ERIC Number: EJ1251313
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1076-0180
EISSN: N/A
Questioning the Impact of Impact: Evaluating Community-Campus Engagement as Contextual, Relational, and Process Based
Levkoe, Charles Z.; Kepkiewicz, Lauren
Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, v26 n1 p219-237 Win 2020
As community-campus engagement (CCE) continues to gain momentum, impact has increasingly been evaluated through qualitative measurements rooted in community-based perspectives. However, for CCE to have meaningful impact, it must challenge dominant power structures and work to create equitable relationships. This article explores efforts to better understand and evaluate the impacts of CCE. Based in our research on 12 place-based CCE projects that aimed to support food sovereignty in Canada, the findings highlight how evaluating impact needs to be contextual, relational, and process-based with a focus on how CCE contributes to or hinders broader social change. Two additional themes supporting increased impact also emerged: the development of collaborative knowledge and actions; and, building networks of CCE communities of practice. The research also identified the limitations of evaluating CCE impact when measurements are pre-determined, top down, and are not rooted in community needs and perspectives. While we believe that evaluating impact can be a meaningful and important process, it is necessary to challenge assumptions that measuring impact is always desirable or possible.
Descriptors: Higher Education, School Community Relationship, Evaluation Methods, Program Evaluation, Service Learning, Foreign Countries, Food, Cooperative Programs, Knowledge Management, Social Change
Edward Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning, University of Michigan. 1024 Hill Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-3310. Tel: 734-647-7402; Fax: 734-647-7464; Web site: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mjcsl
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A