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Research Articles

Vol. 21 No. 2

A Prestudy Curricula-as-Research Model for Scholarship of Engagement: Combining Continuous Service with Discontinuous Learning

Submitted
June 9, 2017
Published
2017-06-09

Abstract

Restructuring changes in higher education may be affecting how faculty conduct the scholarship of engagement. As faculty increasingly face uncertain futures, the limits of service-learning need to be better understood in order to maximize the pedagogical possibilities. One way of exploring limitations is to focus on sustainable faculty-community collaborative relationships since sustainability recognizes both constraint and possibility. This article presents a Curricula-as-Research Model as a risk-reduction strategy for faculty involved in Scholarship of Engagement. According to the model, the sustainability of research collaborations can be strengthened if a multicourse collaborative project is integrated into course sequencing. The model is developed with an autoethnographic prestudy of a service-learning collaboration between Indiana University, Purdue University Fort Wayne and Blackford County Concerned Citizens in Indiana (Fall 2014 -Spring 2016). Prestudy findings indicate that curricular content may be a factor influencing the evolution and community impact of collaborative relationships between the university and the community.