A workshop presented at the Service-Learning Faculty Fellows Retreat in collaboration with http://www.ecu.edu/cs-studentaffairs/volunteer/.

1. G U I S E P P E G E T TO
E O S A S C H O L AR 2 0 1 5 - 1 6
E N G L I S H D E PAR T M E N T
G E T TO G @ E C U . E D U
Participatory Action Research (PAR) and
Service-Learning: Solving Community
Problems Through Education

2. What I’ll Cover
 What is PAR?
 How does it connect to service-learning?
 What do I mean by “solving community problems through education”?
 How can service-learning create opportunities for PAR and visa versa
(three example cases)?
 Activity 1: Creating your own PAR/SL project
 Activity 2: How will your field respond?
 Activity 3: How will your department respond?

3. What Is PAR?
“Action research integrates research and action in a series
of flexible cycles involving, holistically rather than as
separate steps: the collection of data about the topic of
investigation; analysis and interpretation of those data; the
planning and introduction of action strategies to bring
about positive changes; and evaluation of those
changes through further data collection, analysis and
interpretation… ” (Somekh, 2006)

4. What Is PAR?, cont’d
(Cruz, 2013)

5. How does PAR connect to service-learning?
 Both involve critical thinking, reflection, and action
 Both aim to unite academic activities (research and
teaching) with community-based problem-solving
 Both are difficult, messy, iterative activities
 Both involve balancing the (often competing) needs
of a variety of stakeholders (i.e. community
members, faculty, students, etc.)

6. What do I mean by “solving community problems through
education”?
Faculty
Students
Community
Members
Solving
Community
Problems

7. How can service-learning create opportunities for PAR and
visa versa? Case 1: Community Media in Lansing, MI
First Year Writing
Instructors (Me + 2
Colleagues)
FYW Students
Non-Profit Leaders
Community Media
Projects (websites,
videos, brochures,
newsletters, etc.)
(Getto, Leon,
& Getto-Rivait, 2014)

8. How can service-learning create opportunities for PAR and
visa versa? Case 1: Community Media in Lansing, MI, cont’d

9. How can service-learning create opportunities for PAR and
visa versa?, Case 2: Online Technical Writing With iFixit
Technical
Writing
Instructor (Me)
Technical
Writing Students
Technical Writers
and Users at
iFixit.com
Online Repair
Documentation
(Getto, Franklin,
& Ruszkiewicz, 2014)

10. How can service-learning create opportunities for PAR and visa versa?,
Case 2: Online Technical Writing With iFixit, cont’d

11. How can service-learning create opportunities for PAR and visa versa?,
Case 2: Online Technical Writing With iFixit, cont’d

12. How can service-learning create opportunities for PAR and visa versa?,
Case 2: Online Technical Writing With iFixit, cont’d

13. How can service-learning create opportunities for PAR and visa versa?, Case 3
(EOSA): Helping Non-Profits in Eastern NC With Digital Communication
Business Writing
Instructor (Me)
Business Writing
Students
Non-Profit Leaders
Learning
Opportunities for
Effective Use of
Digital Media
(Getto & Flanagan,
In Process)

14. Activity 1: Creating your own PAR/SL project
Faculty?
Students?
Community
Members?
Community
Problems to
Solve?

15. Activity 2: How will your field respond?
Fellow
Researchers?
Venues?
Students?
Community
Members?
Research
Questions?

16. Activity 3: How will your department respond?
Colleagues?
Students?
Community
Members?
Deliverables?

17. REFERENCES
 Cruz, X. (2013). Participatory action research (PAR) for sustainable community
development. Post Growth. Available: http://postgrowth.org/participatory-action-research-
par-for-sustainable-community-development/.
 Getto, G., & Flanagan, S. (In Process). Helping content: A threefold approach to digital
content management for non-profits. Communication Design Quarterly.
 Getto, G., Leon, K. & Getto-Rivait, J. (2014). Helping to build better networks: Service-
learning partnerships as distributed knowledge work. Reflections, 13(2), 71-95.
 Getto, G., Franklin, N. & Ruszkiewicz, S. (2014). Networked rhetoric: iFixit and the social
impact of knowledge work. Technical Communication, 61(3), 185-201.
 Somekh, B. (2006). Action research: A methodology for change and development. New
York, NY: Open University Press.