The Engagement Lab at OU is an new format of teaching action research and involving students in meaningful community work. This project is a study of the impact of severe weather and public policy in the Spanish speaking community of Oklahoma. Faculty and undergraduate students work with community stakeholders to identify research needs in the community that will be explored during the semester. Based on this identification, during the semester students conduct a survey at a community event and interview at least 2 community stakeholders. At the end of each semester, students will present their findings to community members.
At a personal level, students have expressed struggles with the work, whether it be understanding exactly how to go about conducting their fieldwork or entering into a community that they are not familiar with. The course is structured so that they can develop skills, test them in the field, reflect and then try again. They have three levels of contact, the survey, the interviews and the final presentation. The “disorienting dilemma” that Mezirow talks about is at the surface when we gather the morning of their first community survey. Students that sat in class, yawning/texting/frightened/disinterested, cannot help but engage. They have to work with their team to complete a certain number of surveys. It is always interesting to me to look at the photos of students after this event…I can see a change. They start forming bonds. There is a bit more confidence in group meetings as they talk about the next steps. They start to take ownership of the work.
In a reflection, a student wrote:
"It can be hard and intimidating at the same time. (to do research) I feel a constant struggle to keep my personal feelings out of the research. However, it is also very rewarding. Things start to come together and fall into place when you least expect it and you might come across something really interesting and/or powerful enough that can change the direction of your research or ensure you that you’re on the right path. Working with the community is the best. You really get a sense of what you’re doing is important and you hope your research will positively impact the people in the community that you are working with. In research you can really find where some of your strengths and weaknesses are but you power through because you know your research has potential to make positive change. I learned that I truly care for my research, its accuracy, and ability to promote significant change. I also learned that if my community were vulnerable to severe weather that I would want to take action and work with the community to find ways to implement positive change."
Another student commented:
"You are engaging in community, the community is teaching us, we learn from them, a major difference between reading from text and realizing that we as students can do this kind of work. Working with the community I learned that they have a role in the production of knowledge. People have a lot to say. They have a lot to offer, we need to learn to listen to them."
Community engaged learning and research improves our communities and our university.
