February 2001

 Major Research Questions

Drawn from the Grant Proposal

“Trinity College in the Next Century:

Building an Extended Community of Learning”

1.  Can an elite liberal arts college change its approach to liberal education to include a greater focus on urban and global themes and issues?

Anticipated outcomes:

·         Development of an institutional infrastructure and supportive culture that actively encourage learning through engagement with the larger community.

·         Increased effectiveness in developing students’ appreciation and development of the values of civic responsibility.

·         Increased faculty involvement in community affairs and sponsorship of collaborative projects.

·         Increase in students’ general academic engagement, understanding, knowledge, and skill acquisition through exposure to Community Learning Initiative courses, Cities Data Center projects, and other experimental initiatives.

·         Increase in urban and global themes throughout the curriculum.

·         Increase in students’ awareness of and understanding of global trends, issues, and problems.

2.  Can a prestigious liberal arts college help the surrounding, troubled urban neighborhood transform itself?

Anticipated outcomes:

·         Creation of neighborhood linkages with faculty, students, and staff that will foster greater community self-reliance, resource access, knowledge, and skill acquisition.

·         Increased neighborhood use of information, technology, and technical expertise to address community concerns.

·         Acquisition of knowledge, skills and habits that will help foster neighborhood health and responsibility. 

·         Development of an effective community voice and leadership role in the new educational and social service entities.

·         Ensuring successful management of the Learning Corridor and its sustainability in the future.

·         Obtaining additional external financial and institutional resources for the Learning Corridor and neighborhood initiatives.

3.  Can the College build and sustain a common ground of understanding and communication between itself and the surrounding neighborhood?

Anticipated outcomes:

·         Establishment of a culture of understanding and responsibility among faculty, students, and staff that is reflected in the academic core of the College and within its residential life.

·         Involvement of a range of city partners (educators, scientists, children's experts, artists, health professionals, social workers, policymakers, and community leaders) in new and proposed academic initiatives.

·         Creation of meaningful vehicles and activities (committees, conferences, special events) on campus that will attract city participants and lead to collaborative projects in the future.

·         Effective communication among all elements of the Trinity community and the neighborhood regarding the planning and operation of the Learning Corridor and neighborhood initiatives.

4.  What role can technology play in building an extended learning community?

Anticipated outcomes:

·         Development of communication linkages among the College, neighborhood institutions, residents, and businesses.

·         Increased neighborhood use of information, technology, and technical expertise to address community concerns.

·         Increased interactions between the neighborhood and the College through electronic communication.

·         Development of new job skills for residents through access to computing facilities, computer-based training, and technology support.

·         Increase entrepreneurial opportunities by creating a demand for technology-related and technology-dependent businesses.

Evaluation Framework

Trinity envisions an evaluation process that will encompass the collection of qualitative and quantitative data, an analysis of both process and outcomes, and feedback to those responsible for various aspects of the project.  The primary aims will be (1) to determine the project's success in achieving its objectives, (2) to identify any unintended consequences of the project, and (3) to understand why and how the project produced these effects and, perhaps, why it did not achieve other anticipated effects.  The evaluation will be an on-going activity with interim analyses that will provide regular feedback to guide adjustments in the project.  The evaluation process will be structured around an evolving, theory-based “program logic model.”

An internal evaluation has several additional advantages:  (1)  the ability to engage in self-examination from an insider's perspective, (2) the ease of collecting baseline and other data from known, internal sources, (3) the ability to make comparisons with other known data sets existing within the College, (4) the natural engagement of students, faculty and community members in instrument design, data gathering and preliminary analysis, and (5) the ability to interpret findings using insider knowledge, from the viewpoints of members of Trinity's extended community of learning (students, faculty, staff, and community members).  The study has the potential for offering a unique collaborative learning opportunity by engaging a diverse group of constituents, from Trinity’s students, faculty, and staff to Learning Corridor educators, parents, and students to local residents and community leaders.  It will also generate data and ideas that Trinity faculty and Learning Corridor teachers can integrate back into their teaching.  Finally, the study will contribute to building the common ground that is so critical to the success of an extended community of learning.