international institute on partnerships - Portland State University

5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. HOSTED RECEPTION, POSTERS, AND BOOK SIGNING (continued from page 12) TUESDAY, MAY 24th
Posters Developed by Students, Faculty, and Community Partners:
Grow Great Citizens through
Community-based Learning
Presenter: Julie Merten, Instructor/
Faculty Internship Director, University of
North Florida
Students are graduating into a world
that demands a dynamic work-ready
individual with a practical skill set, so
professionally prepared students are more
important than ever. The required skill set
of a successful practitioner is constantly
evolving and academic requirements
should advance to better prepare students.
This session will discuss an innovative
course to have students operate a
business, plan, implement and evaluate
a health program for a community nonprofit.
The course can be modified for
any discipline. The students, instructor
and community partner work side-by-side
to develop and implement the program.
Throughout the process, the relationship
between the University and community is
strengthened.
Immigrant Children's Affirmative
Network: Promoting Resilience in
Youth
Presenters: Rachel Becker, Graduate
Student, University of Miami, and Amelia
Swanson, Graduate Student, University
of Miami
The number of children to immigrants
has increased in the United States in the
past twenty years and many of these
youth reside in Florida. The Immigrant
Children Affirmative Network (ICAN)
works to coordinate the University of
Miami, a local non-profit that provides
art-based and educational programs,
and a local underperforming high school
in a project to promote the well-being
and positive youth development of these
immigrant youth. The ICAN program
utilizes a semi-structured group format
that incorporates input from youth
participants, youth facilitators and
graduate student facilitators to achieve
these goals. This program is based on
positive youth development research,
particularly emphasizing the five Cs of
positive development as well as the five
Cs of empowerment. The implementation
of the ICAN program provides an example
of a partnership that affords a variety of
benefits to the partners, including the
participants, youth facilitators, community
and university partners.
An Innovative Framework: The
Community and Educational Well-
Being Research Center
Presenters: Rachel Becker, Graduate
Student, University of Miami, and Krithika
Malhortra, Graduate Student, University
of Miami
This poster will outline the work of
an innovative university center, the
Community and Educational Well-Being
Research Center (the CEW). The CEW
seeks to pair the talent and resources
of the university with the needs and
challenges of the community. Two specific
partnerships will be presented, focusing
on: the implementation of communitybased
participatory research (CBPR),
the role of and impact on graduate
students, cultural considerations, and
conceptualizations of the contribution of
community agencies. Given the sensitive
nature of one topic, domestic violence,
special considerations were necessary
for the forging of a collaboration. The
second topic will explicate an iteration of
CBPR, based on the work of Juan Marconi
Tassara. This research identifies the
strengths and resources of the different
partners, then utilizes a pyramidal
structure to organize their specific
contributions. This poster aims to provide
an analysis of the CEW's approach to
partnership development.
Intentional Partnerships: Preparing
the Early Child Teacher to be a
Community Leader
Presenters: Katrina Hall, Associate
Professor, University of North Florida;
Elizabeth Fullerton, Assistant Professor,
University of North Florida; Gigi Morales
David, Visiting Assistant Professor,
University of North Florida; and Pam Bell,
Center Director, University of North Florida
Child Development Research Center
This presentation will provide an
overview of an early childhood teacher
training program designed to move
students through the five components
of community-based learning: outreach,
instruction, immersion, apprenticeship,
and research. The curriculum, based
on feedback from our stakeholders, is
redesigned to provide students with
designated community partners, outside of
the public school system, to promote civic
engagement. Presenters describe how they
work to help students use and engage
in inquiry and research to positively
impact the lives of children and families.
The program is based the idea that
student engagement is key in long-term
learning and meaningful higher education
experiences (Kuh, 2003). Providing
students with opportunities to participate
in critical activities in the classroom and
the community at large is an important
aspect of their ability to apply practice,
think critically, and develop leadership
skills in their discipline (Pascarella &
Terinizin, 2005).
The Sticky Side of Service: Ethical
Issues in Cross-Cultural and
International Service Learning
Presenters: Peter Leung, Past President,
NAACP, Benton County; Jun Xing,
Professor & Co-Chair, SLICE; Aaron
Leung; Wilson Xing; and Xiaoyong
Zheng, Director, CEAIE
Service learning, like any learning, is not
culturally neutral but deeply embedded
in the political and cultural systems of a
given society. Both learning and service
activities relate to human differences, due
to race, gender, ethnicity, class, and other
cultural dynamics. It also involves power
differences through the teaching and
learning processes. In the larger context
of partnerships, this poster intends to
highlight specific benefits of cross-cultural
and <strong>international</strong> service learning for all
of the stakeholders, and to outline ethical
issues of campus-community partnerships.
The poster will showcase the potential
pitfalls of building such partnerships, and
recommend a code of ethics for service
learning practitioners and scholars for
developing and maintaining campuscommunity
partnerships.
Launching a National Survey to
Assess Student Learning Outcomes of
Community-Based Research
Presenters: Trisha Thorme, Assistant
Director, Community-based learning
Initiative, Princeton University; Gary
Lichtenstein, Principal, Quality Evaluation
Designs; Nick Cutforth, Professor,
Morgridge College of Education, University
of Denver; Martin Tombari, Senior
Research Associate, Quality Evaluation
Designs
Community-based research (CBR) grows
out of mutually beneficial partnerships
between members of the community
and of higher education institutions.
As the practice of CBR grows, interest
in documenting its outcomes has
increased. We sought codification of
the impact of CBR on student learning
and developed a CBR Student Learning
Outcomes Survey. The project began with
individual interviews and focus groups
with 70 undergraduates and faculty at
six colleges and universities nationwide
discussing perceived benefits of CBR.
Based on analyses of these interviews, five
CBR outcome constructs were derived:
academic skills, educational experience,
civic engagement, professional skills, and
personal growth. The presentation will
include information on those constructs,
survey development, and a pilot of the
survey in Spring 2009. We will share the
instrument and invite comment on its uses
and our plans for a national study of CBR
outcomes. (continued on page 14)
13