Research Symposium

BIO

Christopher Riaz is a first-year Behavioral Neuroscience student attending Florida State University on the pre-medical track. He has experience with research in ethnography, electrical engineering, and political science. Currently, he is studying under Betsy Staudt Willet, researching the PURPOSE program and its fellows.

Exploring the Impact of Social Justice Research Projects Conducted by Emerging Scholars

Abstract

PURPOSE is a joint fellowship program between the FSU and FAMU campuses which teaches its cohorts how to conduct “research focusing on social justice in education with the long-term goals of expanding the research workforce and advancing innovative solutions in the education sciences”. Our goal with this study was to investigate the research posters which resulted from these projects and understand what kind of impact they may have had in the community, Freedom Schools, and even the program itself. Looking into the scope of these posters leads to a deeper understanding of whether PURPOSE research is having a real-world impact. In this descriptive study, we compiled information about each poster into an excel sheet, then analyzed the produced data through rounds of qualitative thematic coding. Results are still ongoing in this study. Next steps following current data should aim to look at how these research projects have influenced Student Leader Interns, teachers, and/or students at Freedom School institutions as well as their respective communities.

Keywords: PURPOSE, Freedom Schools, Children's Defense Fund