Intro to Fellow Research
Research Service Learning: An Introduction

Research Service Learning in the Hart Fellows Program
An Introduction for Prospective Hart Fellows

What is Research Service Learning?

Through Research Service Learning (RSL), Hart Fellows use their research skills to produce projects of tangible benefit to the communities and organizations they work with.

While Research Service Learning projects vary in format, they always conform to several basic principles: they are community-rooted, collaborative, and reflective.

  1. Community-rootedness. At its heart, RSL is rooted within communities. While other resources may complement the work fellows do, their work engages them fully in the communities their host organizations serve.

  2. Collaboration. Fellows define the objectives of their projects in collaboration with their host organizations and collaborate with the organizations to carry out the projects.

  3. Reflection. Critical reflection is an integral component of the RSL process. Throughout the year, fellows reflect on the progress of their projects. They examine the aspects of the work that are going well and those aspects that can be improved. In addition, critical reflection is an important part of fellows' final products. Whatever formats their projects take, fellows integrate the unique insights they have gained through the research process into their final products.

The Leadership Challenge

Research Service Learning projects challenge fellows to exercise a wide range of leadership skills. They must establish their niche within an unfamiliar working environment, and what is most often an unfamiliar culture. They must exhibit initiative and self-direction, yet must work collaboratively with their colleagues. Throughout their fellowships, fellows face the challenge of evaluating their work with a critical eye, and must be willing to modify their strategies as situations demand. Bringing their projects to fruition requires them to work proactively, tenaciously and resiliently on a day-to-day basis.

Why do Hart Fellows carry out RSL projects?

Having a central project upon which to focus, such as a research project, renders the Hart Fellowship challenging and meaningful. The fellows who show the deepest development as leaders - and who have the richest experiences overall - are those who devote their fellowships to such projects.

Research is a means of producing something of concrete benefit to host organizations. By exercising their research skills, fellows help organizations better serve communities, and help communities solve the complex problems they face. In addition, fellows' RSL projects provide a meaningful, highly visible example of how Duke can draw on one of its greatest strengths - the research skills of its students, alumni and faculty - to fulfill its civic mission.

What does a Hart Fellows RSL Project Look Like?

While all RSL projects conform to the principles enumerated above, fellows carry out RSL in a variety of formats. These formats include:

  • Documentary photography.
  • Oral history
  • Surveys
  • Qualitative research through interviews and focus groups.
  • Documentation and evaluation of projects.
  • Community resource-mapping.

Program planning and implementation can also be central components of RSL projects. For example, a fellow might take responsibility for designing and implementing a health education project. The fellow would comprehensively document each step of the process of program development, and would produce an evaluation of this process (and of project outcomes, if possible). This evaluative document might be used for reporting to funders, as well as to inform the design of future projects within the fellow's host organization. The document might also be shaped for other organizations wishing to start similar projects.

Outline of the Hart Fellowship Research Process: Step-by-Step

Pre-Departure

  1. The Hart Fellows Program seeks to place fellows with organizations that match fellows' research and work interests. The program does not promise an exact match, but does give ample consideration to fellows' preferences. Preliminary plans for the fellows' research are discussed among the potential host organizations, the Hart Fellows Program and the fellows during the placement process.

  2. In the spring preceding fellows' departures for the field, the Hart Fellows Program provides fellows training and access to resources that help them sharpen their research skills. Training occurs during the spring semester of fellows' senior year and at the annual Program Retreat.

In the Field

  1. During the initial two months of the fellowship, fellows explore avenues for research. Fellows submit draft research proposals after two months in the field. Their supervisor and the Hart Fellows Program Director and Coordinator provide feedback to the proposals.

  2. Fellows refine their draft proposals and prepare final research proposals.

  3. The Hart Fellows Program staff assists fellows through the institutional review (IRB) process. Fellows also take responsibility for gaining research clearances required by their host countries.

  4. Once all clearances have been obtained, research begins.

  5. Throughout their fellowships, fellows report regularly to the Hart Fellows Program on the progress of their research.

  6. Fellows finish their research and present their final products to their host organizations before leaving the field.

 

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