2019 Volume 30 Issue 4 Pages 315-328
This study examined the effects of viewing a public television program about child poverty on college students' levels of understanding and social awareness. Thirty-three college students participated in an experiment consisting of three sessions, which were repeated once a week, for three weeks (Times 1 to 3). Each session consisted of (1) watching a different video from a series of programs on child poverty, (2) writing an essay concerning their impressions of and comments on the video, and (3) having a group discussion about the video. The effects of these sessions were assessed by measuring (1) recall of video contents and knowledge of poverty, (2) change in level of understanding of child poverty, evaluated at four levels, (3) change in level of social awareness and approval of children's living necessities, (4) maintenance of knowledge and social awareness at six months post-experiment. Analyses indicated that (1) participants referred to approximately 60% of the video contents, (2) understanding of child poverty increased, (3) social awareness increased, (4) increases in knowledge and social awareness were maintained after six months, with some participants reporting behavioral changes such as new volunteering activities, however, (5) approval of children's living necessities did not change.
