Embedding research in an undergraduate Physical Geography curriculum: the role of fieldwork

1. Council on Undergraduate Research. International perspectives on undergraduate research and inquiry: a scholarly discussion. Pre-ISSOTL Seminar, Liverpool, UK, 19 October 2010 Embedding research in an undergraduate Physical Geography curriculum: the role of fieldwork Ian Fuller,1* Martin Brook,1 Kat Holt 1 & Derek France2 1School of People, Environment & Planning, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand 2Department of Geography & Development Studies, University of Chester, Chester, UK** *Corresponding author:I.C.Fuller@massey.ac.nz **Visiting Research Fellow, Massey University January 2010 1. Introduction Fieldwork provides a medium to link teaching and research. James et al. (2003, 16) state, “the linking of teaching and research in the field makes both activities more relevant, in that research informs and affects the teaching, and the teaching provides a reality check and critical appraisal of the research.” The centrality of fieldwork to the discipline of Geography should make the connection between research and teaching in Geography more tangible. Students, however, tend to articulate the value of fieldwork in terms of their experience of geographical reality, knowledge development, skills acquisition and social interaction (e.g. Fuller et al. 2006), without necessarily recognising any role of research per se. This poster examines the link between teaching and research in the undergraduate curriculum in Physical Geography at Massey University, a programme in which fieldwork plays an increasingly significant part as students progress from first through to third year. The extent to which fieldwork is successful in providing an effective medium linking teaching and research is addressed by soliciting views from the current Physical Geography postgraduate community (nine students) in the Programme, all of whom have ‘come through the ranks’ in the undergraduate programme. • 2. Strategies to embed research in the curriculum • First Year: • Students complete essays drawing upon research literature and utilising literature search engines (Google Scholar and Science Direct). Lectures are often illustrated with photos from lecturers’ research sites. A one day fieldtrip supports lecture content in a ‘Cook’s Tour’ format (Figure 1), but there is generally minimal reference to research in the field at this level. • Figure 1 Cook’s Tour, • 1st year fieldtrip, Manawatu • region, North Island, NZ • Second Year: • Students engage at a higher level with primary research literature. As a provider of distance education in New Zealand, Massey University makes substantial Study Guides available to both extramural and internal students. These guides often include either a list of readings or the material to be read itself. This directs students to relevant research literature to develop subject understanding. Assignments require more overt and specific literature engagement. Some papers begin to develop research skills, such as mapping glacial geomorphology or surveying a river channel as part of practical work required for assessment (Figure 2). Fieldwork thus becomes a means of equipping students with selected research skills. Furthermore, focused ‘Cook’s Tour’ daytrips in the region begin to draw out research findings at sites visited as part of the fieldtrip commentary, including the personal research of staff conducted at selected sites. • Figure 2 Practical-based • fieldwork, Turitea Stream, • Massey campus. • Third Year: • Papers taught at level 300 are without exception strongly informed by research (Table 1). These papers fit with Griffiths’ (2004) definitions of: • ‘research-led’ teaching: content is directly based on specialist research interests of lecturers; • ‘research-oriented’ teaching: attention is given to inquiry skills and the process of knowledge generation; • ‘research-based’ teaching: structured around or include inquiry-based activity; • ‘research-informed’ teaching: drawing on systematic inquiry into the learning process. • Two entirely field-based papers are taught at third year. In the first, students complete two research projects based on original field data collection, analysis and write up at Fox Glacier (Figure 3). They also present their research in the field at a mini-seminar. The second utilises recent published research at selected sites in a tour of the Hikurangi Margin and discusses the application of the research findings in a management context. • Remaining third year papers also have a substantial fieldwork component and overt research emphasis. • Figure 3 Research-project fieldwork at Fox Glacier, South Island, NZ • 3. Student perceptions & the role of fieldwork • To what extent is our belief that research is embedded in the curriculum matched by student perceptions? Which of the strategies in Table 1 is most effective highlighting the link between teaching and research? Does fieldwork play a significant role? To address these questions, the current postgraduate cohort took part in an informal focus group / brainstorming exercise. • Questions posed: • to what extent do you think research is embedded in the undergraduate papers we teach? • to what extent did your undergraduate experiences of any research (e.g. case study material, fieldtrips, assignments) help inform your decision to pursue postgraduate study? • The students identified the way their perceptions of lecturing staff changed over the course of their study, from teachers in their first year to researchers at third year as they grew in their appreciation of research within the subject. This perception of lecturers as active researchers was facilitated by incorporation of the lecturers’ own research in their teaching and especially through the third year fieldwork papers and papers where fieldwork plays a substantial part. • Research inputs and fieldwork made research… • ‘real’, ‘accessible’, ‘achievable’, especially in connection with 3rd year papers. • Overwhelmingly students perceived research to be thoroughly embedded in the undergraduate curriculum and most clearly so in field-based 300 level papers. These papers provide a real taste of research, both in terms of their own inquiry-based learning and the technical skills learned as part of that inquiry. Third year fieldwork papers were also perceived to teach and clarify the research process (Table 2). • Table 2 Linkages between fieldwork • and research • 4. Conclusions • Postgraduate student research has been stimulated by efforts to embed research in the curriculum and engage students with research using fieldwork. Honours and Masters students go on to work alongside staff on research projects and Ph.D. students are supervised by the lecturers who have taught and mentored them in research through their undergraduate career. • We believe our approach embedding research in our undergraduate programme and our strong fieldwork emphasis has helped generate these high quality scholars and has, by their own admission, contributed to their decision to pursue postgraduate study. We believe we are seeing strengthened teaching-research links using field-based IBL and staff facilitating student progress. • To summarise: • Fieldwork plays a key role in linking teaching and research in the Physical Geography curriculum at Massey University. • Fieldwork is strongly research-led/based/oriented & informed at advanced undergraduate levels. • Field-based IBL is particularly valuable. • “Research and teaching may be successfully linked to the mutual benefit of both academic staff and students…this is particularly relevant where fieldwork is involved. Staff research that is fed into teaching may stimulate student research, which, in turn, feeds back into staff research and teaching, and so on.” (Edwards, 2003: 20). We agree. • Postscript: limitations • It is important to acknowledge that our assessment of student perceptions in this paper is limited to the top-achieving students. We also acknowledge the need to investigate this topic further, in ways which incorporate a broader spectrum of the student cohort. As such, this is a work in progress. A question remains as to the extent to which research-based fieldwork has contributed to the intellectual development and depth of learning. Fuller et al. (2006), however, argue that depth of learning is facilitated by fieldwork, furthermore, effective student learning in terms of depth and understanding is most likely from research contexts where students are actively engaged (Healey 2005). Further, more expansive investigation of the role of fieldwork in strengthening the link between teaching and research is underway. Table 1. Strategies embedding research in the undergraduate Physical Geography curriculum References: Edwards 2003 Planet, Special Edition 5: 19-21; Fuller et al. 2006.J.Geography in Higher Education 30: 89-101; Griffiths 2004 Studies in Higher Education 29: 709–726; Healey 2005.J.Geography in Higher Education 29: 183-201; James et al. 2003. Planet, Special Edition 5: 16-18.