Strengthening Educational Research Capacity Through Community-Based Capacity Building

Evidence from a Research Mastery Program at STKIP Tamansiswa Bima

Abstract

Research capacity is a critical component of educational quality improvement, particularly in developing regions where teachers, school leaders, and higher education practitioners often face limited opportunities for structured research training. This community service program aimed to strengthen the research capacity of teachers, principals, lecturers, and graduate students in the Pedagogy Master’s Program at STKIP Tamansiswa Bima through a structured capacity-building intervention titled Modern Research Mastery. The program employed workshops, mentoring, and guided research practice to enhance participants’ competencies in research design, academic writing, and publication. This study reports the implementation and outcomes of the program using a qualitative descriptive approach supported by program evaluation data. The conceptual framework integrated capacity-building theory, adult learning principles, and research competency development models. The results indicate significant improvements in participants’ research knowledge, skills, and productivity. Participants demonstrated enhanced understanding of research methodology, increased motivation for conducting research, and improved ability to develop research proposals and scholarly manuscripts. Institutional benefits included strengthened research culture and collaborative networks. The findings suggest that structured capacity-building programs with mentoring components are effective strategies for improving educational research competencies in developing educational institutions. The study contributes to the literature on community service–based professional development and provides practical implications for scaling research capacity-building initiatives in similar contexts.