PUB 340: Sustainable Impact

Course Description

This course will focus on engagement in Participatory Action Research, with the aim of learning to create change within social and cultural spheres. Students will learn the theories and practices of Participatory Action Research, and will apply these theories in order to influence decision making in their chosen environments. Different types of source material will be evaluated and applied in research, and students will learn to develop and refine research questions.  (3 credits)

Prerequisites

  • Enrollment in Charter Oak’s partnership program with College Unbound.
  • ENG 101: English Composition 1
  • ENG 102: English Composition 2

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

  1. Describe the key features of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and determine how to tailor PAR practices to a particular worksite.
  2. Apply PAR theories of power and influence to identify key stakeholders for an action research project.
  3. Implement the theories and practices of Participatory Action Research and other relevant research methods.
  4. Apply these theories to 'map' how and where decision-making happens in their field.
  5. Determine a research question that defines the problem or issue and guides the research process for an ongoing project.
  6. Conduct a preliminary literature review of the concepts comprising the research question.
  7. Facilitate a discussion among stakeholders evaluating an action research project's implementation and sustainability.
  8. Apply and properly use the principal research terms in the field, both historical and contemporaneous.
  9. Develop new research questions in response to findings from field activities, and from examining perspectives and scholarship from the student's major field.
  10. Select and use multiple information resources in different media and evaluate the relative merits of competing resources.
  11. Compose an action research project portfolio based on his/her field-based work, integrating feedback from peers and instructor and applying participatory action research theory.

Course Activities and Grading

AssignmentsWeight

Readings, Postings and Class Participation

30%

Recorded and Posted Town Hall Meeting

30%

Portfolio of Knowledge Creation

30%

Knowledge Mapping

10%

Total

100%

Required Textbooks

Available through Charter Oak's online bookstore

  • Stoeker, Randy, “Research Methods for Community Change: A Project-Based Approach.” SAGE Publications, Inc, 2012. ISBN: 1412994055

Required Texts

(Not availble through bookstore)

  • Julio Cammarota and Michelle Fine, “Revolutionizing Education: Youth Participatory Action Research in Motion”. This publication is located at this link.
  • Scientifically Based Research in Education: Epistemology and Ethics by Elizabeth St. Pierre. Adult Education Quarterly 2006
  • Michael Edwards Looking back from 2046: Thoughts on the 80th Anniversary of the Institute for Revolutionary Social Science., Keynote Address, 40th anniversary of the Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK (www.ids.ac.uk)

Additional Resources

Course Schedule

WeekSLOsReadings and ExercisesAssignments

1

1,2,4

Introduction of Course Themes and Complementary

  • Readings:
    • Power Mapping
    • Adelman, C. (1993). Kurt Lewin and the origins of action research. Educational Action Research 1(1), 7-24
    • Brabury Huang, Hilary (2010) What is good action research? Why resurgent interest? Action Research 8(1), 93-109
    • Cornwall A, & Jewkes R. (1995). What is Participatory Research? Social Science and Medicine 41, 12, 1667-1676
  • Read assigned material
  • Review lecture material
  • Participate in Discussion Boards
  • Submit Knowledge and Power Map & Written Analysis
  • Town Hall Meeting Preparation

2

1,3,5,7

Connecting Readings to Project Development

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 1 and 2: Stoeker, Randy, “Research Methods for Community Change: A Project-Based Approach.”
    • Revolutionizing Education: Youth Participatory Action Research in Motion by Julio Cammarota and Michelle Fine
  • Additional Resources:
    • Foley, D. & Valenzuela, A. (2005). Critical ethnography: The politics of collaboration.
    • Denzin & Y.S. Lincoln. Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd Edition) (pp. 217-234).
  • Read assigned material
  • Review lecture material
  • Participate in Discussion Boards
  • Submit Portfolio Update 1
  • Submit Documentation of Learning Team Conference

3

1,2,3,6,8

Posting resources and reflections from Learning Team to Professor for Feedback

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 3, Stoeker, Randy, “Research Methods for Community Change: A Project-Based Approach.”
    • Reading List approved by Learning Team
  • Read assigned material
  • Participate in Discussion Boards
  • Submit Reading List, get approved by Learning Team
  • Submit Annotated Invitation List and Draft Agenda for Town Hall Meeting
  • Submit Annotated Bibliography

4

3,8,9,10

Project Update due to Professor

  • Readings:
    • Looking back from 2046: Thoughts on the 80th Anniversary of the Institute for Revolutionary Social Science. Michael Edwards, Keynote Address, 40th anniversary of the Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK (www.ids.ac.uk)
    • Chapter 7: Evaluation-- Stoeker, Randy, “Research Methods for Community Change: A Project-Based Approach.”
    • Reading List approved by Learning Team
  • Read assigned material
  • Review lecture material
  • Participate in Discussion Boards
  • Submit Portfolio Update 2
  • Submit Revised and Expanded Research Questions

5

3,6,9,10

Debriefs, Common Questions, New Reading/ Resource in Response

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 6, When Research Is the Project: Stoecker, Randy, “Research Methods for Community Change: A Project-Based Approach.”
    • Scientifically Based Research in Education: Epistemology and Ethics by Elizabeth St. Pierre.
    • Reading List approved by Learning Team
  • Read assigned material
  • Review lecture material
  • Participate in Discussion Boards
  • Submit PAR Timeline
  • Submit Documentation of Learning Team Feedback
  • Submit Updated Bibliography

6

6,7,10

Portfolio Update and Peer Feedback

  • Readings:
    • Required materials from Additional Reading Plan Submitted from Student to Professor
    • Required reading posted in your name to the discussion board last week
  • Read assigned material
  • Participate in Discussion Boards
  • Submit Portfolio Update 3
  • Submit First Draft of Literature Review
  • Submit Finalized Invitation List and Agenda for Town Hall Meeting

7

6,7,8,10

Project Update and Town Hall

  • Readings:
    • Reading List approved by Learning Team
  • Read assigned material
  • Participate in Discussion Boards
  • Conduct, Record and Post Town Hall Meeting
  • Feedback to Peer Partner on Literature Review
  • Submit Final Literature Review

8

6,7,8,10,11

Public Exhibition

  • Readings:
    • None
  • Record and post Public Exhibition
  • Complete course evaluation

COSC Accessibility Statement

Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.

COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources

Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.