What does this research mean for the field?

Fully funded, faculty-supported academic conference attendance provides a meaningful experiential-learning opportunity for community college students that fosters disciplinary belonging and demystifies research, though it does not consistently increase interest in personally conducting research. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how community college criminal justice students perceive the professional, academic, and personal impacts of attending a fully funded, faculty-supported national academic conference.

September 8, 2026Journal of Criminal Justice Education

Conference Participation as an Emerging High-Impact Practice: Experiences of Community College Criminal Justice Students

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

CSCelia SporerQueensborough Community College, CUNY JRJody ReskoQueensborough Community College, CUNY

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Mixed-methods study reveals that funded conference attendance fosters professional belonging and research comprehension in community college students, suggesting its potential as a high-impact...

Key Points

To examine how community college criminal justice students perceive the professional, academic, and personal impacts of attending a fully funded, faculty-supported national academic conference.
Exploratory, qualitative-dominant mixed-methods design evaluating 15 community college criminal justice students who attended a national academic conference.
Administered a post-conference survey comprising descriptive Likert-type items, retrospective assessments of research comfort, and open-ended reflection prompts analyzed thematically.
Thematic analysis identified four central patterns: research gained applied visibility, professional exchanges reduced social distance to experts, welcoming interactions supported disciplinary belonging, and the one-day schedule caused fatigue and time constraints.
Participants reported increased comprehension of academic research but expressed variable and less consistent interest in actively conducting research themselves.

Cite This Study

Sporer et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9fd7d558e84d0ff5b46d75 https://doi.org/10.1080/10511253.2026.2727936

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Implication

Mixed-methods study reveals that funded conference attendance fosters professional belonging and research comprehension in community college students, suggesting its potential as a high-impact...

Conference Participation as an Emerging High-Impact Practice: Experiences of Community College Criminal Justice Students

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Conference Participation as an Emerging High-Impact Practice: Experiences of Community College Criminal Justice Students

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Also Consider

Also Consider