Participatory Action Research

The Think College Transition (TCT) project is an inclusive dual-enrollment transition model designed to improve post-school outcomes for students aged 18-22 years who have intellectual disability and autism. The key feature of this model is assisting students to be involved with college classes, work experiences, and social networking opportunities on a college campus with their same-age peers, rather than having typical transition services in a high school.

In this Guide, we break down how to engage college students with intellectual disabilities in every step of the research process: finding relevant topics, using new technology to research them, and sharing their findings and recommendations.

Students with intellectual disabilities are taking the lead conducting participatory action research (PAR) to chronicle their college experience as part of a national college access initiative. This research currently involves college students with intellectual disabilities documenting their experiences using multimedia tools. These data are then shared via a digital storytelling website, VoiceThread. This article presents an overview of PAR, digital storytelling, and the methodology used to implement PAR with students with intellectual disabilities.

Think College Insight Brief #5 describes a Participatory Action Research project conducted by students with intellectual disabilities attending college in Massachusetts. The brief outlines the 5-step process the students went through to document their college experiences.