Conferences as a Tool to Develop Students’ Understanding of Community-Engaged Research

As many higher education institutions seek to integrate Community-Engaged Research (CER) into their programs and deepen efforts towards social justice, students need quality CER training and resources.

Recently, Dr. Carolyn Taylor Meyer, Director of Experiential Learning, and MIIS Master’s students Maria Zaharatos and Julian Hernandez-Webster published their article entitled “Experiential Learning: Conferences as a Tool to Develop Students’ Understanding of Community-Engaged Research” in the Social Sciences Journal, Special Issue New Trends in Community-Engaged Research, Volume 2: New Voices, Critical Approaches.

The paper of practice explores how CoLab was able to utilize a Conference as Curriculum model (Campbell et. al. 2021) to provide students with an immersive learning opportunity that enhances understanding of critical approaches and challenges and opportunities in the field of CER. 

The paper provides a unique contribution at the nexus of research on experiential learning and the institutionalization of community-engaged research. It also challenges traditional paradigms by using a unique methodology in which two of the authors share their experience as student attendees at the conference and participants in the Conference as Curriculum activity, in the form of student vignettes. The paper offers design recommendations for a conference experiential learning model and framework for other institutions to adapt and use, so they too can work to equip students with CER skills and networks.

Read the full open access article.