior acting majors were chosen. Readings were held and final cast members and understudies hired and given contracts. The Coordinator and Director started rehearsals that involved both an orientation to gender equity and classroom climate situations for female engineering and science students both nationwide and at Purdue. Actors spent hours learning about the nature of their characters and experiencing improvisation through question and answer sessions. The Facilitator was an integral part of this orientation and rehearsal process. Final rehearsals were staged for Leadership Team members and other people interested in the program.

Discussion Task Group

The Discussion Task Group was headed by a Science Coordinator who guided two graduate students, one teaching assistant from Science and another teaching assistant from Engineering. This unit was responsible for dealing with workshop logistics and designing the workshop discussion format.

Various locations were visited on Purdue's campus in order to determine the most effective setting for workshops. A conference room that accommodated approximately 50 people was looked at and approved by the entire Leadership Team. Reserving suitable space months ahead was extremely important since large spaces were in great demand at the start of an academic year.

Discussions at the workshops were planned with a variety of formats in mind. This was done in order to maximize interaction, promote participation, and encourage commitment. The Discussion Task Group considered different arrangements and generated lists of questions they then shared and received feedback on at monthly meetings of the Leadership Team. It was finally decided that participants would discuss gender equity statements, issues, and action steps respectively in dyads, triads, and small groups from start to the end of workshops.

A Preview Party that was held in August, 1995, was the initial performance of the Classroom Climate Workshops. Invited guests at this event were key decision makers at Purdue University, Vice-Presidents, Deans, School and Department Heads, and Faculty Members. Attendance at the performance helped to expand awareness of gender equity issues campus-wide and to garner buy-in at the top as well as name recognition for this effort. Afterwards, school and department heads were willing to reinforce the importance of attending workshops on the part of their graduate students.

All Department Heads in the School of Science and Heads of the Schools of Engineering at Purdue were contacted individually concerning the best workshop time for graduate teaching assistants in their areas. There were differences in requested times for schools. The reason for this is that the Schools of Engineering felt that students in various disciplines should attend workshops at the same time, as intact groups without any interference from class schedules. However, the School of Science did extensive training of graduate students in several departments before classes began and their students could not attend workshops at that same time. Therefore, in 1995, engineering students attended workshop sessions the week before classes started whereas science students participated in workshop sessions during the first few weeks of fall semester. Since findings from 1995 workshops indicated that workshop session did not yield statistically significant differences, engineering and science students were then combined as participants in 1996 workshop sessions.

Evaluation Task Group

The Evaluation Task Group included an Engineering Coordinator, one graduate teaching assistant from Engineering and one graduate teaching assistant from Science. The members of this task group had experience with program design, instrument construction, data analyses, and writing program reports.

This task group was responsible for constructing three workshop measures, a pre-questionnaire, a post-questionnaire, and a follow-up survey. Preliminary instruments were shared with the Leadership Team and staff members critiqued measures over a period of several months. All workshop measures were pilot tested with a group of graduate teaching assistants who were similar in characteristics to projected program participants. Measures were then refined.

Packets containing a workshop program, a data sheet on women in engineering and science, a Gender Equity Booklet from the University of California at Davis, along with pre and post questionnaires, were prepared and given to workshop participants.

Nine two hour workshops were offered in August and September of 1995 for 125 engineering and 145 science teaching assistants. Workshops were planned for groups of 50 participants and they were held in the morning, during the lunch hour, or in the early afternoon. Food was provided as an added incentive for attending. Pre-questionnaires were filled out during the beginning stage of workshops and post-questionnaires were completed at the end of workshops. Follow-up surveys were sent to workshop participants in November, 1995. Modifications were made to these first year workshops and measures based on feedback received from 1995 participants. A second set of nine two hour workshops for 275 science and engineering graduate teaching assistants were presented in August and September of 1996 and follow-up surveys were mailed to these participants in November of 1996. Data from workshop measures collected in 1995 and 1996 were then processed.

Program Results

Descriptive Statistics

Considering gender, in 1995, 71% (N=192) of participants were male while 29% (N=78) were female. In 1996, 71% (N=188) of participants were male and 29% (N=76) were female.

Pre-Questionnaires

The pre-questionnaire contained eight statements, each of which examined awareness of gender equity issues that had been identified in a review of literature. Since each statement was true according to research results, higher agreement with statements indicated a more accurate awareness of gender equity issues. Analysis of pre-questionnaires was performed by creating a composite score through summation of responses. Each statement was answered on a seven-point scale with one indicating strong disagreement and seven meaning strong agreement. Composite scores were then subjected to a form of grouping analysis utilizing defined cutoffs of 0 to 20 for low agreement, 21 to 40 for medium agreement, and 41 to 63 for high agreement. The analysis was examined with respect to gender. Findings for both 1995 and 1996 are contained in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 1. 1995 Pre-Questionnaire:
Gender Awareness
Males vs. Females

Figure 2. 1996 Pre-Questionnaire:
Gender Awareness
Males vs. Females

Results indicated that more females (76% in 1995 and 47% in 1996) than males (62% in 1995 and 38% in 1996) were in the high agreement group.

Post-Questionnaires

A post-questionnaire was used to assess perceptions of workshop components (dramas, discussions, facilitators, advice, statistics, and workshop structure). A two-dimensional measure was used to separate value from quality of workshop component. Value was the importance of a component while quality was presentation of a component. Once again, a seven-point scale was utilized with one meaning strong disagreement and seven indicating strong agreement. Mean responses in 1995 and 1996 for value and quality of workshop components are illustrated in Tables 1 and 2.

Table 1. 1995 and 1996 Post-Questionnaires: Mean Responses for Value of Workshop Components

Table 2. 1995 and 1996 Post-Questionnaires: Mean Responses for Quality of Workshop Components

* Statistically significant different means at 95% confidence level for males and females.

Overall, use of dramas was of greatest value and quality to participants. This component was followed by discussion of dramas, facilitators, advice and suggestions, and introductory statistics.

Follow-Up Surveys

Follow-up surveys were sent to workshop participants in November of 1995 and 1996. An ice cream certificate was offered to all students returning the survey. This was done in an effort to increase the overall response rate which ended up being over 50% for both years. The survey examined three categories, importance, implementation, and impact of action steps that teaching assistants had committed to at the August workshops and then had utilized fall quarter in their classrooms. Primary analysis of surveys was performed in the same manner as for questionnaires. The process involved examining mean scores for each of the three categories which were rated on a five-point scale in 1995, with one indicating strongly agree and five meaning strongly disagree, and a seven-point scale in 1996 with one indicating strongly disagree and seven meaning strongly agree. Mean responses for each of the three categories are shown in Tables 3 and 4.

Table 3. 1995 Follow-Up Survey:
Mean Responses for Action Steps

Table 4. 1996 Follow-Up Survey:
Mean Responses for Action Steps

Treating all students fairly received highest ratings in 1995 and 1996 from males and females in regards to importance, implementation, and impact of action steps.

Conclusions

The Classroom Climate Workshop Program developed at Purdue University has a number of unique features:

• the effort is focused on graduate teaching assistants

• the workshop utilizes one particular model of interactive theatre

• the facilitator is a faculty member with expertise in gender and communications

• the program includes three scenarios or dramas

• the cast members are students trained in theatre

• the initiative employs various formats for discussions

• the gender awareness of participants is measured

• the value and quality of workshop components is assessed

• the impact of action steps on classroom climates is examined

Major findings indicate that: female graduate teaching assistants have a more accurate awareness of gender equity than male graduate teaching assistants; interactive theatre is an effective medium for gender equity workshops; and gender equity is an action step that is important, implemented, and has a positive impact on engineering and science classroom climates.

Additional Accomplishments and Future Plans

During the Spring Semester of 1997, Pilot Classroom Climate Workshops on gender equity were presented for faculty members in the Schools of Engineering and the School of Science at Purdue. The week before Fall Semester of 1997, for the third year in a row, workshops will be offered for engineering and science graduate teaching assistants. A proposal to institutionalize Classroom Climate Workshops for Graduate Assistants across all schools at Purdue University has just been approved, thus, the program will be greatly expanded in 1998 to include 1,000 students.

Classroom Climate Workshops for Teaching Assistants and Faculty Members, that had been created at Purdue, were transported via a traveling unit [which included the Program Administrator, Liberal Arts Coordinator, Director of Dramas, Facilitators, and Cast Members] and presented at the University of Illinois in March, 1997. May, 1997, the Classroom Climate Workshop for Teaching Assistants was showcased at an Interactive Theatre Institute held at Cornell University and at the Committee on Institutional Cooperation Best Practice Workshop held at Purdue University. Plans are underway to take workshops to two other engineering institutions in the United States during the Fall of 1997 in the hope of training other academicians to provide programs that will improve classroom climates.

Recommendations

The following recommendations are made in regards to creating workshops on other campuses:

• hire experienced administrators, coordinators, and staff members for a University Workshop Leadership Team that comes together on a regular basis

• meet with stakeholders before developing workshops in order to get support from the top and receive suggestions at the start of program development

• review the classroom climate literature to form a solid understanding of the field

• conduct a needs assessment in order to survey students regarding what gender equity issues need to be addressed and to garner actual classroom experiences that can be incorporated into scripts for dramas

• employ trained/professionals as cast members when utilizing interactive theatre since these people need to be proficient at improvisation

• select a facilitator who is an authority in the field of gender equity and can handle any antagonistic responses from workshop participants

• investigate over time gender awareness, workshop components, and impact of action steps so that workshops can be revised and their impact documented.

References

1. Arnold, K. (1993). "Academically Talented Women in the 1980's: The Illinois Valedictorian Project" in Hulbert, K. & Schuster, D. (Eds.). Women's Lives Through Time. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

2. Davis, C. & Rosser, S. (1996). "Program and Curricular Interventions" in Davis, C., Ginorio, A., Hollenshead, C. Lazarus, B. & Raymen, P. (Eds.) The Equity Equation.  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

3. Ginorio, A. (1995). Warming the Climate for Women in Academic Science.   Association of American Colleges and Universities, Program on the Status and Education of Women, Washington, DC.

4. Henes, R. (1993). Creating Gender Equity in Your Teaching. College of Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA.

5. Henes, R., Bland, M. Darby, J. & McDonald, K. (1995). "Improving the Academic Environment for Women Engineering Students Through Faculty Workshops," Journal of Engineering Education, January, 1995, 59-67.

6. Keehner, M. & Wadsworth, E. (1996). Classroom Climate Workshops: Videotape and Facilitation Guide. Available through the Continuing Education Business Office, Purdue University, 1586 Stewart Center, Room 110, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1586 USA.

7. Rosser, S. (1995). "Transforming Climate and Curriculum to Include Women in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics" in Lazarus, B. Bridging the Gender Gap in Engineering and Science: The Challenge of Institutional Transformation. Conference Proceedings, October 14, 1995.

8. Sadker, M. and Sadker, D. (1994). Failing at Fairness. New York: Scribners.

9. Sandler, B., Silverberg, L. & Hall, R. (1996). The Chilly Classroom Climate: A Guide to Improve the Education of Women. National Association for Women in Education (NAWE), Phone 202-659-9330.

10. Seymour, E. & Hewitt, N. (1994). Talking about Leaving. Boulder, Co: Ethnography and Assessment Research, University of Colorado.

The video and facilitation guide are available from Purdue University for $150. We no longer have a preview policy. If you are not satisfied with this material, return within 30 days of purchase for a full refund. Send order to Continuing Education Business Office, Purdue University, 1586 Stewart Center, Room 110, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1586. FAX credit card or purchase order to (765) 494-0567.