Community-based research (CBR) combines service-learning with participatory or
applied research and can be a powerful teaching tool in social science methods
classes. Incorporating applied research projects into classroom teaching, however,
places special demands on instructors. This paper presents one approach to CBR as a
pedagogical technique and offers practical suggestions to those who consider adopting
it. As research, pedagogy-based CBR demands all the creativity and skill of normal
academic research, though the process may be faster-paced. The special skills
considered here involve brokering resources among a complex network of partners that
includes both students and community organizations.
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