Student/Faculty Participatory Research Partnerships: Teaching Research through Student Engagement in Local Community Issues

This workshop centers on building capacity for emerging social work scholars at the undergraduate level through the development of an emergent approach to student/faculty participatory research modeled after a project within a school of social work at a historically black college and university (HBCU). Through an innovative, engaging learning and research environment, this research strives to reduce extreme economic inequality and achieve equal opportunity and justice to address this social work grand challenge presented by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW).

Throughout the workshop event, participants will: 1.Explore the phases of designing a participatory research project or set of projects alongside faculty and students. 2.Participate in dialogues facilitated by students and faculty researchers informed by appreciative inquiry to choose topics and research questions based on a combination of student areas of interest and local community issues. 3.Begin framing projects in their own contexts, and anticipate aspects of how to engage students in a collaborative research process within or outside the social work classroom.

Students and faculty will co-facilitate the workshop using experiential and dialogic exercises informed by critical pedagogy to explore each phase of the participatory research process using Hacker's (2014) phases community based participatory research from idea formulation and design to dissemination. Exercises will involve experiential activities and both small and large group dialogues on vital aspects of the participatory research process. Experiential learning is incorporated since it has been found to be effective for college students (Kolb, 1984; Lee & Fortune, 2113). Student researchers will also share their experiences and lessons learned researching the effect of youth disconnect and specifically the school to prison pipeline and youth mental health in the local community. Faculty mentors will share preliminary findings and seek feedback on an emergent approach to participatory action research in HBCUs. Participants will also get opportunities to share their own experience envisioning participatory projects in their own unique contexts.