Verve in College? Examining the Developmental and Population Ranges of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

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Abstract

This article briefly describes 5 empirical studies evaluating the relevance of High Verve Orientation to students’ attitudes (study 1) and performance on cognitive tasks (studies 2-5). The studies found evidence that Verve is relevant in older African American populations than have previously been studied and also to Latiné students, another marginalizable racial/ethnic group that is commonly underserved and underperforming in US Schools. Both groups showed preference for high verve peers, and both performed better on tasks presented in high verve (randomized ordering with syncopated music played as additional environmental stimulation) than in low verve (tasks presented in groups by type, quiet settings without background stimulation) formats.

Author

• Eric A. Hurley, Pomona College