Managing the Challenges of Teaching Community-Based Research Courses: Insights from Two Instructors.

Abstract

In community-based research (CBR), faculty, students, and community partners collaborate on research projects. This emerging pedagogy presents numerous challenges to instructors teaching CBR courses, including: finding a disciplinary connection, building CBR into the curriculum, ensuring student readiness, and structuring the CBR experience (Strand, Marullo, Cutforth, Stoecker, & Donohue, 2003). In this article, these challenges are addressed by the instructor of a new CBR course for undergraduates and the instructor of an established course for graduate students. This discussion is intended to help prospective or current CBR instructors anticipate and manage the challenges of their courses.