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Developing the Undergraduate Student as a Researcher through the Curriculum

Developing the Undergraduate Student as a Researcher through the Curriculum. TASKS! Please pick up the session handout Sit in groups of 3-4 - perhaps with people you don’t know ….

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Developing the Undergraduate Student as a Researcher through the Curriculum

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  1. Developing the Undergraduate Student as a Researcher through the Curriculum TASKS! • Please pick up the session handout • Sit in groups of 3-4 - perhaps with people you don’t know …. • Appoint as CHAIR, person with most hair on their head; and as REPORTER person with brightest colour socks/stockings • Discuss “What experience, interests and questions do you bring to this session?” • For the moment these discussions are private!

  2. Developing the Undergraduate Student as a Researcher through the Curriculum Mick Healey Director of Centre for Active Learning and NTF Project on Leading, promoting and supporting undergraduate research in the new university sector,University of Gloucestershire & Alan Jenkins, Consultant HE Academy and QAA Scotland, Fellow Reinvention Centre for Undergraduate Research, Oxford Brookes and Warwick Universities “… universities should treat learning as not yet wholly solved problems and hence always in research mode” (Humboldt, 1810 translated 1970, quoted by Elton, 2005, 110)

  3. Session structure • Exploring your views • Why value undergraduate research and inquiry? • Linkages with ISL conferences • Some research evidence • Different ways of integrating teaching and research • Discipline and department based case studies of undergraduate research and inquiry • Case studies of mainstreaming undergraduate research and inquiry in institutions • Conclusion: your perspectives

  4. Undergraduate research: Line-up In your groups we want you to use the following ‘line up’ to discuss the views in your group on undergraduate research Chairs – Organise your groups Reporters – Be ready to state ‘ONE conclusion / perspective that came out of our discussion of this line up was …’ Selected groups will be asked to report to the conference

  5. Undergraduate research: Line-up One “Undergraduate research is for ALL undergraduates in all HE institutions” Strongly -------------------------------------------- Strongly Agree Disagree ONE conclusion / perspective that came out of our discussion of this line up was …

  6. Undergraduate research: Line-up Two “I think it would be easy to mainstream undergraduate research for all students in my department / institution” Strongly -------------------------------------- Strongly Agree Disagree ONE conclusion / perspective that came out of our discussion of this line up was …

  7. Available from the HE Academy: www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/research/Institutional_strategies.pdf

  8. Available from the HE Academy: www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/research/teaching

  9. Why value undergraduate research in the ‘mainstream’ undergraduate curriculum “For the students who are the professionals of the future, developing the ability to investigate problems, make judgments on the basis of sound evidence, take decisions on a rational basis, and understand what they are doing and why is vital. Research and inquiry is not just for those who choose to pursue an academic career. It is central to professional life in the twenty-first century.” Brew (2007, 7)

  10. Why value undergraduate research in the ‘mainstream’ undergraduate curriculum The lists that are produced to represent the graduate outcomes of HE must be scrutinised for attributes beyond mere skills. It is those items in such lists as ethical, cultural and social sensitivity, problem identification and formulation, recognition of the provisional nature of knowledge, and the propensity to keep critiquing, theorising and discovering knowledge i.e. to continue to learn through inquiry, that should be mentioned, indeed heralded as the unique outcomes of higher education. Smith (2008, 2)

  11. Why value undergraduate research in the ‘mainstream’ undergraduate curriculum “A meaningful science education involves transforming the way in which students think by promoting a progression from ‘novice’ to ‘expert’ in both their attitudes and their approaches to the discipline and problem solving in that discipline. Today’s educator should aim not simply to produce more scientists, but rather to get all students to learn to think about science like a scientist. Similarly, the goal of education in general is to get students to think like experts more broadly.” (Wieman, 2004)

  12. Why value undergraduate research in the ‘mainstream’ undergraduate curriculum “… research is a strong condition for teaching: being engaged in research of a frame-developing kind and projecting that research to wide publics is a strong - although not exactly necessary and certainly not sufficient - condition of teaching that is aimed at bringing about supercomplexity in the minds of students… Institutions, but also their students, have a right to expect that their lecturers are engaged in research … but the issue is whether lecturers adopt teaching approaches that are likely to foster student experiences that mirror the lecturers’ experiences as researchers.”(emphasis added) (Barnett 2000, 163)

  13. Why value undergraduate research in the ‘mainstream’ undergraduate curriculum “We believe an understanding of the research process – asking the right questions in the right way; conducting experiments; and collating and evaluating information – must be a key part of any undergraduate curriculum; whether or not those involved in delivering it are actively engaged in research activity themselves.” (emphasis added) Bill Rammell, UK Higher Education Minister, 2006

  14. Linking with previous ISL conferences 2007 Ron Barnett - Being a student in an age of uncertainty 2003 Angela Brew – Theory Research and Scholarship 2002 Marcia Baxter Magolda – Learners’ Narratives

  15. Linking with this conference George Kuh: High impact activities Maggi Savin-Baden: Cutting down jungles and irrigating deserts Simon Barrie: Graduate attributes workshop Ray Land and George Gordon: Research-teaching links Jamie Wood and Phillipa Levy: Inquiry-based learning pedagogies Delia Marshall and Jennifer Case: Research-based curriculum in Physics Ruksana Osman, Shirley Booth and Hansa Venkatakrishnan: The experience of research in pre-service teacher education Anne Graham and David Coghlan:Insider inquiry: threshold concepts in observing organisations

  16. Some ‘difficult’ research evidence “In view of the central nature of teaching and research in HE… it is surprising how relatively few institutions have … policies to maximise these beneficial synergies. … Some strategies may be having the unintended consequences of driving teaching and research apart” (JM Consulting 2000, 36) “There is a policy gap between policy intention and student perceptions at UEA. …While students value being close to research ... there are many ways in which they feel excluded” (Zamorski 2000, 1) “Undergraduates feel excluded from direct involvement in research as stakeholders” (Lindsay et al. 2002, 322)

  17. Some ‘positive’ research evidence “The strongest policy claim that derives from this meta analysis is that universities need to set as a mission goal the improvement of the nexus between research and teaching. … Examples of strategies to increase the relationship between teaching and research include …. increase the skills of staff to teach, emphasising the construction of knowledge by students rather than the imparting of knowledge by instructors …. ensure that students experience the process of artistic and scientific productivity” Hattie and Marsh (1966, 533, 544)

  18. Some ‘positive’ research evidence “Students reported a varied experience of research across the three approaches (learning about others’ research, learning to do research, and learning through the research process) with no clear pattern emerging between these experiences and the research-intensivity of the institutions” Turner et al. (2008) “Overwhelmingly, students define Undergraduate Research as a powerful affective, behavioral, and personal discovery experience whose dimensions have profound significance for their emergent adult identity, sense of career direction, and intellectual and professional development” Hunter et al. (2007, 69)

  19. Different ways of linking teaching and research • Learning about others’ research • Learning to do research – research methods • Learning in research mode – enquiry based • Pedagogic research – enquiring and reflecting on learning • (Griffiths, 2004)

  20. Based on Healey (2005, 70) STUDENTS AS PARTICIPANTS Research-based Research-tutored EMPHASIS ON RESEARCHPROCESSES AND PROBLEMS EMPHASIS ON RESEARCH CONTENT Research-led Research-oriented STUDENTS AS AUDIENCE Curriculum design and linking research and teaching

  21. STUDENT-LED Discovery-active Information-active PARTICIPATING IN BUILDING DISCIPLINARY KNOWLEDGE EXPLORING AND ACQUIRING EXISTING DISCIPLINARY KNOWLEDGE Information-responsive Discovery-responsive STAFF-LED Conceptions and modes of student inquiry (after Levy & Petrulis 2007)

  22. What is undergraduate research and inquiry? “An inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline” Council for Undergraduate Research Adopts a broad definition of the undergraduate as researcher to describe student engagement at all levels in research and inquiry into disciplinary, professional and community-based problems and issues University of Gloucestershire

  23. What is undergraduate research and inquiry? “Programmes that seek to encourage or support undergraduate research should: • Encourage and enable students to learn in ways that parallel or reflect the ways faculty/staff themselves research/learn in their discipline/professional area. • Build research opportunities into the formative processes and summative outcomes of course assessment for students in ways that retrace and register how faculty/staff develop and disseminate their own research/learning in their own discipline/professional area, e.g. through undergraduate research journals, student research conferences, exhibitions …. • Ensure that the programme is clearly visible and recognised as ‘undergraduate research’ by the university communities (in particular students) and parents, the local community, and possible external sponsors and stakeholders” (Jenkins 2008).

  24. Dimensions of undergraduate research and inquiry Student, process centred Outcome, product centred Student initiated Faculty initiated All students Honors students Curriculum based Co-curricular fellowships Collaborative Individual Original to the student Original to the discipline Multi-or interdisciplinary Discipline based Campus/community audience Professional audience Starting year one Capstone/final year Pervades the curriculum Focussed (Source: Adapted from Beckham and Hensel, 2007)

  25. Mainstreaming undergraduate research and inquiry: discipline and department strategies How might undergraduate research and inquiry be ‘mainstreamed into courses and departmental programmes? In pairs each skim read at least ONE different disciplinary case study (pp 9-25) OR at least ONE different department case study (pp 26-36). 5 minutes

  26. The Institutional Challenge “Developing the Student as Scholar Model requires a fundamental shift in how we structure and imagine the whole undergraduate experience. It requires, as a minimum, the adoption of the Learning Paradigm in everything from the first introductory course through the final capstone experience. It requires a culture of inquiry-based learning infused throughout the entireliberal artscurriculum that starts with the very first day of college and is reinforced in every classroom and program.”(emphasis added) (Hodge et al. 2007, 1)

  27. Table 6 The Developmental Journey of the Student Developmental LevelStudent Traits Reliance on External Knowledge viewed as certain References Reliance on authorities (e.g., professors, [Foundations] parents) as source of knowledge Externally defined value system and identity Act in relationships to acquire approval At the Crossroads Evolving awareness of multiple perspectives [Intermediate Learning] and uncertainty Evolving awareness of own values and identity and of limitations of dependent relationships Self-Authorship Awareness of knowledge as contextual [Capstone] Development of internal belief system and sense of self capacity to engage in authentic, interdependent relationships Source: Hodge et al. (2008)

  28. Mainstreaming undergraduate research and inquiry: institutional perspectives In pairs each skim read at least ONE different institutional case study (pp36-45) Discuss whether any of the ideas may be amended for application in your institutional contexts 5 minutes

  29. Mainstreaming undergraduate research and inquiry: your conclusions What conclusions / observations do YOU now make about the view that all undergraduate students should: “experience the process of artistic and scientific productivity’ (Hattie and Marsh, 1966, 544) “We believe an understanding of the research process … must be a key part of any undergraduate curriculum” (Rammell, 2006) and in particular that this should be achieved by ‘mainstreaming’ undergraduate research in the curriculum for all students in all HE institutions YOUR observations are …

  30. Mainstreaming undergraduate research and inquiry: Our conclusions • Developing student understanding of knowledge supercomplexity through their involvement as researchers should be central to curriculum design :both the formal curriculum and the co-curriculum • The challenge is to mainstream undergraduate research so that all students may potentially benefit • Adopting a broader definition of undergraduate research than is currently common is a way forward (Boyer et al.), which should benefit the learning of students in institutions with a range of different missions • For some people though this may dilute what is undergraduate research

  31. Mainstreaming undergraduate research and inquiry: Our conclusions The research evidence that guides our perspective is we think strong …. However, the impact of many of the case studies we have presented are with exceptions little researched. We think that provides a strong agenda for future research studies – particularly those that are addressed to individual department and institutional policies?

  32. Developing the Undergraduate Student as a Researcher through the Curriculum THE END Thank You

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