Impact of Utilizing Youth Participatory Action Research to Engage FFA Members in Cross-Chapter Collaboration

This study explores the perceptions of FFA members from two urban FFA chapters in a midwestern state who worked together on a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project. YPAR is a participatory-based research method in which youth are partners and leaders of the research, developing and implementing the research. The project was completed virtually using Zoom, as the two chapters were too far away for in-person collaboration, only meeting in-person once over the course of the semester project. The case study includes interviews with the youth participants explaining how the YPAR experience impacted their perceptions of FFA and growth in knowledge and skills. Results reveal that even though the project was not completed, the participants expressed multiple knowledge and skill changes from their participation, providing new frames in which to understand the world and developing an increased sense of agency. In addition, the project resulted in an increase in sense of belonging within their state FFA association but not within the national FFA association. Findings provide information about what participants found most impactful about the experience that can be used for replicating YPAR with other FFA audiences.