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BMAF 2009 Cardiff. Dr. Peter Miskell, Ms. Isobel McClement, Dr. Ismael Al-Amoudi, Dr. Simon Burke Henley Business School, University of Reading i.mcclement@reading.ac.uk. Engage in Research for Business Students: Developing an online tool for undergraduate research projects.
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BMAF 2009Cardiff Dr. Peter Miskell, Ms. Isobel McClement, Dr. Ismael Al-Amoudi, Dr. Simon Burke Henley Business School, University of Reading i.mcclement@reading.ac.uk Engage in Research for Business Students: Developing an online tool for undergraduate research projects
Project background – the problem • Some key objective’s of HE are to: • Develop students critical thinking skills • Develop independent learning skills • Students starting university often have little experience of research (critical independent learning). • - Student dissatisfaction (with guidance and feedback on their work) • - Staff dissatisfaction (with the assumptions / expectations that students arrive with) • These issues are often particularly highlighted with a final year UG project or dissertation. • The challenge is to adequately foster and develop these skills to equip students for this task.
Project background – the proposal • So what is proposed to address the ‘research skills’ gap? • The aim is to create a web resource that business and economics students can use to support their learning when undertaking independent study – and as a resource for teaching staff. • How is this being funded? • CETL-AURS • CETL-AURS also funded original ‘Engage in research for bioscience students.’ • The success of this site has paved the way for ‘Engage in research for business school students.’
Development Approach Starting my research project… Critically reviewing literature.. Where can I find information? Designing my research plan….. Statistics & quantitative analysis… Using qualitative material… Communicating my results… Going professional…
Development Approach-key pointsSite structure and usability Contracted professional web designer. • Using original engage site as a template. • Added advantage of learning from their experiences, issues such as: • Limited vertical scrolling. • ‘Clutter free’ page design. • Simple page and subsection navigation. • ‘Ease of use’ considered primary driver for web user acceptance of a free content site.
Development Approach-key pointsSite structure and e-learning • Presenting content in pairs (text-picture, text-text) and using mixed media such as pod casts. • Content split into chapters or sections of related material or ‘learning objects’. • Students value examples to external websites, this helps to contextualise the content.