ERIC Number: EJ1080705
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 12
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1559-0143
EISSN: N/A
An Honors Interdisciplinary Community-Based Research Course
Dunbar, David; Terlecki, Melissa; Watterson, Nancy; Ratmansky, Lisa
Honors in Practice, v9 p129-140 2013
This article describes how two faculty members at Cabrini College--one from biology and the other from psychology--incorporated interdisciplinary community-based research in an honors course on environmental watershed issues. The course, Environmental Psychology, was team-taught in partnership with a local watershed organization, the Valley Creek Restoration Partnership (VCRP) in such a way that the students could see first-hand the interdisciplinary nature of many community-based research (CBR) projects. The study of watersheds is necessarily an interdisciplinary endeavor, requiring an understanding of natural, social, and behavioral sciences. Additionally, since both faculty were working with the same community partner, they anticipated that they would be able to align and integrate their research designs more closely with one another when team-teaching an interdisciplinary CBR course. The interdisciplinary CBR course exposed more students at Cabrini College to an experiential learning opportunity. The course was open to students in any major and at any level in the Cabrini College Honors Program. The design, implementation, and assessment of the course can serve as a roadmap for others considering teaching an interdisciplinary CBR course in honors, including details about the collaboration between faculty from different disciplines with a community partner, student focus group data on course learning outcomes, the impact of an honors interdisciplinary CBR project from a community partner perspective, and the expansion of the honors model into an institution's general education requirements for all students.
Descriptors: Honors Curriculum, Interdisciplinary Approach, Service Learning, Undergraduate Students, Majors (Students), Psychology, Biology, Student Research, School Community Relationship, Community Cooperation, Research Design, Team Teaching, Experiential Learning, Environmental Education, Focus Groups, Feedback (Response), Educational Benefits
National Collegiate Honors Council. 1100 Neihardt Residence Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 540 North 16th Street, Lincoln, NE 68588. Tel: 402-472-9150; Fax: 402-472-9152; e-mail: nchc@unl.edu; Web site: http://nchchonors.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF); US Environmental Protection Agency
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Pennsylvania
Grant or Contract Numbers: 0715777; 9734890