Do research.
Impact your community.
Gain advanced research skills and put them to work on a real-world project for the community.
This course is unlike any other you will experience in university. In CBAIR you take part in original team-based research in service of a carefully selected community organization.
Develop Essential Skills
Collaboration and Teamwork
You effectively work in diverse groups, navigate different working styles, manage group dynamics, resolve conflicts constructively, share responsibilities, and leverage team members' varied disciplinary strengths.
Effective Communication
Communicating clearly and professionally with team members, instructors, and community clients is key. You hone active listening (especially to client needs), present research findings effectively to academic and non-academic audiences, write concise and actionable reports, and translate complex ideas across different disciplinary perspectives within the team.
Applied Research Design and Execution
The core of the course involves conducting research for a specific purpose, moving you beyond purely academic inquiry. You will be co-designing research questions relevant to a community partner's needs, selecting appropriate methodologies (often mixed-methods), gathering data ethically and effectively in real-world settings (interviews, surveys, focus groups, document analysis), analyzing qualitative and quantitative data for practical insights, and synthesizing information from diverse sources.
Client Engagement and Professionalism
You are working directly with external clients, necessitating professional behaviour and relationship management distinct from typical academic interactions.
Critical Thinking and Practical Problem-Solving
The applied nature demands that you not just analysis but produce actionable outputs that address the client's challenge. You will be analyzing complex community issues from multiple perspectives, identifying root causes, evaluating information critically, moving beyond identifying problems to developing feasible and evidence-based recommendations or solutions tailored to the client's context.
Interdisciplinary Competence
CBAIR explicitly brings students from different backgrounds together to tackle a problem that likely transcends single-disciplinary solutions. In teams, you integrate knowledge, theories, and methodologies from different academic disciplines to gain a more holistic understanding of an issue. You learn to value and synthesize diverse perspectives to create richer insights and more robust solutions.
Ethical Considerations in Community Research
Community-based research has unique ethical dimensions beyond standard academic integrity. You focus on understanding and navigating the ethical responsibilities involved in working with community partners and participants while remaining rooted in academic integrity.
Who can take the CBAIR course?
If you are a third-year undergraduate student or higher, you can apply for CBAIR. Master of Business Administration and Masters of Educational Leadership candidates can also take the course. Graduate students and undergraduate students work in teams on projects that address real challenges for organizations on Vancouver Island.
What to expect in the CBAIR course
Typically, there are 16 - 20 students in the course. Your will partner with a community partner on a research project in a team of 4-8 students.
The course is completely student-led. The research projects are designed and carried out by students. The CBAIR faculty provide guidance, feedback and support and act as supervisors for the teams.
CBAIR takes place over the Fall and Spring semesters. You attend 3-hour weekly meetings through the year. The course begins with a two-day orientation session in late August where you can get to know the other students and the faculty. You will also meet the community partners you will be doing research for. In October you attend a weekend retreat. At the retreat you work with your team to compile research proposals and applications for ethical review.
Present your research
Your team will present your research at VIU’s CREATE conference in the Spring. Some students have also presented at international conferences such as:
- Couch Stone International Symposium (in Nanaimo in 2016)
- National Council on Undergraduate Research
- British Conference of Undergraduate Research in England
You also present final results at the yearly Grande Finale to an audience that includes you, community partners, Deans, faculty members and the VIU research community. You can also invite family and friends to the Grande Finale. The final report is given to the community partner and added to VIUSpace where it may continue to be a resource for future researchers.
Course Credit
Undergraduate students are registered in INTR 401 in the Fall semester and INTR 402 in the Spring semester. You receive a total of 9 credits for CBAIR upon successful completion of both courses.
Graduate students receive credit towards their thesis or applied project upon successful completion of CBAIR.
What kind of projects can you do in CBAIR?
You meet the community partners during orientation and learn what challenges the are currently facing. This is where the research project begins! Students brainstorm ideas and consider potential research questions as a team. Once your team is set, it is up to you to decide what the project will be. Some examples of past research include:
- The Lived Experience of Those Accessing Social Services: What challenges emerge for individuals in vulnerable circumstances accessing services in the downtown Nanaimo area? Students interviewed guests of Risebridge.
- Living Digitally in a Physical World: Youth perceptions of community and volunteerism: The research goals are to better understand current youth culture through the lens of social-connectedness and how youth view volunteering, and barriers to volunteering in this region. High school students completed an anonymous online survey.
- Thriving in Action (TIA) Program Study: How applicable is the VIU TIA well-being program to the current student experience? What opportunities are there to make it more helpful to students? Students completed an anonymous, online survey reviewing the content available in the TIA platform.
From the Margins to the Centre: Equity Seeking Groups Perceptions and Suggestions of Mental Health and Wellness: How can the Nanaimo Men’s Centre adapt its services to be more inclusive to a diverse range of clientele? Clients were interviewed to understand their feelings on inclusivity.
Who teaches CBAIR?
CBAIR has three faculty from different departments who work with you on your projects. CBAIR faculty are passionate about research that benefits the community. Faculty departments have included Anthropology. Criminology, Management, Media Studies, Marketing and Sociology.
