SERVICE THROUGH RESEARCH PROGRAM (SRP)

In response to the need for augmenting undergraduate research opportunities and research infrastructure, I developed the Service through Research Program (SRP) at the University of Belize. The SRP is based on service learning models (Jacoby 1996) which hold that students’ academic learning is deepened via structured community service activities that mutually benefit students and communities in meaningful ways (Eyler and Giles 1999). Thus, the SRP defines such “structured service activities” as research activities which mutually benefit students and research projects. Students from any field can gain exposure to research without the limitation of specialized training or availability of projects in their field of study. Students complete training modules in research ethics, archiving and corpus building, time-aligned transcription, and document digitization. Students also assist in developing workflows and are co-authors in research dissemination where possible. Six students have participated in the program to date.

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Fuller Medina, N., Moreira E. and Moreira, K. “Building research capacity through service learning: Notes from the Language, Culture and History Project”. 1st National Research Conference. University of Belize, March 21-22, 2018.