This action-research project focused on gathering data on awareness of lead poisoning, as well as disseminating information on lead poisoning prevention in a metropolitan midwestern city. This project reflects an action-research approach to service learning and was in collaboration with a grass-roots organization. This paper outlines the daunting task of seeking this “highest level of service learning” (Porpora 1999: 121)—action research—in a medical sociology undergraduate class. Action research reflects an integration of the three main academic functions: service, teaching, and research. It requires wearing different hats, and meeting the agendas of both the academic and civic communities. This paper illustrates the process and some of the challenges in carrying out an action-research project geared toward childhood lead poisoning prevention.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BoyerErnest1990. Scholarship reconsidered. Priorities of the Professoriate.Princeton, NJ: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
2.
BrodyD.PirkleJ.L.KramerR.A.FlegalK.M.MatteT.D.GuntterE.W.PaschalD.C.1994. “Blood lead levels in the US population. Phase I of the Third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1968–1991).”Journal of the American Medical Association272: 277–83.
3.
Center for Disease Control. 2004. Center for Disease Control. “CDC Childhood Lead Poisoning Surveillance.” Retrieved June 26, 2006 (http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/surv/surv.htm).
4.
CruzNadineGilesDwight2000. “Where's the Community in Service-Learning Research?”Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning7: 28.
5.
CheslerMark2000. “Community Service Learning as Innovation in the University.” Pp. 27-40 in Praxis I. A Faculty Casebook on Community Service Learning, edited by HowardJefferyAnn Arbor, MI: OCSL Press.
6.
DeweyJohn1916. Democracy and Education.Old Tappan, NJ: Macmillan.
7.
DeweyJohn1938. Experience and Education.Old Tappan, NJ: Macmillan.
8.
Douglas County Data. 2005. Lead and Omaha. Unpublished report by the Division of Lead Poisoning Prevention, Douglas County Health Department. State of Nebraska.
GardnerNancy2001. “Lead Plan Carries a Big Price Tag.”Omaha World Herald, December 29, 2001.
12.
HarkavyIraPuckettJohnRomerDan2000. “Action Research: Bridging Service and Research.”Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning7: 113–20.
13.
HesserGary1999. “Examining Communities and Urban Change: Service-Learning as Collaborative Research.” Pp. 135-50 in Cultivating the Sociological Imagination: Concepts and Models for Service Learning in Sociology, edited by OstrowJamesHesserGarryEnosSandraWashington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.
14.
HoweryCarla1999. “Sociology, Service, and Learning for a Stronger Discipline.” Pp. 151-5 in Cultivating the Sociological Imagination: Concepts and Models for Service Learning in Sociology, edited by OstrowJamesHesserGarryEnosSandraWashington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.
15.
Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities1999. Returning to Our Roots: The Engaged Institution.Washington, DC.: National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
16.
LanphearBruceHornungRichardKhouryJaneYoltonKimberlyBaghurstPeterBellingerDavidCanfieldRichardDietrichKimBornscheinRobertGreeneTomRothenbergStephenNeedlemanHebertSchnaasLourdesWassermanGailGrazianoJosephRobertsRussell2005. “Low-level Environmental Lead Exposure and Children's Intellectual Function: An International Pooled Analysis.”Environmental Health Perspective113: 894–9.
17.
LSOC/UNO Service Learning. 2001. Medical Sociology Undergraduate Class Service-Learning Project. Lead Safe Omaha Coalition (LSOC) and University of Nebraska at Omaha. Unpublished manuscript.
18.
MarulloSam1999. “Sociology's Essential Role: Promoting Critical Analysis in Service Learning.” Pp. 11-28 in Cultivating the Sociological Imagination: Concepts and Models for Service Learning in Sociology, edited by OstrowJamesHesserGarryEnosSandraWashington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.
19.
MarulloSamEdwardBob2000. “From Charity to Justice.”The American Behavioral Scientist43: 895–912.
20.
MillerBarbara1997. “Service Learning in Support of Rural Community Development.” Pp. 107-26 in Service Learning: Applications from the Research, edited by WatermanAMahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
21.
MMWR.2003. Surveillance for Elevated Blood Lead Levels among Children - United States, 1997–2001.Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports52: 1–21.
22.
MMWR.2005. Blood Lead Levels - United States, 1999–2002.Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports54: 513–6.
23.
MiringoffMarcMiringoffMarque-Luisa1999. The Social Health of the Nation.Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
NydenPhilipFigertAnneShibleyMarkBurrowsDarryl1997. “University-Community Collaborative Research: Adding Chairs at the Research Table.” Pp. 3–13. Building Community. Social Science in Action. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
26.
OstrowJames1999. “Service Learning and the Teachability of Sociology.” Pp. 1-9 in Cultivating the Sociological Imagination: Concepts and Models for Service-Learning in Sociology, edited by OstrowJamesHesserGarryEnosSandraWashington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.
27.
ParkPeter1993. “What is Participatory Research? A Theoretical and Methodological Perspective.” Pp. 1-19 in Voices of Change: Participatory Research in the United States and Canada, edited by ParkPeter et al. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
28.
PorporaDouglas1999. “Action Research: The Highest Stage of Service Learning?” Pp. 121-134 in Cultivating the Sociological Imagination: Concepts and Models for Service-Learning in Sociology, edited by OstrowJamesHesserGarryEnosSandraWashington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.
29.
StantonTimothy2000. “Bringing Reciprocity to Service Learning Research and Practice.”Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning7: 119–23.
30.
StrandKerry.1999. “Sociology and Service Learning: A Critical Look.” Pp. 29-38 in Cultivating the Sociological Imagination: Concepts and Models for Service Learning in Sociology, edited by OstrowJamesHesserGarryEnosSandraWashington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.
31.
StrandKerryMarulloSamCutforthNickStoeckerRandyDonohuePatrick2003“Origins and Principles of Community-Based Research.” Pp. 1-15 in Community Based Research and Higher Education. Principles and Practices, edited by StrandKerryMarulloSamCutforthNickStoeckerRandyDonohuePatrickSan Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
32.
WrightM.2000. “Getting More Out of Less. The Benefits of Short-Term Experiential Learning in Undergraduate Sociology Courses.Teaching Sociology28: 116–9.
