Empowering Undergraduate Students Through Community-Based Research

Author(s):  
Gemma Punti ◽  
Nitya V. Chandiramani ◽  
Chelsea Maria Steffens

Community-based research (CBR) is a powerful pedagogical tool for actively engaging and empowering undergraduate students in their research endeavors. This chapter explores how CBR facilitated undergraduate researchers' transformative learning and the development of their civic skills when collaborating with alternative schools. Using the undergraduate researchers' reflections, focus group interviews, and a survey, this case study reveals how developing relationships with young, underserved community members was essential in changing their perspectives regarding the educational system and themselves. Furthermore, the undergraduate researchers' obstacles in collaborating with the community and within their team cohorts became critical sources of civic learning. The challenges of working with various partners fostered their capacity to navigate ambiguity, develop flexibility, and determine which experiences to communicate to community partners. CBR compelled the undergraduate researchers to maneuver through the unforeseen challenges of real life collaborations.

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S602-S602
Author(s):  
Nuelle Novik ◽  
Bonnie Jeffery ◽  
Tom McIntosh

Abstract In Canada, numbers of older adults are considered to be increasing, and by 2036, it is expected that seniors will reach 25% of the total population. Since 2009, the Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit (SPHERU) has developed an interdisciplinary approach to a community-based research program focused on rural older adults. The world café approach is recognized as collaborative and ideal for encouraging dialogue, sharing knowledge, and developing action plans. Set up like a café, four to six participants at each table engage in a series of three conversational rounds lasting approximately 20 minutes each. At the end of each round, participants move to different tables while the facilitator(s) remain at their original tables. We incorporated a world café approach in three distinct research projects, facilitating a total of five world café events. For each of these events, we also engaged with graduate and undergraduate students who were trained to serve as table facilitators. Participating students represented a variety of disciplines including social work, nursing, and gerontology. Older adults participating in the world café events reported positive experiences and appreciation for the opportunity to discuss new information. Student facilitators identified their participation as a “real life” learning and networking opportunity that enhanced their classroom experiences. Challenges identified included issues related to individual mobility, and issues related to noise and sound quality for those with hearing deficiencies. A community-based approach to research is effective when engaging with this population, and a word café event brings seniors directly into the discussion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-86

Contemporary methodologies of art and design pedagogy offer ways to address pressing societal issues and to improve civic knowledge through purposeful inquiry and action. The creative energy inherent to art and design allows faculty to open dialogues, foster ambiguity, and deepen content for undergraduate students through a number of approaches—from project-based learning in foundation courses to community-based research in capstone experiences. This article details a creativity model comprising actionable methods for bringing civic consciousness into the classroom by aligning best practices from art and design pedagogy with the concepts and nomenclature of civic learning and democratic engagement to critically address broader issues. By examining selected case studies, the authors demonstrate that creative energy is a necessary component to applying civic skills and enabling collective action throughout a student’s undergraduate education. Educational experiences that allow students to follow their curiosity and explore ambiguity in an effort to address wicked problems in their coursework, such as food insecurity, can have lifelong value.


2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-75
Author(s):  
William S. Walker

This article explores the shared intellectual tradition in folklore, public history, and oral history of involving students in community-based field research. This case study of the collaborative research New York State folklorist Harold W. Thompson and his students undertook in the 1930s contributes to ongoing efforts to enrich our understanding of public history’s genealogy. It also demonstrates that a counter-tradition to the “lone genius” model of humanities research emerged through faculty-student community-based research projects in history and folklore.


Author(s):  
Tish Scott

This qualitative case study focuses on community members’ observations and perceptions of student multimedia technology projects produced in a grade 6/7 class, particularly in relation to what they affirm is important for their children’s education. The projects are community-based and rooted in the First Nations culture of a remote village in northern British Columbia (Canada).


Author(s):  
Todd B. Ziegler ◽  
Chris M. Coombe ◽  
Zachary E. Rowe ◽  
Sarah J. Clark ◽  
Carina J. Gronlund ◽  
...  

Extreme summertime heat is a significant public health threat that disproportionately impacts vulnerable urban populations. Research on health impacts of climate change (including increasing intensity, duration, and frequency of hot weather) is sometimes designed and implemented without the involvement of the communities being studied, i.e., “community-placed” not “community-based.” We describe how the Heatwaves, Housing, and Health: Increasing Climate Resiliency in Detroit (HHH) partnership engaged relevant communities by integrating a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach into an existing, academic-designed research project through a steering committee of community and academic partners. Using a case study approach, we analyze program documentation, partnership evaluation questionnaires, and HHH steering committee meeting notes. We describe the CBPR process by which we successfully collected research data in Detroit during summer 2016, engaged in collaborative analysis of data, and shared results with Detroit residents. Evaluations of the partnership over 2 years show community involvement in research; enhanced capacities; success in securing new grant funding; and ways that CBPR strengthened the validity, relevance, and translation of research. Engaging communities as equal partners using CBPR, even after a study is underway, can strengthen research to understand and address the impacts of extreme heat on health and equity in urban communities.


Author(s):  
Tracey Marie Barnett

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) embraces a partnership approach to research that equitably involves community members, organizational representatives, social workers, and researchers in all aspects of the research process. CBPR begins with a research topic of importance to the community and has the aim of combining knowledge with action and achieving social change. It is community based in the sense that community members become part of the research team and researchers become engaged in the activities of the community. Community–researcher partnerships allow for a blending of values and expertise, promoting co-learning and capacity building among all partners, and integrating and achieving a balance between research and action for the mutual benefit of all partners. Various terms have been used to describe this research, including participatory action research (PAR), action research (AR), community based research (CBR), collaborative action research (CAR), anti-oppressive research, and feminist research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 851-856
Author(s):  
Qiuyu Jiang

This essay examines how a small-scale non-governmental organization mobilizes community members in Montreal, Canada, to respond to the city’s shortage of personal protective equipment during COVID-19 by making more than 1600 scrub caps for local healthcare workers. As the CAP-MTL project has progressed, organizers have constantly adjusted how they run the project in order to meet evolving needs through three major phases: (1) centralizing resource allocation, (2) building a self-sufficient production team and (3) pairing volunteers with healthcare workers. This case study highlights how in crisis response projects, organizers must be flexible and adapt to fluid and dynamic situations.


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