Author Information
Janine Bittner, Ruhr University Bochum, GermanyJanina Kempchen, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
Abstract
This qualitative interview study examines the work and output achieved in a specific teaching project that focused on the complex social issue “social inequality, poverty and housing” from students' perspectives. The teaching project included elements of community-based research and service-learning, lasted two semesters and was carried out at the Ruhr University Bochum as part of the bachelor degree programme in geography. This study aims to develop an understanding of the challenges and difficulties the students faced. In addition, we were interested in finding out what the students considered to be their most significant achievement made in the project work. We conducted qualitative interviews with 13 students, out of the 15 students who participated until the end of the course. Two of the very open interview questions focused on the mentioned research objectives. After transcription and pseudo-anonymisation, the interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis (inductive category formation method). It became apparent that the challenges were primarily in the following areas: defining the direction of research, defining the research questions, and difficulties in finding a community partner. The students considered the most significant achievements to be in the areas of acquiring a community partner, good teamwork and team building. Despite the restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary changes to the course structure, the study's results provide important insights for course instructors who wish to adopt similar teaching approaches, highlighting the challenges faced by students and their achievements.
Paper Information
Conference: ACE2025Stream: Learning Experiences
This paper is part of the ACE2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Bittner J., & Kempchen J. (2026) Challenges and Most Significant Achievements of Students Participating in a Community-Based Research Service-Learning Course: A Qualitative Interview Study ISSN: 2186-5892 – The Asian Conference on Education 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 1075-1092) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-5892.2026.84
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-5892.2026.84
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