Volume 10, No. 2

Jen Wallin-Ruschman, Lauren F. Lichty, Eylin Palamaro-Munsell

Introduction to Volume Two of the Special Issue: Developing undergraduate community psychology pedagogy and research practice

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Edited by Eylin Palamaro-Munsell, Lauren F. Lichty, and Jen Wallin-Ruschman, this two-volume special issue, “Developing Undergraduate Community Psychology Pedagogy and Research Practice,” highlights the transformative potential of undergraduate community psychology education and research.  Building on experiences practicing community psychology in primarily undergraduate settings, this special issue is designed to serve as a guide for fellow practitioners and as a call to our field. In this introduction, we present key points from each manuscript and highlight cross-cutting themes such as community psychology pedagogy-environment fit and professor-student dynamics that impact practice. We conclude by offering concrete opportunities and an invitation to join us in imagining a Society for Community Research and Action that values and supports undergraduate-focused community psychology pedagogy, research, and practice.

Amie R. McKibban, Crystal N. Steltenpohl

Community Psychology at a Regional University: On Engaging Undergraduate Students in Applied Research

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Engaging students in service learning projects grounded in community psychology values and practices when working in a rural, conservative area provides several challenges and opportunities for faculty members. The authors share processes and outcomes from three case examples taking place between 2010 and 2013: (1) running focus groups and survey development with a local YMCA branch that predominantly serves people of color in low income housing, (2) the development of a strategic plan for the implementation of an art crawl in the local downtown community, and (3) the development and execution of an asset map evaluating supportive resources and spaces available to the local LGBTQA community. The authors reflect on feedback from students and community partners. These case examples highlight the complexity of balancing students’ skillsets, work and other life obligations, and desire to use classroom knowledge in community settings. It also highlights the importance of preparing community partners for working on applied research. We provide recommendations based on each project’s challenges and successes for universities and communities of similar demographics. Working in rural, conservative settings provide their own challenges and opportunities, but are well worth it if implemented in an intentional way, and more research is needed to strengthen our understanding of how best to engage students from a variety of social and political backgrounds.

Michèle M. Schlehofer, Juliet Vapsva

Development of Community Psychology Undergraduate Course from a Feminist Pedagogical Framework: Faculty and Students

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Community psychology is typically not a part of most undergraduate curricula. Yet, undergraduate coursework in community psychology affords many advantages to students. It encourages ecological thinking and exposes students to content such as community empowerment, intervention and prevention programming design, program evaluation, and other aspects of community psychology practice. This paper describes the development of a community psychology course taught from a feminist pedagogical framework within an undergraduate-only psychology program at a mid-size comprehensive public university in the United States. As the majority of undergraduate majors in our program enter entry-level human services positions upon graduation, the course was primarily designed to expose students to alternative ways of conceptualizing the role of psychological science, mental health, and of psychologists in addressing social and community problems. A secondary goal was to provide undergraduate psychology majors with basic skills in community psychology practice. In keeping with a feminist framework, the selected activities incorporated community-based, collaborative experiential learning as much as possible. Both benefits and challenges, including the difficulties in prompting students to think ecologically; teaching sensitive topics in the classroom; the difficulties of implementing a feminist pedagogical teaching and learning framework at the undergraduate level; and helping students take ownership over their learning; are explored.

Chanté D. DeLoach

Community Psychology in the Community College Setting: Strengths and Challenges

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Within the field of community psychology there is growing recognition of the role of undergraduate education in community psychology training as a primary introduction to the field. In this [recent] discourse however, the unique position of the community college has been rendered invisible. This omission is critical given that approximately half of all undergraduate students in the U.S. are educated through the community colleges (CCRC n.d.). The community college mission also reflects the foundational principles of community psychology as it prioritizes open access to education, responsiveness to community need, and equity in higher education for individuals to achieve social mobility (Dougherty, Lahr, & Morest, 2017). In this article, the author used the development and implementation of a community psychology course at a two-year Hispanic-Serving Institution as a case example of the utility of the community college to advance community psychology goals. Distinct strengths and challenges of a two-year college setting are presented. Recommendations for undergraduate faculty teaching community psychology are presented.

Rachel M. Hershberg, Olivia Andringa, Katheryn Camm, Halimatu Hill, Joshua Little, Rebecca Smith, Sarah Wilkinson

Learning through Doing: Reflections on the use of Photovoice in an Undergraduate Community Psychology Classroom

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Photovoice is becoming an increasingly popular research method in the field of Community Psychology (CP). This is, in part, because it reflects some of the values of CP, including respect for diversity and participation and collaboration. More recently, photovoice has also been used in undergraduate classrooms as a way to actively engage students in their learning, to enable students to investigate and address social problems of importance to them, and to help students develop self-efficacy skills. There are few extant studies in the CP literature, however, that describe how this has been done in undergraduate CP classrooms specifically, and in what ways it has influenced students, from students’ perspectives. Accordingly, in this article, an Assistant Professor of Community Psychology and six of her former undergraduate students reflect on their experiences of the Community Psychology, Research, and Action course she taught at an urban-serving university in Washington in spring 2016, which was centered around the learning and implementation of a student-directed photovoice project about their campus. The instructor describes her objectives in centering her course around photovoice, including that students would learn this method well and add it to their toolbox, while also developing a stronger sense of community.  Students then reflect on the aspects of their learning that most significantly influenced their development as students and people more broadly. Reflections suggest that participating in photovoice throughout a CP course has the potential to help students learn about CP- including its core values and principles- and experience some long-term empowerment-related outcomes on campus and in their communities. Implications for educators at similar universities, who may also want to experiment with photovoice in their undergraduate classrooms, are discussed.  

Danielle Chiaramonte, Jake Quarles, Rachael Goodman-Williams, Trevor Strzyzykowski, Rachel Weber, Kelli Broessel, Timothy Thompson

“Lessons that simply cannot be lectured”: Highlighting the experiences and benefits of undergraduates engaged in community psychology research

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Globally, Community Psychology (CP) currently struggles with a lack of visibility and a shortage of platforms from which to engage future researchers and practitioners. Many of these future researchers and practitioners study psychology as part of their undergraduate education, making psychology departments in undergraduate institutions an ideal point of exposure. Discouragingly, however, undergraduate students are unlikely to be exposed to CP in their course curriculums forcing students to seek out opportunities for exposure elsewhere (Jimenez, 2016; Glantsman, McMahon & Njoku et al., 2015). This is especially true of Community Psychology within the United States. This study aimed to explore how students got involved in CP research and the benefits of that involvement. A total of 34 former undergraduate research assistants involved in CP research teams at Michigan State University completed a 20-item online questionnaire comprised of open- and closed-ended questions. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively and qualitative data were analyzed using an iterative coding process. Results showed that the majority of students had no experience in CP and merely stumbled upon the research. Despite this, respondents reported gaining many skills, competencies, and knowledge during their time on the research teams. Respondents particularly benefited from: 1) gaining hands-on and community-based research skills; 2) attaining transferable skills they could carry with them in future positions; 3) acquiring CP-specific competencies; and 4) cultivating greater awareness and passion for social issues. Finally, the majority of respondents discussed how their involvement on CP research teams honed in their interest and passions and/or shaped their professional trajectory.  These findings provide preliminary evidence of the benefits of CP research involvement at an undergraduate level and has important implications for how CP as a field may choose to invest in undergraduate research opportunities. 

Ashlee Lien, Alicia Fyne, Juliet DeVito, Oluwadara Ogunbo, Rhayna Prado, Julissa Chaparro

Promoting Undergraduate Student Engagement in the SCRA Biennial Conference

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There are many benefits for undergraduate students who attend professional conferences, such as having increased confidence for conducting research, gaining a better understanding of a field, developing a professional identity, and improving abilities to network. Professional organizations also benefit from undergraduate student attendance by improving field recognition and promoting the growth of the field through the development of future professionals. It is important to mentor students for professional conference attendance to decrease anxiety and provide a context in which they can benefit from conference attendance. The project described includes a systematic reflection from six undergraduate students from SUNY Old Westbury and their faculty mentor about the group’s attendance at the 2017 SCRA Biennial Conference. Logistics of getting to the conference and other preparation for the conference are also discussed. Recommendations are provided for faculty mentors to effectively mentor students before, during, and after conference attendance. Recommendations to conference organizers are provided to improve integration of undergraduate students in professional conferences.

Christopher B. Keys, Olya Glantsman, Susan D. McMahon, Leonard A. Jason

Developing an Undergraduate Community Psychology Program in a Graduate Institution

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This article provides an overview of the undergraduate degree program in community psychology at DePaul University. The recommendation of an undergraduate student ignited latent student and faculty interest. A program-bigger than a course but smaller than a major-was developed in 2005-2006 and was first offered in 2006-2007. Subsequently, this Community Concentration has been well received by students and has grown to an enrollment of about 20-25 students annually (Glantsman, McMahon, & Njoku, 2015). Graduates have gone onto positions in community and public agencies, graduate school in community psychology and related fields, and other relevant contexts. We highlight the three primary phases in the history of the Community Concentration: (1) building upon a receptive institutional context, (2) creating the program, and (3) developing learning opportunities. For each phase we identify focal elements important to its success. We consider their transferability to other educational settings that include both undergraduate and graduate community psychology educational opportunities. We note the accomplishments, challenges and strengths of the program. Finally, we offer this case study to encourage faculty in other educational institutions to develop more and better learning opportunities for undergraduate students in community psychology.