Research+Facilitators

David: I envision this on the last page BEFORE references

A final note for research facilitators:

Research facilitators at Think College have been using participatory action research, or PAR, with students with intellectual disabilities (ID) to document and gather data on their college experience.

PAR isn’t easy. It takes lots of time--both yours and the students’. It requires you to be flexible and patient. But the process of participatory action research can provide you with insights into students' experiences that you might not gather from other research methods.

Here are some final suggestions for researcher facilitators who are preparing their own PAR work with students with ID:

• Be as inclusive as possible in your collaboration with students. Talk with them (and staff they know well) to determine the best way for you and the student researcher to communicate and work together.

• Be patient. Remember that students with ID are rarely, if ever, given the chance to have equal footing in research. If they are missing deadlines, review again with them how important it is to share their opinions about college. Additionally, explore different ways to help them follow the research timeline.

• Use more than one strategy to help students participate in all phases of PAR. There are a wide variety of tasks involved in PAR that will likely need some adaption in order for students to fully engage in each phase of the work. Be prepared to make these adaptations, and also be aware that some adaptations will need to be made on the spot.

• Some student researchers may get some help from a staff person, education coach, mentor to complete PAR tasks. Use an opportunity to discuss with the student and support person how important it is that the data collected ( photos, video, text) reflects the student researchers' authentic work.

• Dont be surprised if the work you do with students sparks deeper conversations. For instance, a student who was documenting his college experience with photos was talking about how college differed from his school experiences. That conversation led the student to share a story about how confused he was about why, in 8th grade, he was suddenly assigned to separate special education classes, instead of inclusive general education classes. He concluded that college gave him the chance to prove himself to the educational team that removed him from general education classes all those years ago.

• Prepare to have PAR-related conversations with students outside of scheduled times. Some of the most insightful conversations with student researchers have occurred, not during the PAR meetings, but while driving to the campus, taking a lunch break, or walking to a class. Stepping away from a project can sometimes free us to think through issues when our heads are momentarily clear of extraneous information or tasks.

• Be open to new ideas about how to facilitate PAR. Given the flexibility of PAR and the growing number of technologies available, you are likely to find new ways to implement PAR that will engage students with ID in college research.

• Be responsible about students' research. Remember that it is their data. As a research facilitator, unless you specifically asked them if you can use their data, anything they produce is theirs, and it is your responsibility to help them use it as they want to. At the same time, you may find that students need some assistance in determining how they can share their work with others. And you may be co-authoring materials with students.

• Consider developing your own research questions while doing PAR with students. As an example, your research may be focused on how the students engage in PAR or what you are learning about inclusive college experiences as a result of your PAR with students.

• Ask students if you can document the PAR process by taking pictures or videos, or by recording your meetings. Include a consent form in your IRB protocol. These photos and recordings can be very valuable in documenting how the students are engaging in the research and what strategies are more and less successful.