An entertainment-education policy approach to teach campus literacy, safety, and social norms

Abstract

This study represents an application of the entertainment education approach utilizing aspects of arts education to deliver campus policy and protocols to a population of incoming first year students at new student orientation. Consistent with previous applications in research, these theatrical entertainment messages were combined with a post-show discussion followed by a post-show survey. Data for this study consisted of those three elements (the show, the discussion, and the survey) and we describe these data using AI-based content analyses and network modeling. We report on the recall of campus information including emergency phone numbers and on questions of campus policy regarding student behavior. For this population, we recommend a dual-pronged approach where the meaning related to the information is provided during the heightened period of audience involvement during NSO, and recall is supported through targeted resource communication in the following months and/or through first-year seminar courses. The prevalence and specificity of student responses lends toward the consideration of policies for new students related to the limitation of logistical obstacles, and multifaceted approaches to the dissemination of health-related information, and crisis response formats.