Knowing More About Less and Less: The Wicked Problem of Social Impact in Public Universities

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Fourteen
  In Roundtable Session: Complexity Theories Roundtable (Table 11)

Abstract

Calls for educational researchers to disrupt the status quo of inequity frame the problem as one of individual decisions without attending to the organizations in which researchers work. In this paper, we argue that the too loose/too tight configuration of research universities limits the ability of faculty to self-organize for collaboration, develop systems for feedback, and respond nimbly to the challenges faced by local communities. Using complexity theory and the literature on university partnerships we develop a conceptual framework for understanding the ways universities must change to support research paradigm shifts to center co-constructed knowledge generation to solve intractable social problems. We then apply that framework to our experiences in developing a self-organized hub to support community-engaged research.

Authors

• Sarah J Zuckerman, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  Presenting Author

• Edmund T. Hamann, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  Presenting Author

• Megan Kelley, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  Presenting Author

• Virginia Chaidez, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  Presenting Author

• Arthur Andrews, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  Presenting Author