Summary This research explores whether participating in a poverty simulation resulted in changes to participants’ beliefs about the causes and effects of poverty, as well as shifts in their attitudes and actions towards people experiencing poverty. In this multiple case study, we analysed quantitative and qualitative data from participant feedback surveys and pre-, post- and follow-up questionnaires from two samples: undergraduate students and community participants. We conclude that the poverty simulation is only a step, albeit a potentially important one, to enhance participants’ understanding about the causes of poverty, and to alter their attitudes and beliefs about people living in poverty. Findings We found statistically significant results (p < .05) on cumulative scores of the modified Attitudes Toward Poverty Scale, indicating an improvement in participants’ attitudes towards poverty (both samples). Although generally positive about their experiences, participating in the simulation did not appear to have prompted participants to take action to reduce poverty. Applications Poverty simulation planners should be wary of adopting scenarios that emphasize, or fail to adequately contextualize, behaviours or responses that might perpetuate individual explanations of poverty. Moreover, organizers must carefully consider how to ensure participants in their audience currently experiencing low income do not become emotionally distressed, triggered or further marginalized in the process. While overall participants were positive about their experiences in the simulation, the events did not appear to have prompted them to action. Moving beyond the goal of increasing participants’ understandings of poverty, interventions that foster greater engagement in poverty issues over the long term are necessary.

This study assessed the quality of social interactions that occur in group-based computer learning contexts. Gender comparisons of interactions were examined across 3 sessions with 116 preschoolers (M age=4.9 years) and 108 fifth and sixth-grade (M age=11.7 years) Canadian children from southwestern Ontario, when children had access to one computer per child (parallel computer) or one computer per group (integrated computer), and when they worked with same-gender or mixed-gender peers. Preschoolers engaged in more collaborative behaviors in mixed-gender than same-gender groups, while elementary children engaged in collaborative behaviors more often in integrated than parallel computer conditions. In mixedgender groups, boys were more likely than girls to dominate the computer in elementary school while girls were more likely than boys to dominate the computer in preschool.