METHOD

Research Question
The above literature serves as a basis for our understanding of the constructs
related to college students sense of belonging, involvement, and interracial interactions.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate students connectedness and sense of
belonging on Azusa Pacific Universitys campus by evaluating a performing arts event
called Expressions. This event provided students the opportunity to share their passion,
talent, interests, and culture with the campus community through performing arts. On
February 28th, Black Students Association put on an Expressions event, Flashback
Friday. We designed this study to ask the following question: Does Expressions make
an impact on student connectedness and their sense of belonging at APU from the
perspective of the attendees and performers? We specifically sought to evaluate student
connectedness, sense of belonging, and student learning.
Participants:
The survey was completed and returned by 76 students from a small private,
Christian university on the West Coast. These participants were both attendees and
performers at the Black Student Association Expressions event. There were over 300
people in the total population, so a convenience sample was taken to evaluate the event.
The first 80 people who approached us received a survey. The participants then
completed the survey on site, and returned them to us in exchange for their Chick-Fil-A
coupon incentive. Gender, race/ethnicity, age and academic class standing were
important variables considered in the survey. There were 53 female participants, 21 male
participants and 2 participants who did not complete this question. The racial/ethnic

composition of the participants surveyed was 25% White, 39.5% African American, 5.3%
Asian American, 7.9% Hispanic, 6.6% Filipino, 2.6% Middle Eastern, 7.9% MultiRacial, and 5.3% of the people who participated in the survey did not fill out this
question.
This broad range of ethnicities was one of the many strengths in this research
study. Many groups were represented in the crowd, so it is beneficial that the ethnic
diversity is reflected in the data. In addition to this, the response rate of participants was
95% of the surveys handed out. The incentive coupon not only encouraged participation,
but it helped regulate the collection of surveys. Before a student could get a coupon, the
surveys were looked over to ensure that consent forms were signed and most of the
questions had been filled out. The last asset to this design is that the participants
completed the survey immediately after the event, so the experience was fresh on their
minds. The timing of the survey distribution was mostly beneficial, but it also presents a
few limitations as well. Because surveys were distributed at the end of the performance,
those who left early did not have a chance to participate. It is also possible that some of
the participants came to Expressions late, which would mean they did not experience the
event in its entirety. Another drawback is that only 80 people had the opportunity to
complete the survey, meaning the whole population could not participate. Lastly, this
was the only Expressions event to be evaluated, so there is not any data with which to
compare findings.
Materials
The data for this study was collected using a 22-item survey that was distributed
in person at the Expressions event. The survey included demographic, close-ended,

open-ended, and Likert scale questions to best measure our variables. A copy of the
Evaluation for BSA Expressions Survey can be found in the appendix. We wanted to
make sure that we received a variation of student responses from this event. Thus, the
survey was administered as students left the event and at the conclusion of the event.
There were three variables that we sought to measure through this program
evaluation: student connectedness, belonging, and student learning. We chose to define
student connectedness as a students ability to connect with other students on campus.
Our definition of belonging was the students ability to feel valued and affiliated with
ones campus. Lastly, we defined our last variable of student learning as the
information and insight gained as a result of this program.
We created a local survey, which we later found was similar to the conceptual
framework of Alvarez (2007). His study was focused on intercultural belonging and
students need to feel that their presence on campus is noticed and important to others.
We sought to find similar themes as Alvarezs work such as sense of belonging and
connectedness.
In another study, researchers found that campus involvement can often lead to an
increase in student's sense of belonging, student success, and positive regard for the
university (Webber, Krulow & Zhang, 2013). In order to gauge the level of student
connectedness, we added multiple items that allowed participants to rate the extent to
which students agreed with the following statements: (a) I was exposed to new ideas at
the event, (b) I related to the performers, (c) I felt disconnected from people at this
event, (d) I learned more about the African American culture today, (e) I feel like I fit
in at APU, and (f) I felt empowered because of this event. The Likert scale was

measured from strongly (a) strongly agree=4 to strongly disagree=1 and also (b)
always=4 and never=1. Many closed-ended questions were also conducted to collect
information: (a) I came with people to this event,; (b) I met someone new at this
event,; (c) This event helped me feel like there is a place for me at APU, and (d) I felt
like there were people like me here. In addition to these questions, we wanted to gauge
the spiritual impact this event had on students. We decided to use an open-ended
question to gain understanding for this aspect of Expressions. We asked, Did this event
impact you spiritually? Because we were present for this event, we decided to actively
observe the event. We looked for patterns of human interaction, and participation of
audience members and performers.
The CAS Standards outlined the best practices for Campus Activities Programs
(CAP) to create effective programming. The CAP should strive to build student
institutional loyalty and allegiance while promoting citizenship and civility (Mitstiefer,
2012, p.94). The first standard that we utilized the department mission statement to guide
the program: Programs sponsored by CAP must be produced and promoted according to
professional and institutional practices and protocols (Mitstiefer, 2012, p. 94). This
event was hosted by the Office of Communiversity, who seeks to help students make
connections to each other, to self-development, to classroom learning, and to Gods
calling for their lives by providing engaging campus-wide opportunities. The next
standard described the importance of celebrating diversity: CAP must be comprehensive
and reflect and promote the diversity of student interest and needs, allowing especially
for the achievement of a sense of self esteem and community pride (Mitstiefer, 2012, p.
94). The next CAS standard is rooted in the idea of student involvement: CAP must

offer and encourage student participation in student-led campus activities (94). The last
CAS described how important it is for a CAP program should add richness to the
institution and campus: CAP must include these fundamental functions: implementing
campus programs that add vibrancy to the campus, advising student organizations that
implement programs or services, [...] development, and educational opportunities
(Mitstiefer, 2012, p. 94).
Procedure
The participants were instructed to fill out a local survey, which was handed to them in
person. They were also instructed to fill out the consent form that accompanied each
survey. Upon returning and completing the survey each participant was given a coupon
for a free Chick-Fil-A sandwich. Researchers then began to resolve what statistical tests
to run the data through. In order to adequately evaluate each chosen CAS standards
specific statistical tests were chosen. All four CAS standards were evaluated through the
use of the statistical tests of ANOVAs, t-tests, and correlations. Question results from the
survey were specifically chosen to measure if the Expressions event promoted
diversity, student connection, campus community, office mission statements, and student
development through learning.
Since research on this study of the Expressions program seeks to evaluate how
well the program promotes students connection, involvement, and learning statistical tests
such as t-tests, ANOVAs, and correlations were used. ANOVAs were used in order to
test the difference between ethnicity and age and student learning, empowerment and
belonging on campus. This test was most effective in order to determine whether or not
there are differences among each ethnicity and age and their feelings of belonging on

campus, the amount they learned at the event, or their feelings of empowerment as a
result of the event. The independent variables were ethnicity and age, while the
dependent variables were feelings of belonging, student learning, and student
empowerment.
T-tests were also utilized in order to assess the independent variables of gender
and African American students vs. non-African American students. Because the Black
Student Association put on the event it is appropriate to measure whether there were
significant differences between these two groups. Both of these independent variables
were paired with the dependent variables of: loneliness, belonging, learning about
African American culture, and empowerment. Tests were run to see a difference existed
between the independent variables. In order to determine if any dependent variables
tested exhibited a relationship, correlation tests were run. Correlations included testing
the relationship between belonging vs. loneliness and empowerment vs. learning. Each
ANOVA, t-test, and correlations were tested through the same results of the survey given
to participants.