Co-Production of Research Methods Knowledge in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Abstract

Co-production is the involvement of citizens in the production of public services. In education, this involves students working with instructors to jointly produce the knowledge that stems from the education process. This paper describes our approach to co-production of knowledge through a semester’s undergraduate courses on research methods in criminology/criminal justice. Our co-production efforts involved: (a) Instructors provided initial instruction on research methods, as well as a description of their research project, which was used to illustrate several course topics during lectures; (b) Students practiced their developing expertise and experiences to produce their own research proposals; and (c) Students contributed to their instructors’ research project through their feedback on research design. We present reflections on how co-production practice inspired teaching and learning of research methods, classroom environment, and the development of our research project. Findings suggest that co-production can be an effective tool for improved learning in research methods.