Student Researchers: The Voice
Project
March 8, 2013
The Voice Study
• Interdisciplinary study of campus health
• Community Participatory Action Design
Approved by UBC Behavioral Research Ethics Boards
Funded by Campus Health Continued Development Grant
(Ministry of Health, Interior Health Authority)
VOICE Methodological Framework
Community-Based Participatory Action Research
Researchers
Community
Co-Researchers
Healthy Campus Development
Research
Education
Healthy
Campu
s
Action
Adapted from Brydon-Miller,
2001
Theory: Health Promoting
University
Protect and promote health and well being of
students and campus community through
effective and innovative policies and practices.
Study Purposes
Translate knowledge from previous healthy
campus development research

To increase knowledge about diverse
perspectives in healthy campus development
Aboriginal students
International students
Athletes
Graduate students
LBGTQ

Study Objectives
• Build student-nonstudent partnerships to
bring about health promoting change
• Identify health related experiences of a
number of student sub-groups: athletes,
aboriginal, international, graduate, LBGTQ,
• Assess factors which support or jeopardize
health promoting change
• Recommend strategies for enhancing health
promoting change
The Voice Team
• Core Research Team:
• Claire Budgen, Doris Callaghan, Linda Hatt, Donna
Kurtz, Robyn Wiebe, Melissa Feddersen
•
•
•
•
•
Health and Wellness
Library
Institutional Research
Housing and Food
Student Researchers
Investigators & Non-Student
Co-Researchers:
•
Claire Budgen (PI)
•
Melissa Feddersen
•
Donna Kurtz
Student
Co-Researchers:
Emily Minaker
Amanda Williams
Amanda Neufeld
Kaitlyn Levy
Kelsey Francisco
Shawna Zuda
Stevie Wright
Ariella Myhill
Kristen Burnett
Carly Martineau
Krystele Carpenter
Robyn Fedechko
Chandler Proch
Richard Mortimer
Lindsay Chandler
Mandira Chettna
Morgan Le Sergent
Jaqueline Casmody
Tanya Shaak
Grady Krohman
•
Robyn Wiebe
Daniel Bell
Krista Jensen
•
Doris Callaghan
Sara Miller
Courtney Nielson
Omar Mwangari
Michael Falerty-Specht
•
Linda Hatt
Carley Major
Lindsay Loseth
Emily Gore-Hickman
Josh Trousse Freeman
•
Stephanie Barclay-Mckeown
Kat Alturnin
Shinnoskie Doi
•
Jessica Biensch
Joelle Rozema
Roger Wilson
Meghan O’Reilly
Partick Latkin
Barbra Lynn Sobol
Rob Johnson
Denise Luuwengh
Kirsten Sinclair
•
Jessica Laurence
Remy Kozma
Amara Wong
Tinashe Mutano
•
Shannon Dunn
Rebecca Wipfi
Allison Dominie
Stacey Wells
Tori Monkman
Wana Wafa
Erin Grant
Katie Sprieszl
Brandy Hagel
Julian Timmermans
Maddie Cunnings
•
Shelley Kayfish
•
Denise Chan
•
Roger Bizzotto
Cory Friesen
Pavle Kuburic
•
Adrienne Vedan
Jolene McElwain
Krissy Urbanovtich
Erin Strynadka
•
Mary Demarinis
Katie Panton
Sandeep Makkar
Joe Woestenburg
•
Chris Reimer
Tovah Nelson
•
Jyhyun Cho
Rachel White
Casey Hamilton
Jasmeen Sangha
•
Rachel Wiebe
Ashley Gaglardi
Ardavan Ehteshami
Jaci Cambidge
Adham Fares
•
Ian Cull
Jenna Salewiski
Tenzin Seldon
Kristin Maddaford
Kathryn McKenzie
Simone Mercier
Kelsey Craig
Amanda Drake
Dustin Dufault
Geoff Hodson
Addie Chaddock
Research Consultation
Group:
Mark Paterson
Elizabeth Lutz
Jessica Lutz
•
Anne Claratto
Amber Cardenas
Alberto Garcia-Mendez
Pat McCarter
•
Joan Bottorff
Brittney Bradshaw
Harry Wagner
Talyor Blanleil
•
Gord Binstead
Colby Finney
Taylor Thomas
Kristian Froment
•
Deborah Buszard
Danielle Labuik
Jon Christian
Robyn Colbow
•
Michael Shakespeare
•
Bridget Schuttenbeld
Wes Pugh
Ella Platon
•
Patricia Marck
Lauren Gaudet
Wendy Li
Matt Peterson
Carly Cook
•
Gwen Steele
Cameron Sellers
Kyleen Norum
Brenda Mann
Brittany Schamerhorn
Samantha Blair
Colleen McCoach
Curt More
Kelsey McPhail
Aneeta Campbell
Jessica Yanko
Jesse Van Bergen
Dominque Gelineau
Danielle Wilke
Caitlyn Hancock
Amanda Dalke
Audrey Baker
Methods
•
•
•
•
•
•
Photovoice
Community Dialogue
Analysis of quantitative and qualitative data
Report back to the community (Forum)
Focus groups and talking circles
Formation of Action groups involving student
and non-student partners (ongoing)
Student participation
• Health Psychology Course: Majors from
– Human Kinetics
– Psychology
– Management
• Nursing Students
Health Psychology Students
• Students given the option to participate in a
multidisciplinary research project (Voice) or
take part in classroom debates
• 90/95 students chose to participate in the
research project
Course objectives:
• Application of principles of psychology to a
community based health project
– Gain research experience including data collection
and analysis
– Work with a multi-disciplinary research team
– Apply course content to campus health
Student Researchers:
• 1. Completion of the Tri Council Policy
Statement tutorial on ethics in research (TCPS)
• 2. Orientation, training and signing of a
confidentiality agreement. Identified as
student researchers
• 3. Responsible for collecting data:
Community Dialogue; photovoice, mapping
Photovoice
• A photographic technique used to
capture people’s lived experience.
• Draws attention to community issues.
• Enables documentation and reflection on
community strengths and concerns.
How To:
• Co-researchers take photos of their
everyday experience related to health.
• Priority interests and themes are
generated through group critique of the
photos
Community Dialogue
Population of Interest
•
•
Everyone on campus (students,
staff, faculty, administrators,
campus business people)
Engage diverse perspectives on
campus
Data Collection
Questionnaire
•Open-ended questions
•Ranking question informed by
photographic data
•Demographic questions
Process
•Walk-about surveying by
student co-researchers
• Laptops, paper, iPads, online
Interests of Priority
(Question 5 CDQ)
Priority Interests of All Respondents (n=3046)
Percent of students citing concern
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Student Researchers:
• 4. Participated in the analysis of qualitative
data for specific subject areas such as physical
fitness, food, smoking, study spaces, water,
trails, transportation (theme analysis)
• 5. Participated in the presentation of results
either in a poster format during the public
forum or in the classroom in either a poster or
power point format.
Student evaluation
• Two individual reports describing their
participation and experience with the project
• Final group presentation of results
– Poster presentation at forum or in class
– Power point presentation in class
Student Comments
• Aware of the different steps in the research
process
• Research is less complicated then previously
thought
• Able to apply concepts from research
methodology course, real life experience
• Surprised how much could be done in a short
time
• Surprised how long everything took
Where we are now:
• Focus groups and talking circles to identify
experiences of sub groups.
• Next steps to analyze data from focus groups
and talking circles
• Participatory action groups
• Dissemination of results
• Some students have continued their
involvement in the action groups or in the
research
Challenges
• Student numbers were at times overwhelming
• Evaluation of experiential learning
• Any research project needs flexibility with
respect to time lines so the research time lines
often did not synchronize with the course time
lines.
• Deadlines had to be flexible and more
malleable than most students experience with
their classes
Successes
• 90 students completed the TCPS ethics
tutorial
• 90 students involved in data collection
• 90 students involved in data analysis
• 90 students involved in results dissemination
• Continued interest and opportunity
Questions?