November 2012
ENGAGING STUDENTS IN RESEARCH AND INQUIRY
Mick Healey
Higher Education Consultant and Researcher, Emeritus Professor University of Gloucestershire
and
Alan Jenkins
Professor Emeritus Oxford Brookes University
mhealey@glos.ac.uk; alanjenkins@brookes.ac.uk
www.alanjenkins.info/
www.mickhealey.co.uk
This handout is regularly updated and is available at: www.mickhealey.co.uk/resources. The
handout was last comprehensively checked in September 2012. We have kept some case
studies which are no longer operating usually because of staff moves and restructuring of
courses because we think the ideas and approaches they illustrate remain valuable.
QUOTES
"Postgraduate study is too late to start; research attributes need to be integrated fully into
undergraduate courses" (Diamond, 2010, Research Councils UK).
"Involving students in inquiry - in research - is a way of improving their learning, motivating them
more. After all, what motivates large numbers of academics is engaging in the excitement of
research. Bringing research and teaching together is a way of enhancing the motivation of both
academics and students." (Brew, in preface to Jenkins et al., 2003, ix)
“… 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)
“In an age of ‘supercomplexity’ (Barnett 2000), and given the increased significance of the
knowledge economy and the growth of interdisciplinarity, teaching and research are becoming
ever more intimately related … In a ‘knowledge society’ all students – certainly all graduates –
have to be researchers. Not only are they engaged in the production of knowledge; they must
also be educated to cope with the risks and uncertainties generated by the advance of science.”
(Scott, 2002, 13)
“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)
“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 entire liberal
arts curriculum that starts with the very first day of college and is reinforced in every classroom
and program.” (Hodge et al., 2007, 1)
“The academic community in higher education is becoming increasingly fragmented, with
arguably the greatest fault line between research and teaching. This paper argues that, through
the reinvention of the undergraduate curriculum to focus on student engagement in research and
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research-type activities, a truly inclusive community of academic practice can be created with
consequent benefits to academics, students and support staff.” (Smith and Rust 2011, 115)
INTRODUCTION
This ‘project’ grows out a long standing interest in the wider issue of bringing together ‘teaching’,
particularly at undergraduate level, and discipline-based research. But here our focus is
centrally on the learning that follows through engaging students in some form of ‘inquiry’ or
‘research’. This work is influenced by US undergraduate research programmes, where selected
students in selected institutions learn through doing research, often outside the formal timetable
and curriculum. A number of similar programmes are now available in the UK (Jenkins and
Healey, 2007a). Our main interest is in mainstreaming student inquiry and research for all /
many students in all higher education institutions (Healey and Jenkins, 2008; Jenkins and
Healey 2007b; 2009; Jenkins 2007).
Our focus here is on issues facing disciplines, departments and institutions. We have
commented on some of the initiatives to link research and teaching in national systems
elsewhere (Healey and Jenkins 2007). This is very much work in progress and we would
welcome comments and in particular case studies of interesting practices in which you are
involved. If you are interested please contact the authors.
A: CONCEPTUAL AND POLICY ISSUES
1. Conceptions and Perspectives on Teaching-Research Relations
Table 1: Different ways of linking research and teaching




Learning about others’ research
Learning to do research – research methods
Learning in research mode – enquiry based
Pedagogic research – enquiring and reflecting on learning
Table 2: Examples of ways in which learners may be engaged with Boyer’s four
scholarships
Types of Scholarship
Scholarship of
discovery
Scholarship of
integration
Illustrative example of ways of engaging learners
Engage in inquiry-based learning; undergraduate research
and consultancy projects; co-research projects with staff
Engage in integrating material from different sources,
including across disciplines; integrate life and work
experience with academic studies; reflect on implications
of studies for personal development
Scholarship of
Engage with local, national, and international community
application /
service projects; volunteering; knowledge exchange
engagement
projects; apply knowledge and skills in work-based
placements
Scholarship of teaching Engage in mentoring; peer support and assessment;
and learning
collaborative group work; learners as explicit partners in
educational development and inquiry
Source: Healey and Mason O’Connor (2007, 8)
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Table 3: Educational paradigms
Paradigm
Teaching
Learning
Approach
Telling students what they need to know
Engaging students in learning how to learn; emphasis on learning
what they need to know
Discovery
Encouraging students to seek and discover new knowledge
Source: Hodge et al. (2007, 3)
Table 4: Linking research and teaching: Different views
“Our view is that university research often detracts from the quality of teaching. We regret the
continuing elevation of research and the systematic neglect of the quality of instruction.”
(Pocklington and Tupper 2002, 7 – about Canada)
“Courses taught by those at the cutting edge of research will necessarily be of higher quality
than those taught by those merely using the research results of others – whatever the apparent
quality of their style of delivery. …. Furthermore, if teaching is undertaken by researchers the
linkage is automatic, even if, as is often the case they are not always teaching about their own
narrow research specialism.” (Lee 2004, 9 – with particular reference to geography in UK)
The New Zealand Education Amendment Act (1990) defines a university as where “teaching and
research are closely interdependent and most of their teaching is done by people who are active
in advancing knowledge” (cited by Woodhouse, 1998; policy audited in the late 1990s but
received less emphasis since).
In Scholarship Reconsidered Ernest Boyer (1990, xii) challenged US higher education to “break
away out of the tired old teaching versus research debate.”
“… we want all students to access the benefits exposure to teaching informed by research can
bring…. This will take many forms including pure and applied research that feeds curriculum
development; but also research and development that tackle the challenging questions facing
professional business, regional and local employers now and in the future. We’re doing this
because 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.” (Bill Rammell, Minister for Higher Education, UK,
2006, 3)
“Why does every University, thirty-eight of them, public ones, why do they all have to be doing
research, teaching and scholarship and struggling to do it in so many areas? Why can't we have
Universities that make a conscious decision to specialise in outstanding teaching and
scholarship but do very little research? Why can't we have formal affiliations, one specialising in
teaching and another research, between our domestic Universities?” (Brendan Nelson, Minister
for Education, Science and Training, Australia, April 2005)
“I propose that colleges and universities provide an opportunity for all undergraduates to conduct
research — to create knowledge.” (Ellis, 2006; Professor of chemistry at the University of
Wisconsin at Madison, on detail as director of the National Science Foundation's chemistry
division through June 2006)
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Table 5: Relationships between conceptions of research
Source: Brew (2003, 6)
Brew (2003, 6-7), on the basis of interviews with 57 senior Australian academics has identified 4
different conceptions of research (Table 4):
 Trading view – “in the foreground are the products of research: the end points,
publications, grants and social networks, i.e. aspects external to the process of doing the
research. These are viewed as being linked together in relationships of recognition and
reward.”
 Domino view – “the researcher’s focus is on the solutions to problems and the answering
of questions, i.e. it is external to the activities of doing the research. It looks outside the
immediate context of the research.”
 Layer view – “the focus looks inward. It is internal because in the focus of awareness are
the data containing ideas together with (linked to) hidden meanings. … Here, research is
interpreted as a process of discovering, uncovering or creating underlying meanings”
 Journey view – “in the foreground are the personal existential issues and dilemmas of the
researcher, linked through an awareness of the career of the researcher and viewed as
having been explored for a long time. … the researcher is the focal point of awareness.
Research is interpreted as a personal journey of discovery possibly leading to
transformation.
2. Curriculum Design and Teaching-Research Relations
We have found the framework developed by Griffiths (2004) effective in supporting staff/faculty
to examine both their current courses and institutional policies and practices and in adapting
innovations from elsewhere. According to Griffiths teaching can be:
 Research-led: where students learn about research findings, the curriculum content is
dominated by faculty research interests, and information transmission is the main
teaching mode;
 Research-oriented: where students learn about research processes, the curriculum
emphasises as much the processes by which knowledge is produced as learning
knowledge that has been achieved, and faculty try to engender a research ethos through
their teaching;
 Research-based: where students learn as researchers, the curriculum is largely designed
around inquiry-based activities, and the division of roles between teacher and student is
minimised.
Healey (2005) has expressed these differences diagrammatically using two axes. One classifies
approaches to linking teaching and research according to the extent to which students are
treated mainly as the audience or as participants, while the second axes classifies the approach
as emphasising research content or research processes and problems. He identifies a fourth
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category ‘research tutored’ where students learn in small group discussions with a teacher about
research. A variant of this model is shown in (Fig 1).
Fig. 1: The nature of student research and inquiry
STUDENTS ARE PARTICIPANTS
EMPHASIS ON
RESEARCH
CONTENT
Research-tutored
Research-based
Engaging in research
discussions
Undertaking
research and inquiry
Research-led
Research-oriented
Learning about
current research in
the discipline
Developing
research and
inquiry skills and
techniques
EMPHASIS ON
RESEARCH
PROCESSES
AND
PROBLEMS
STUDENTS FREQUENTLY
ARE AN AUDIENCE
Source: Healey and Jenkins (2009, 7; amended from Healey, 2005, 70)
Jenkins and Healey (2012) based on the work of Griffiths (2004) and Healey (2005) have
developed this conceptual framework




research-led, involving learning about current research in the discipline. Here the
curriculum focus is to ensure that what students learn clearly reflects current and ongoing
research in their discipline. This may include research done by staff teaching them.
research-oriented, developing students’ research skills and techniques. Here the focus is
on developing students’ knowledge of and ability to carry out the research methodologies
and methods appropriate to their discipline.
research-based, requiring students to undertake research and inquiry. Here the
curriculum focus is on ensuring that, as much as possible, students learn in research or
inquiry mode. This means that students become producers of knowledge not just
consumers. The strongest curricula form of this is seen in special undergraduate
programs for selected students, but such research and inquiry may also be mainstreamed
for all or many students (Healey & Jenkins 2009).
research-tutored, engaging students in research discussions. Here the focus is on
students and staff critically discussing research in the discipline as, for example, in many
seminar-based subjects
A related matrix has been proposed by Levy (2009). She also has a staff-led and student-led
axis while the other axis distinguishes between information-led and discovery-led inquiry in
which the former is based on existing knowledge and the latter on new knowledge (Fig 2).
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Fig 2: Inquiry-based learning: a conceptual framework
STUDENT LED
Pursuing (information-active)
Students explore a knowledge-base by
pursuing their own closed questions and
lines of inquiry (“what is the existing
answer to my question?”).
Authoring (discovery-active)
Students pursue their own open
questions and lines of inquiry, in
interaction with the knowledge-base of
the discipline (“how can I answer my
question?”).
EXPLORING AND
ACQUIRING
EXISTING
KNOWLEDGE
PARTICIPATING
IN BUILDING
KNOWLEDGE
Identifying (information-responsive)
Students explore the knowledge-base of
the discipline in response to closed
questions or lines of inquiry framed by staff
(“what is the existing answer to this
question?”).
Producing (discovery-responsive)
Students pursue open questions or lines
of inquiry framed by tutors, in interaction
with the knowledge-base of the discipline
(“how can I answer this question?”).
STAFF LED
Based on Levy (2009)
Table 6 The developmental journey of the student
Developmental level
Reliance on external
references
[Foundations]
Student traits
Knowledge viewed as certain
Reliance on authorities (e.g., professors, parents) as
source of knowledge
Externally defined value system and identity Act in relationships to
acquire approval
At the crossroads
[Intermediate Learning]
Evolving awareness of multiple perspectives and
uncertainty
Evolving awareness of own values and identity and of limitations of
dependent relationships
Self-authorship
[Capstone]
Awareness of knowledge as contextual
Development of internal belief system and sense of self capacity to
engage in authentic, interdependent relationships
Source: Hodge et al. (2008)
An excellent example of mainstreaming undergraduate research and inquiry comes from Miami
University Ohio. Drawing in part on the work of Baxter Magolda (2001), they have mapped out
the student developmental journey (Table 6). Though as students go through these stages at
different rates and many may not reach the self-authorship stage by the end of their
undergraduate course, there remains a challenge in converting this framework into the
curriculum.
Another useful framework for analysing discipline variation is provided by Biglan (1973)
identifies different discipline types. He distinguishes between disciplines which are
predominantly ‘pure’ and those which are predominantly ‘applied’ and those which are
predominantly ‘hard’ or predominantly ‘soft’. The latter refers to the dominant paradigmatic
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approach whether e.g. quantitative scientific or qualitative interpretative. The opportunities and
ease with which research and teaching may be linked varies according to these discipline types.
Some differences in students’ experiences by discipline are shown below.
Table 7 Students’ experiences of learning in a research environment
Physics
Geography
English
What is
Breaking new ground;
Gathering information in
Looking into;
research?
moving forward;
the world; answering a
gathering; putting it
exploration and
question
together; a focus of
discovery
interest
How visible is it? Laboratories and
Most visible ‘in the field’
Not tangibly visible,
machinery (i.e. ‘tools’)
but apparent in the
but often ‘behind’ closed
dialogue
doors
Where is it
Out there; at a higher
Out there in the field
In the library; in the
located?
level
head
Who does it?
Lecturers
Lecturers and
Lecturers and
(increasingly over time)
students
students
Source: Robertson and Blackler (2006, 226). Based on interviews with 36 students (first years to
postgraduates) at Canterbury University, NZ
3. Student Experiences of Research
“staff research interests gave students ‘the opportunity to see their teachers as real people and
to be able to glimpse what they do, how and why” (Neumann, 1994, 335).
“students value highly the experience of studying in a research environment but clearly there is a
policy gap between policy intention and student perceptions at UEA (University of East
Anglia)..While students value being close to research, and to the idea of a university as a
research community in which they are included, there are many ways in which they feel
excluded” (Zamorski 2000, 1).
Jenkins, Blackman, Lindsay and Paton-Saltzberg (1998) carried out focus-group discussions
with undergraduate students in a range of disciplines at Oxford Brookes University, and then
replicated the study with postgraduates (Lindsay, Breen and Jenkins, 2002). Students who
perceived staff members’ involvement in research as being incorporated into their teaching
tended to see their courses as current and as stimulating intellectual excitement. However,
many students did not see themselves as stakeholders in staff research – university research
was seen as quite separate for them.
A questionnaire-based study at Oxford Brookes (Breen and Lindsay, 1999) analysed student
views of staff research in the context of their motivations for study and for attending university.
Students who came to university for social contacts or to gain a useful qualification were
indifferent to staff research.
A questionnaire of the awareness, experiences and perceptions of final year undergraduate
students at the University of Gloucestershire (Healey et al., 2010) was taken up by the University
of Alberta and Royal Holloway. Although students at all three universities agreed that being
involved in research activities was beneficial, they did not perceive that they had developed their
research skills (Turner et al., 2008). Generally students at the more research intensive
universities were more aware of the research that went on in their institutions, but there was no
significant difference in the experience they had of undertaking research themselves.
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“Overwhelmingly, students define UR 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).
4. Definitions of undergraduate research and inquiry
These vary widely. For example, definitions of undergraduate research include:
“An inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original
intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline”
Centre for Undergraduate Research
"Undergraduate research is original work conducted by undergraduate students working in
collaboration with a faculty mentor”
University of Central Florida
“Discovery Learning”
University of Alberta
“Undergraduate research describes student engagement from induction to graduation,
individually and in groups, in inquiry into disciplinary, professional and community-based
problems and issues, including involvement in knowledge exchange activities.”
University of Gloucestershire
Table 8 Dimensions of undergraduate research
Student, process centred
Student initiated
Honors students
Curriculum based
Collaborative
Original to the student
Multi-or interdisciplinary
Campus/community audience
Capstone/final year
Pervades the curriculum
(Source: Adapted from Beckham and Hensel, 2009)
Outcome, product centred
Faculty initiated
All students
Co-curricular fellowships
Individual
Original to the discipline
Discipline based
Professional audience
Starting year one
Focussed
“Programmes that seek to encourage or support undergraduate research should actively
address all or most of the following.
 Expressly engage with ‘undergraduate research’, ‘community based undergraduate
research’, or some such, and recast their understanding of ‘student-centred’ or ‘inquiry-‘
or ‘problem-based’... ‘learning’ accordingly.
 Adjust the philosophy/values of their programme so as to actively bring undergraduate
students (along with others such as librarians, community activists) into the worlds of
research.
 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
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
develop and disseminate their own research/learning in their own discipline/professional
area, e.g. through undergraduate research journals, student research conferences,
exhibitions, recordings and broad/narrow casts.
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).
Definitions of Inquiry
There is considerable overlap between definitions of undergraduate research and inquiry,
particularly between the broader definitions.
“Enquiry and Research-Based Learning (EBL and RBL) are terms used to describe a method of
teaching and learning based on self-directed enquiry or research by the student. EBL provides a
strongly student-centred approach to teaching and learning, enhancing students' learning
experience during their time at university.”
University of Reading, CETL in Applied Research Skills www.reading.ac.uk/cetlaurs/LinkingTeachingandResearch/EnquiryBasedLearning/What_is_Enquiry_Based_Learning_(EBL).asp
Most forms of undergraduate research would also meet most definitions of inquiry, but not
everyone would include all forms of inquiry, particularly those engaged into enquiring into
existing knowledge, as undergraduate research.
At McMaster University, inquiry-based courses are offered to all first year students. The following
is how this institution defines inquiry-based learning:
“Inquiry is a form of Self-Directed Learning and follows the four basic stages defining selfdirected learning. Students take more responsibility for:
 Determining what they need to learn
 Identifying resources and how best to learn from them
 Using resources and reporting their learning
 Assessing their progress in learning”
Source: http://cll.mcmaster.ca/resources/misc/whats_unique_about_inquiry.html#1
For an exploration of the term ‘enquiry-based learning’ see: Hutchings (2007).
Undergraduate research and job opportunities
In North America adverts for university jobs sometimes specify engaging undergraduates in
research. Three examples of jobs advertised on the Council on Undergraduate Research list in
September/October 2008 stated that:
“The Department of Biological Sciences at Eastern Illinois University is seeking a Fisheries
Biologist (tenure track) position. … Successful candidates will be expected to develop a
productive and funded research program involving both undergraduate and M.S. students.”
“Widener University (Pennsylvania) invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor in
synthetic organic chemistry. … Engagement of undergraduate students in research is required.”
“The Department of Earth and Environmental Science in the College of Liberal Arts at Mercer
University (Macon, GA) announces its search to fill a tenure-track position at the rank of
Assistant Professor. The primary instructional responsibilities will be introductory environmental
science, geology, environmental geology, Geographic Information Systems, and an upper9
November 2012
division course in the candidate’s specialty. Additional responsibilities will include mentoring of
undergraduate student research, and service in support of the department and College.”
B: CASE STUDIES OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND INQUIRY IN DISCIPLINARY,
DEPARTMENTAL, INSTITUTIONAL AND NATIONAL CONTEXTS
These cases of undergraduate research and inquiry in disciplines, departments and institutions
are drawn from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Hong Kong, Netherlands, New Zealand,
United Kingdom and United States. They are a subset of a wider set of case studies of links
between teaching and disciplinary research. They represent work in progress and the intention
is to add further case studies in the future. If you know of interesting examples please contact
the authors. The cases are organised under four main headings:
1
2
3
4
Undergraduate Research and Inquiry in Disciplines
1.1 Biosciences, Physical Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences
1.2 Social Sciences
1.3 Business, Computing, Law, Sport and Tourism
1.4 Geography and Environmental Studies
1.5 Archaeology and Earth Sciences
1.6 Arts and English
1.7 History
1.8 Education and Philosophy
1.9 Interdisciplinary
Undergraduate Research and Inquiry in Departments
2.1 Biosciences, Chemistry, Medicine and Health Sciences
2.2 Engineering and Mathematics
2.3 Arts and Social Sciences
2.4 Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
2.5 Developing research skills and academic practices
Undergraduate Research and Inquiry in Institutions
3.1 Europe
3.2 Australia and New Zealand
3.3 United States
3.4 Canada
National and International Initiatives to Support Undergraduate Research and Inquiry
4.1 Research Councils
4.2 UK National Organisations
4.3 National Government Support for Undergraduate Research, UK and Ireland
4.4 National Support for Undergraduate Research and Inquiry, US
4.5 International Initiatives to Promote Undergraduate Research and Inquiry
The value of case studies largely lies in the specific ideas they present for adapting elsewhere.
We recognise that the form of, and the possibilities for, undergraduate research and inquiry will
vary between disciplines / departments, and institutions. However, the particular forms of
student research and inquiry and teaching and research contexts are to varying extents
transferable and adaptable to other contexts. So when looking at the case studies below also
consider how innovations in particular disciplines, departments and institutions can be adapted
to your context.
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1. Undergraduate Research and Inquiry in Disciplines
1.1 Bioscience, Physical Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences
Asking questions in plant biology at Australian National University
A practical exercise designed for a Level 2 course involves students: making observations in a
botanical garden; coming up with 10 questions each (e.g. why do eucalypt leaves dangle?);
sharing one of these questions with a group of other students; coming up as a group with
hypotheses based on the question (e.g. Eucalypt trees in arid environments have leaves that
dangle at steeper angles than those in wet environments); thinking of ways of testing the
hypothesis(es); and writing up individually their 10 questions and one hypothesis as a 750 word
mini-proposal for a research project.
Source: A now defunct website.
Science undergraduates build on research of previous students at University College
London, UK
The Department of Science and Technology Studies at UCL has supported a range of innovative
upper level courses where students research and publish their research. The pilot course, the
History and Philosophy of Chemistry (2000-5), was developed by Hasok Chang (now at
Cambridge University). The chief innovation was the mechanism of inheritance: each year
students develop work produced by the previous students; a process repeated until publishable
materials are produced. One outcome was a monograph on the history of chlorine, which
contained selected articles by undergraduates on their research (Chang and Jackson 2007).
Margaret Jackson who co-taught this course in 2004-5 has both maintained the course
philosophy and integrated the use of Open Resource digital materials. Each student is required
to write a contribution to a controversy within the history of science which they submit to the
Virtual Nicholson's Journal. This is based on Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry and the
Arts which was published by William Nicholson from 1797-1814. Each year Jackson in the guise
of William Nicholson - selects a topic e.g. the late 19th century controversy surrounding the Law
of Storms, and publishes an issue of the journal containing a selection of relevant primary
historical sources for students to carry out their research. Students write in response to the
primary sources and any already published student contributions to the current topic, and they
must do so in the role of a contemporary character, real or imagined, of their choice.
Since 2007-8, Chiara Ambrosio has developed a related course ‘Topics in the History of the
Physical Sciences’. Selected students investigate an aspect of the history of electricity from a
variety of angles: philosophical, sociological. Students produce an extended essay and their
research materials in a form that subsequent students can use them. Open Resource digital
technology is central to the course including an online journal for student articles: with digital
support making “the editing Scalework considerably more 'manageable', thus allowing our
methodology to become 'more transferable” (Ambrosio and Jackson 2011).
Sources: Chang (2005; 2007); Chang and Jackson (2007); Ambrosio and Jackson (2011)
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/study/hpsc/3007
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At Leicester University, UK, biochemistry undergraduate students are helped to read
research articles
The expectation that students in the latter stages of an honours degree will be keeping abreast
of developments in a particular field of knowledge requires them to become conversant with
research articles. Yet the content of such papers is frequently jargon-rich and impenetrable. In
the department of Biochemistry at Leicester University some final third year modules are in
effect journal reading clubs around particular research themes. Key components of the first year
programme are explicitly structured to introduce them to reading and to writing as researchers.
In particular as part of a year-long scientific skills module (c70 students) a set of exercises has
students first consider the structure of a scientific report and read and evaluate a given research
paper. Subsequently, students are asked to imagine themselves as scientific investigators
interested in a specific problem. In tutor-led group discussion, they design an experiment to
investigate the problem and then individually write a report based on provided data.
Sources: Wilmott et al. (2003)
Inquiry Based Learning – or ‘Scale Up’ – in Introductory Science Classes
SCALE-UP or “Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs”,
originally developed at North Carolina State University has been widely adopted and adapted in
a wide range of US universities, including the Technology Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL)
classroom at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The basic idea is of a radically
redesigned classroom and linked web supported learning environment. The traditional lecture
and linked laboratory format is replaced by “4-6 hours of activity based instruction per week,
typically in 2-hour blocks” (Beichner et al., 2007, 3). Students work in groups at round tables
with web support and white boards. “Most of the class time is spent on ‘tangibles’ and
‘ponderables’. Essentially these are hands-on activities, simulations, or interesting questions
and problems. There are also some hypothesis-driven labs where students have to write
detailed lab reports” (http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/FAQs.html). “In comparisons to traditional
instruction we have seen significantly increased conceptual understanding, improved attitudes,
successful problem solving, and higher success rates, particularly for females and minorities
(Beichner et al., 2007, 1).
Sources: Beichner et al. (2007); http://scaleup.ncsu.edu/;
http://icampus.mit.edu/projects/TEAL.shtml
Engaging large classes of first-year students in the professional practices of
bioscientists at The University of Queensland, Australia
Each semester since 2005, 400-900 first-year Human Biology students are introduced to the
course content and assessment using a pedagogical model developed around the skills and
practices of bioscientists. Practising bioscientists teach all course elements. Content
knowledge, scientific reasoning, use and understanding of language, laboratory skills and the
importance of partnerships are progressively supported through the following innovations in
summative assessment. The initiative was funded as part of an institutional focus on enhancing
the first year experience for undergraduates. The Personal Response assignment
acknowledges the interests and experiences which diverse groups of students bring to university
(Moni et al., 2007a). The task engages them in audio interviews in which scientists describe
their cutting-edge research. Students respond to the interviews in short expressive written
assignments. Next, students participate in a purposively designed Biohorizons eConference
modelled around professional conferences. This begins with a face-to-face plenary lecture
delivered by an internationally recognised researcher (Moni et al., 2007c). Over the next 6
weeks, students self-register into one of ten clusters (of up to 45 pairs) based around biological
themes. With the support of online tutors (PhD students), they write and upload a paper (15%)
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and construct a PowerPoint presentation (10%) in pairs. Students use databases to explore
primary literature and research a specific topic of interest within broad cluster themes. Students
then individually post formal questions and answers about one another’s work (5%). The
eTutors mark all three submissions using online criteria sheets and audiofiles to personalise
feedback. All students need to develop core manipulative skills (and confidence) in laboratory
classes (Moni et al., 2007d). These skills are individually assessed within regular laboratory
sessions through a system of mastery learning and feedback. Evaluations indicate high levels of
engagement in the course and high levels of academic success across diverse cohorts –
Pharmacy, Human Movement Studies and Science degree programs.
Sources: Moni et al. (2007a, c and d)
Biology start up business final year project, University of Durham, UK
Biology Enterprise is a collaborative venture between Durham Business School and the School
of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. This elective module for final year undergraduate
students in the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences aims to introduce science students
to the key processes of business start-up and enhance their enterprising skills and behaviours.
The module is project-orientated with self-selecting groups of students who generate an idea for
a business opportunity that is based on a scientific discovery. Students use their knowledge and
understanding of science to develop and research their idea into a technology that can be
readily commercialised e.g. a diabetes breath tester, a biodegradable chewing gum. In parallel,
the Business School teaches students the necessary skills and knowledge required to develop
their idea into a successful business. This course offers science undergraduates an alternative
to the traditional laboratory-based project and is useful for those seeking employment in
business and commerce. The module was developed by Stefan Przyborski, who is the founder
and Chief Scientific Officer of ReInnervate, a biotechnology company founded in 2002 as a
spinout from Durham University.
Sources: http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/events/dur05.aspx
http://www.dur.ac.uk/biosciences/undergraduate/courses/content/level3/lab_project_enterprise_
schools/; http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/journal/vol11/beej-11-r2.aspx
http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/ftp/events/york05/cowie.pdf
Reinvented Enquiry Labs in Year One Chemistry at Warwick University, UK
A second term year one laboratory course (c100 students) was reinvented from its previous
‘traditional’ approach to explicitly support more open ended enquiry based learning. The
stimulus came from fourth year students doing their final year research project. Looking back at
the predecessor of this redesigned course they stated “they did not feel prepared for their finalyear projects. The style of the experiments was perceived to be very ‘recipe-‘like, with little
scope for original thought. Additionally, the students felt that the labs … gave the impression
that ‘most chemistry works’; after a research project, they appreciated that the reality was
somewhat different” (Taylor and Geden 2008).
The revised course was clearly enquiry based and involved major changes to the laboratory
manual and the pre lab activities, though the actual experimental procedures to be followed were
largely untouched to minimise resource implications. The manual redesigned each experiment
as a problem to be solved, with all references to the expected outcome removed; experimental
procedures were changed to be, insofar as was sensible with safety considerations in mind, in
the style of methods published in research journals; mark schemes were completely revised to
support the revised course goals. In addition the previous whole class didactic pre-lab sessions
were revised to a more open discussion and enquiry approach.
Sources: Taylor and Geden (2008)
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November 2012
Chemistry ‘Concentrated Study’ Project at the University of St Andrews, Scotland
This is a core course done by all 3rd year chemistry students (within a 4 year BSc/5year MChem
framework); current enrolment is 48. It is taught in the last four weeks of the Spring semester.
Students have no other class and are able to spend their full time on this module. Students are
divided into (mixed ability) groups of five - six each assigned to an academic supervisor who
assigns a topic for investigation. This requires some literature research, experimental planning,
experimental work, analysis of results and their presentation. The projects assigned vary but
generally fall somewhat short of original research while maintaining substantial scope for student
input to the direction of the work and how to best achieve the goal set.
The module has run for the last five years and typically yields grades rather similar to
conventional laboratory classes at this level. A consistent observation however is that this really
brings out the best in some otherwise weaker students who seem to be inspired by the idea of
contributing to the team effort in a way that is not achieved in a more conventional class. There
are parallels between this approach to course design and the experimental physics course at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researched by King and Parlett (1969); and the current
credit and non credit courses in MIT’s Independent Activities Period.
Sources: Aitken (2008); King and Parlett (1969); http://ch-www.standrews.ac.uk/teaching/aims/Mod3441/a.pdf; http://web.mit.edu/iap/
Reorganisation of labs to develop research independence in Agricultural Science at
University of Tasmania, Australia
The Department radically revised laboratory teaching to address problems students and staff
encountered in a required final year research project. Students frequently had difficulties in
understanding what was required and staff spent much time resolving such issues through
individual supervision. Lower level (laboratory) courses were revised to integrate laboratory
teaching with lecture based and statistical methods courses and assessment. Lab based
activities were developed which required students to work in teams with increasing levels of
independence. For example, the final ‘lab’ four week activity had a paper by the lecturer in
preparation for publication, and a discussion of some future research options. Students were
provided with all information prior to the lab and divided into subgroups. Then as a whole class
they designed the experiment and discussed the relative advantages and disadvantages of the
various approaches. The students then ran the labs with support shifting from help to guidance
with the final labs being class (group) discussions around the (1) statistical analyses, then (2) the
presentation and (3) the meaning of each of the experiments. Students individually wrote up a
single experiment of their choice and were advised the final exam question would be:
You are working as a research scientist in a horticultural institute. You have been given a
horticultural research issue to deal with. The specific issue is … Describe and explain an
experiment you would set up to understand part of the issue.
Source: Correspondence with David McNeil, UTAS
Research in action - integrating science with clinical practice - at Peninsula Medical
School (PMS), UK
In this fourth-year special study unit (SSU), students ‘piggy back’ an active research group and
experience the process of research. They have the opportunity to try out techniques, analyse
data and pose questions. Staff give guidance and suggest appropriate students tasks. The SSU
involves three one-week blocks across the fourth year. Students are able to choose the type of
research group they join, and often there are three or four students with each research group.
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November 2012
After the first contact session, students are asked to produce an overview of the research topic
in the form of a BMJ critical review. This review is formatively marked, and is set in order to
ensure that students have a good understanding of the field. In the second contact week,
students are expected to analyse data generated by the research team and use it to produce a
research poster. The poster is summatively marked and contributes one-third of the overall
mark. Students present their posters at an internal PMS research-in-action poster day, but this
is not part of the summative assessment. At the end of the third week, students are expected to
produce a future work proposal, which should build on the data presented in the poster and state
where they would take the project in the next 12 months. The future work proposal is
summatively marked and provides the remaining two-thirds of the overall mark. The mark
contributes to the overall assessment of the SSU modules, of which this is one of three in the
fourth year. Students must pass the SSU module, but can compensate marks over the three
SSUs.
Source: http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/docs/publications/enhancing-graduate-attributesmedicine-dentistry-and-veterinary-medicine.pdf pp.78-9
Employing second year students as laboratory assistants: Biomedical science at
University of Newcastle, UK
In 2002 the School of Biomedical Sciences introduced a scheme to offer opportunities to
second-year bioscience students to undertake part-time paid work in research laboratories. The
aim was to provide students with a greater appreciation of bioscience research, to reinforce their
laboratory skills and to encourage them to consider a research-based career. Students work for
8 hours per week during term time and are paid a minimal wage. Hours are negotiated with the
supervisor to fit with the student’s timetable commitments. The scheme has run for five years
employing 74 undergraduates. An evaluation demonstrated positive student and supervisor
comments with students reporting a positive effect on their studies and that the experience had
encouraged them to consider a career in research. The stimulus to the scheme was the fear
that an institutional policy to establish research institutes might lead to structural disconnections
between teaching and research and reduce the number of undergraduates seeking research
careers.
Source: Hughes et al. (2009)
Undergraduate Research Elective in Medicine: Queens University, Canada
At Queen's University, the undergraduate medical curriculum includes a mandatory minimum
eight week "Critical Enquiry" elective in year 2. The purpose of this elective is to allow each
student a block of time, free from other academic assignments, to pursue in depth a medicallyrelated hypothesis of the student's choice. The area of research may be from the basic, clinical,
or social sciences, or the humanities. Students may arrange the elective with the supervisor and
at the location of their choice. The elective block is placed immediately prior to the summer
vacation to afford the opportunity of extending the project into the summer months.
A central reason for introducing the course was a national concern that few physicians were
choosing research careers. Research on the impact of the course has demonstrated a
significant increase in the number of students expressing an interest in pursuing a research
career – and students (including those not seeking a research career) recognising other
benefits including the development of critical thinking skills; and the opportunity to select an area
of interest; and develop contacts for postgraduate training.
Sources: Houlden et al. (2004); Course web site:
http://meds.queensu.ca/undergraduate/current_students/curriculum/critical_enquiry
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November 2012
Use of Podcasts in Research Methods in Nursing Course at Edinburgh Napier University,
UK
‘Research and Evidence Based Practice’ is an upper level course which develops the ability of
students to appraise evidence and evaluate its appropriateness for implementation in their future
professional practice. The course uses a blended learning pedagogy using a Virtual Learning
Environment. In that context podcasts have been integrated into the course materials. These
feature interviews with leading researchers in the University who are active researchers but with
limited contact with undergraduate nursing students. The interviews in part focus on how their
research is shaping professional practice in Scotland and elsewhere. Students enrolled on this
module had often reported that they found the research focus quite daunting, with the
terminology very difficult to grasp. Having the podcasts was a simple way of conveying some of
the research concepts in an 'informal' and less daunting way.
Sources: http://www.modules.napier.ac.uk/Module.aspx?ID=NMS09100;
http://staff.napier.ac.uk/services/academicdevelopment/LTA/resources/Pages/Details.aspx?ItemI
D=21&Section=CS
1000 biology students are involved in research at University of Sydney, Australia
First year Biology students at the University of Sydney contribute to the understanding of the
prevalence of asthma in Sydney. Each student learns to pour an agar plate which they take
home and expose in their back yard over a 10 minute period, to collect a sample of airborne
fungal spores in the atmosphere. There are 1000 students in the class and they live all over the
Sydney metropolitan area. Once the fungi collected have grown into colonies, students learn to
use a key to identify the fungi, and the class results are converted into maps showing the
distribution of the different species. This generates new knowledge, which they discuss online
with an international expert, and which is fed into research programs on allergens. The students
involved reported a better awareness of research, and their involvement in it, than students
involved in a practical course which had a traditional textbook demonstration practical exercise.
Dr Charlotte Taylor describes a thousand students as an 'ideal' size of research team for
carrying out research of this nature.
Sources: Taylor and Green (2007);
http://www.mq.edu.au/ltc/altc/ug_research/research_curriculum.htm
Scientific Communications 101: A student organised science conference at Curtin
University, Australia
Students in an introductory year one course with a linked focus on physics and science
communication were required to plan and present a one-day Physics conference. The context
was an institutional requirement that employment focused communication skills be integrated
into disciplinary programmes. The idea of a student-organised science conference, publication
of the proceedings, and the reasons for the approach were explained to students in the first
Physics class. For the following week, students were asked to decide on a Physics topic they
were interested in presenting at the conference, the overall theme for the conference, and how
all the students would contribute to the organisation of the conference and the publication. Later
in the term the conference took place over a day and staff and students from the department and
local high school students and their teachers attended. In the years that the course ran it
succeeded in helping students develop more effective communication skills linked to their
discipline, introduced them to research debates and helped them begin to think and
communicate like physicists.
Sources: Zadnick and Radloff (1995)
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November 2012
Cross Atlantic Collaboration in Equine Studies: University of Guelph (Canada) and
Nottingham Trent University (UK)
Information Technology enables students in different countries to be linked to examine cross
national issues – in this case how Canadian and UK cultures and national legislation deal with
horse meat in the human diet. In 2010-2011 elected students in the ‘equine’ departments at the
two institutions separately investigated aspects issues of the equine slaughter industry in their
respective countries and then summarised them for examination by students in the other
country/culture. Smaller mixed groups with students from both institutions then researched a
specific aspect of the problem in depth. From this, recommendations and best practices were
presented using Microsoft Live Meeting which facilitated a live conference and discussion forum.
Following a survey of the student experience of this pilot course in 2011-2 the following changes
are being implemented: facilitators will provide more direction and oversight to the online
discussions to encourage participation and state-of-the-art video conferencing equipment has
been installed at UG to allow for better connection and communication between the classrooms
across the Atlantic.
Source: Correspondence with Cassie White (Nottingham Trent)
Research and Inquiry Based Practice Dissertation for undergraduate qualified nurses at
the University of Southampton, UK
Undergraduate nurses, choose an aspect of their own practice to explore in depth and complete
either an Evidence Based Practice project (EBP) or Practice Inquiry (PI). This is written up in the
form of a 10,000 word dissertation.

The EBP is essentially a literature review - i.e. a systematic search, selection and
critique of 3-5 pieces of published evidence. This has been the traditional approach to
undergraduate nursing dissertations over many years

A practice Inquiry (PI) involves generating original evidence/ data in the form of a
journal / diary about the student’s selected area of practice. Between 3-5 pieces /
excerpts of their journal are analysed using either critical reflection (CR) or narrative
analysis (NA). This has been a novel approach for us.
In both cases students discuss findings in relation to the wider literature and consider relevance
and applicability to the clinical setting and own practice, bearing in mind issues e.g. change
management, social and political context. Students devise an action plan for any changes they
wish to make and how to disseminate their findings. They reflect critically on their learning and
changes they may be able to make to future practice. Often the topic has been negotiated with
managers and colleagues. Students undertake 2 formative and 1 summative assessments:

A 10 minute presentation with peer and cohort/module leader feedback plus

A 1500 word project proposal with tutor feedback

A 10K word dissertation comprises the summative assessment
Each student attends 10 taught days and has 5-8 hours of 1-to-1 supervision.
In teaching the module it is has been important that both the literature review and the practice
enquiry are given equal status in the teaching and presentation of the options to the student.
Source:
http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/activities/ntf/creativehops/examples/Pages/Education,SocialandEnviro
nmentalSciences.aspx
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November 2012
1.2 Social Sciences
Inquiry-based learning introductory course for social sciences had a significant impact
on students’ subsequent performance at McMaster University, Canada
McMaster University has been running a first-year course for social sciences based on inquiry
since the late 1990s. This case study discusses this award-winning course as it evolved over
the first five years (see Justice et al. 2002; 2007a), since then other instructors have taken on
the course and is taught to reflect their interests. It is typically taught in groups of no more than
25 students assigned to an instructor. All of the groups have the same curriculum, reading
material, process of assessment, and goals that are outlined in a detailed compendium. The
classes meet for 12 three-hour concurrent sessions. Class time consists of a combination of
exercises and tasks for building the students’ critical abilities and time for students to share
ideas about their individual inquiries with other students. Much of class time involves groups of
four or five students assisting each other in such things as clarifying understandings or planning
research strategies.
All students investigate aspects of a broad social science theme, such as ‘self identity’ and
addressed a common inquiry question, such as: ‘Why do images of ethnicity, race, gender,
sexuality, age, class, or abilities help to create aspects of personal and community identity?’
Students have to propose their own inquiry question, such as: ‘Why do some children apparently
become violent after watching violent cartoons while others seem to be unaffected?’ They have
to justify why the question is important in relation to existing literature. They then investigate the
question through a process which involved developing and testing hypotheses using secondary
sources. The course emphasizes the development of skills, including critical reading and
thinking, independent and collaborative learning, information searching and evaluation, analysis
and synthesis, oral and written communication, and self and peer evaluation.
Analysis of five years of data (Justice et al., 2007b), comparing students who took the Inquiry
course with comparable students who did not, shows that it has had a significant impact on how
well students perform during their academic careers. The findings allow for initial differences
between the two samples. Taking the Inquiry course is associated with statistically significant
positive differences in obtaining passing grades, achieving Honours, staying on the Dean’s
honour list, and remaining in university.
Recent research investigated in what way(s) Inquiry 1SS3 students changed that might explain
their long-term enhanced performance at university. A quasi-experimental study compares a
randomly selected group of 54 students who took Inquiry 1SS3 in their first semester with 71
comparable students who did not (Justice et al., 2009). The research goes beyond self-reports
of learning and directly measures abilities and performance. Inquiry 1SS3 is associated with
meaningfully higher scores in actual performance tests of many intellectual and academic
skills and often the magnitude and significance of the difference between groups is comparable
to that between upper- and lower-level students (~2 years of university).
Sources: Justice et al. (2002, 2007a and b; 2009);
http://socserv2.mcmaster.ca/Inquiry/CourseOutline.htm;
For more recent versions of the course see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9idE_uCIpc ;
http://cte.uwaterloo.ca/research_on_teaching_and_learning/TBRG/OND/2011/Presentations/Vin
e.pdf
Psychology Students Research Students’ Quality of Life at York St John University, UK
First year, non-specialist, psychology students undertook an eight-week project in which they
collected data from themselves and three other students using four short inventories and a
biographical questionnaire in order to research topics related to students’ Quality of Life. This
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November 2012
project provided students with the opportunity to collect ‘live’ data, contribute to a developing
database, select data for analysis, and write up findings. The topics available for selection by
students were linked to the research interests of the lecturer making the project mutually
beneficial. A departmental technician provided assistance with questionnaire design, the
development and maintenance of a database, data entry, and tutoring on some portions of the
project.
Source: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/subjects/psychology/Akhurst-case-study
Student Poster Conference Linked to Dissertation: Psychology at St Mary’s, UK
Most UK institutions have a dissertation / senior thesis as a graduating requirement. The
psychology department at St Mary’s University College have integrated a required poster
session into the dissertation requirements. The research project – some 5,000 words – is
handed in the April of their final year. This counts for 80% of the final mark on that course. As
with many other UK institutions work on this project is meant to start on the second year. At St
Mary’s there is a required poster session in May of their second year – where students present
and discuss an initial outline of their work. This counts for 20% of the final grade on the project
and is assessed on visual content and presentation and student answers to questions on their
project. The poster session is run in the form of an academic conference, with all academic staff
attending and first year and third year students. Involving first year students both increase the
numbers of questions second year students have to answer, and perhaps most significantly
orients first year students to how to carry out their research.
Source: Correspondence with Peary Brug;
http://www.smu.ca/academic/science/psych/under_honours.html
A guide for Undergraduate dissertations in Sociology, Anthropology, Politics, Social
Policy, Social Work and Criminology at Sheffield Hallam University, UK
This web-resource was prepared to provide support and guidance for students writing
dissertations in the social sciences, but it offers useful guidance for any students carrying out
research. It deals with some of the common questions, concerns and practical issues that
undergraduate students face when planning a piece of social research – such as research
design, ethics, access, and writing styles. The resource also provides some useful information
for academic staff who are supervising undergraduate dissertations. It provides case studies of
dissertation supervision issues and examples of the students' experiences of completing a
project and the 'student voice' should be especially valuable for new supervisors.
The content for the site was written by academic and support staff who have a particular interest
in this area and have a great deal of experience in supervising undergraduate dissertations in
the fields of sociology, anthropology, politics, criminology, social policy and social work. They
have not produced this resource with the aim of providing a set of definitive answers; instead
they recognise that there are many ways in which the 'journey' through the process can be
completed. The notes included here draw on the experiences of dissertation supervisors,
academic research into the student and staff experiences of study and supervision, and
examples of good practice.
Source: www.socscidiss.bham.ac.uk/s1.html; Todd et al. (2004)
Engaging students in applied research through a community sports development
consultancy project at University of Central Lancashire, UK
The final year Community Sports Development module acts as a capstone module for Sports
Coaching students. This module is an optional module which is taken in addition to the honours
dissertation. Students work as a project team through a consultancy brief with a partner agency
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November 2012
and recommend strategies that can be employed to support community development through
community sport and coaching initiatives. There are normally 8-12 consultancy briefs divided up
among the 40-50 students, with students creating their own consultancy teams. Examples of
consultancy projects include:



A “health check” of football refereeing in Blackburn
Community Sport and Crime Reduction
Community Sport (“Street Dance”)
The emphasis is upon the students creating professional working relationships with the client
organisations in order to carry out primary research that is directed by the clients and supported
by the Academic staff at the University. Students are expected to hold regular review meetings
with the clients, carry out interviews with relevant stakeholders; use secondary research to help
analyse their findings; and present their work and recommendations to the organisation through
the staging of a mini–conference, where all the partner groups are invited. Representatives from
agencies provide the feedback on students’ work, judging on the content, feasibility of solutions,
and competency in conducting research.
Source:
http://resources.glos.ac.uk/ceal/resources/casestudiesactivelearning/undergraduate/casestudy9.
cfm
Inquiry-based learning in first-year information management at the University of Sheffield,
UK
“Inquiry in Information Management” is a first-year, second-semester core module with an
enrolment of approx. 30. The course aims to induct students into learning as a community of
researchers in the context of a professional applied discipline. Students work in groups on
research projects from generating their own valid, practical and worthwhile research questions
(e.g. student awareness of the environmental impact of mobile phones) right through to
presenting findings at a research ‘mini-conference’.
Work on these projects starts in the 4th week, following a series of preparatory workshops which
include exploring their conceptions of ‘research’ and how to pose and investigate research
questions in Information Management. In the final week, guests at the mini-conference include
PhD students, staff lecturers and researchers, and the Head of Department. All guests
contribute to assessment of research posters, using criteria that the first-year students on the
module have established previously in collaboration with module tutors.
Sources: Cox et al. (2008)
https://wwwonline.shef.ac.uk/pls/live/web_cal.cal_unit_detail?unit_code=INF106&ctype=SPR+SEM&start_d
ate=25-SEP-06&mand=Optional
Librarian involvement in a nutrition undergraduate research course at Georgia State, USA
The wider context for this course is the growing emphasis on research evidence based practice
in health care. At Georgia State an Introduction to Research course was redesigned to involve
library staff fully in both the design and the delivery of the course. The librarian ran sessions on
using various research data bases, how to read research article. “By the end of the course,
students were more comfortable in libraries and with using library resources; they used the
campus library more frequently; they were more confident in their ability to find high-quality
information on nutrition-related topics and identify strengths and weaknesses of different
information sources.”
Source: Smith and Penumetcha (2010)
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November 2012
Encouraging students’ critical engagement with community-based publics and issues at
Birmingham City University, UK
The third year Extended Project provides students with an opportunity to undertake an applied
project, or a library based, piece of research in an area that is of particular interest and
relevance to them and that is informed by the tenets of Public Sociology. Students have to
submit a project/research plan that counts for 5% of their final mark; they are asked to dedicate
the equivalent of a day a week on this project during the rest of the two terms of the third year of
the degree. Students are also asked to keep a reflexive learning log on the significance of their
work. This learning log provides the basis for their project.
Concretely, this can mean the following (and this example is one that one of our third year
students this year pursued). The student may decide that they would like to work with/support
and understand the situation that asylum seekers in this country face. One of us might then
contact activist organisations that we know of to see if they would be willing to take on a student
one day a week to provide them with additional support/offer the student the chance to talk with
and support asylum seekers. Or else the student could directly contact a group that they would
like to work with after we talk with them about this group. If the group is deemed to be
appropriate (that is, with regard to asylum seekers, a group that is on the side of asylum
seekers), we then ask the student to arrange to meet with the organization and report back how
their meeting went. We then discuss with the student how they might realize their work with this
organization as a public sociology project. This year one of our students’ projects included a blog
on asylum seekers that partly included information she obtained from the organization she
worked with as well as from the academic literature. The student showed drafts of the blog to her
supervisor before they were uploaded so that: the topic was clearly explained, and the
discussion of the topic was informed by public sociology, the academic and literatures on asylum
seekers. The blog then went live and was so successful that part of it was put on a local council
website!
Source:
http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/activities/ntf/creativehops/examples/Pages/Education,SocialandEnviro
nmentalSciences.aspx
1.3 Business, Computing, Law, Sport and Tourism
Barak Obama, The Harvard Law Review and Undergraduate Research and Publishing
In 1991 Barak Obama, then 28 years old, became the first black editor of the Harvard Law
Review. He stated a determination to make it a “forum for debate'', bringing in new writers and
pushing for livelier, more accessible writing (Butterfield, 1990).
“The Harvard Law Review is a student-run organization. Student editors make all editorial and
organizational decisions and, together with a professional business staff of three, carry out dayto-day operations. A circulation of about 8,000 enables the Review to pay all of its own
expenses. ... The Review publishes articles by professors, judges, and practitioners and solicits
reviews of important recent books from recognized experts. Most student writing takes the form
of Notes, Recent Cases, Recent Legislation, and Book Notes. Notes are approximately 18
pages and are usually written by third-year students. Recent Cases and Recent Legislation are
normally six pages long and are written mainly by second-year students. Book Notes, also
written by second-years, are six-page reviews of recently published books. All student writing is
unsigned. This policy reflects the fact that many members of the Review, besides the author,
make a contribution to each published piece.”
Sources: Butterfield (1990); http://www.harvardlawreview.org/about.php
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Involving students in organisational consultancy, Middlesex University, UK
The module “Consulting to Organisations” aims to provide student with "real life" experience by
engaging them directly as consultants with organisations and the issues that those organisations
have identified as significant. On organisational premises, and in collaboration with the internal
personnel there, a small team of students clarify the issue with their client. Information is then
collected, using a variety of research methods, and analysed in the light of both academic theory
and the specific organisational context. Recommendations for action, both orally and in writing,
are made to the client. As well as experiencing the reality of the organisation, students also
experience working with a team of diverse peers to produce credible outcomes. Initially, four
developmental workshops are provided: these cover team building, consulting, organisational
culture and client contact. Four feedback sessions are organised during the subsequent
consultancy phase of the module. The parameters of the module are set out in a handbook, and
within these students are expected to take responsibility for their own work and that of their
team. This is a Level Two module of eleven weeks, normally undertaken by undergraduates in
their second year. It carries the same credit award as any other module and feedback from
students, from organisational clients and from a number of external examiners over the fourteen
years the module has been in operation has been extremely positive.
Four modes of assessment are employed and they reflect the aims of the module and also
provide a range of methods, which is thought to reflect the different strengths and weaknesses
of the student group. All students are required to attempt, though not pass, all four of the
elements: a written report and oral presentation to their respective clients, a team peerassessment exercise and an individual learning report. The learning report requires students, on
an individual basis, to identify and review their learning from both their experience of the module,
with specific reference to their client contacts, and their experience of working in a team. The
areas addressed are knowledge, skills, attitudes and emotions.
Sources: Correspondence with Philip Frame (2006); Frame and O’Connor (2003)
Computing Authentic Learning through Student Research Projects at Louisiana State, US
It is difficult in computing to develop industry ‘style’ authentic research projects in the
undergraduate curriculum. In industry, projects are likely to involve many staff and operate over
a number of years. To meet this challenge, the Computing Science Department at Louisiana
State has developed a range of long term projects involving undergraduates, postgraduates,
faculty and outside ‘industry’ partners. Ideally each project has a compelling ‘story’ that would
interest the students. Second, the project needs to be large enough that it will take the work of
many people over several years to complete the project. Third, there has to be useful partitions
of the project, so that a single student or small group could complete in one or two semesters.
Finally, projects need to be relevant to both undergraduate and master's level students would
need to be available.
One such example is a long term link to develop an effective computer based climate monitoring
with a local Watershed Management Institute with a conservation focussed bat habitat. This
needed a computer based monitoring of the environment established. This required students to
work on a whole range of discipline based issues including network routing, data aggregation
and data visualization – all of which could be expanded by students in subsequent employment
to related (non-bat) scenarios.
Source: Fife (2010);
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Students participate in a research project on Criminal Justice linked to staff interests at
Australian National University
Students at ANU have the opportunity to participate in a research project based on current
research being conducted by members of the Faculty of Law, the Australian Institute of
Criminology and Research School of Social Science. ‘Criminal Justice’ is an advanced law
elective which critically examines the principal institutions, processes and legal rules relating to
the administration of criminal justice. The iLearning project is an assessable option that allows
students to devise research projects which have both academic value and practical outcomes.
Source: Webpage which no longer functional
Law students conduct interviews with practicing lawyers at Griffith University, Australia
A 4,000-word research assignment for Lawyers, Clients & Legal Services, an elective taken in
the fourth or fifth year of a Bachelor of Laws program, involves in-depth interviews with at least
two practising lawyers. Every week for a period of six weeks, the lecturer invites one practising
lawyer to attend class during which the lawyer is interviewed. In this way, the lecturer models
the interview process with six different lawyers, each with different areas of expertise. Students
learn about the interview process and also gather research data for their assignments. The
written assignment includes:
 Identification and justification of the research question(s) chosen by the student
 Literature review (identification and thorough analysis of relevant sources)
 Methodology employed
o Presentation and analysis of data with reference to the literature
o At least two in-depth interviews with practising lawyers
 Reference to data from at least three in-class lawyer interviews
 Conclusions that relate directly to the research question(s)
This applied assignment has several RBL related benefits to students:
 It provides them with experience in conducting research interviews and the skills to carry
out basic empirical research. These skills are transferable to the students’ professional
live as lawyers frequently conduct client interviews.
 It gives them an opportunity for inquiry-based learning through interaction with ‘real-world’
law professionals who provide students with legal practice insights that are not available
in the standard Australian legal curriculum.
Source: http://trnexus.edu.au/uploads/examples%20June%203/Law%202.pdf
http://www.griffith.edu.au/criminology-law/griffith-law-school/programs-courses/clinical-program
Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Working Group at University of Queensland,
Australia
In 2011, the University of Queensland’s Schools of Law in conjunction with the School of
Political Science & International Studies set up a faculty research group to analyse migrant
smuggling in Australia. Each semester, between 12 and 18 students join the group and conduct
an independent research project on topics relating to trafficking in persons and migrant
smuggling under the guidance of the course coordinators. Members of the working groups may
receive academic credit for their research or may participate as volunteers, mentors, or alumni.
Participation in the group enables students to gain research experience and exposure to
different research methodologies, while contributing to Faculty research on important
contemporary issues.
Sources: Anon (2012); http://www.law.uq.edu.au/migrantsmuggling;
http://www.law.uq.edu.au/human-trafficking-working-group-members
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Community-based Research in Law at Warwick University, UK
The Centre for Human Rights has one of its aims to facilitate the participation of postgraduate
and undergraduate students in human rights research and experiential learning opportunities. It
supports undergraduate students through both co–curricula opportunities such as internships
and through the formal curriculum to work with various communities local and international. In
the Death Penalty Internship Programme selected students have two month internships in
Capital Defenders Offices in the USA. Student work on: United States legal research, manage
case files, contribute to the briefs filed in state and federal courts, interview witnesses and jurors
in appeals cases and visit prisons, including death row. Also in partnership with Coventry Law
Centre, Warwick students have helped to deliver advice and information sessions to the local
community on issues of discrimination and law. There are related formal courses that provide
related student involvement in practice based research. Thus the module Human Rights in
Practice combines academic study of human rights and a practical project that exposes students
to the notion of applied human rights. Students are organised in groups so as to pursue projects
in the local community.
Sources: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/chrp/aboutthecentre;
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/sociology/rsw/undergrad/cetl/fundingopps/fellowships/fellows/
williams_final_report.pdf
Modelling the research experience: Tourism students' virtual conference at Universities
of Lincoln and Wolverhampton, UK
Every year, final-year Tourism students at the Universities of Lincoln and Wolverhampton
participate together in a live virtual conference, as part of their final-level assessment. A
conference is a useful vehicle for extending insight into the process and practice of knowledge
creation and dissemination and for students to participate as, in effect, research disseminators.
Information technology has made it possible: during the specified time frame of one week,
students across two campuses can come together at times of their choosing to participate in a
joint effort to disseminate research findings and engage in dialogue about their research.
Feedback from students has been very positive and encouraging. Two qualified web designers
built the site and have been on hand to deal with technical issues. Teaching staff have provided
support for the conference throughout. Students submit a full conference paper, but it is only a
summary discussion paper that appears on the conference website. Each student is also
required to post a comment on another conference paper, in true conference dialogue tradition.
Source:http://www.tsvc.lincoln.ac.uk
Broadening final year projects through use of major & minor thesis requirements at the
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
This project combines and develops students’ two areas of interest as they are required to
research and submit work on two different areas of interest, thus broadening the knowledge and
experience of the student. The project is currently applied to Masters Degrees but could be
adapted for an undergraduate course. The major and minor thesis program is the capstone
element of a two-year Masters Degree program known as the Management of Technology at the
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Students are required to submit two
pieces of research, presented in two theses. The major theme research takes place within their
specific area of interest, but students are also required to submit a minor piece of research in an
area which is different to their major theme. The major theme thesis research is completed by
learners in their final year, and comprises a supervised, substantive thesis on an original
research topic from within those topics being explored in the learner’s laboratory (relating to their
chosen field of study: Information Science, Material Science, or Knowledge Science). The thesis
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is for the most part the original work of the learner and their empirical inquiry into a research
problem (in the classic manor). The learners’ workload here is about 6 months, with a final paper
usually over 60 pages. The condition to finish minor-theme research depends on the
relationship between the learner and a different chosen supervisor of a sub-theme. This
research project should be developed based on research of a different lab, and usually, a
different school from the ‘home’ lab and school of the learners’ chosen field. In this way the
learner completes a research project in a very different subject than their major thesis; working
with a supervisor with likely a very different perspective on research. Students are required to
produce project reports, c.30 pages; and most ask learners to present these at major meetings
of their lab and student's actual work is around 2 months.
This project is at postgraduate level, however the writing of a minor theme report with an
interdisciplinary focus could work at undergraduate level given sufficient support and recognition
in credits allocated to the project. Learners are required to work with academic advisors from
outside of their department, and this could be continued at undergraduate level, either with
undergraduates forming partnerships with academics or business organisations in an area
related to the learners’ research.
Source:
http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/activities/ntf/creativehops/examples/Pages/Business,Hospitality,Sporta
ndTourismExamples.aspx
Students as research consultants for Street Games at Nottingham Trent University (NTU),
UK
This case study works within the confines of the NTU, but creatively tries to encourage students
to develop links with professional organisations which will support them in their future careers.
Students are encouraged to use the dissertation experience to develop links with employers and
develop practitioner contacts. The aim of this project is to undertake research within a
professional organisation where the student will act as an external consultant and provide
evaluative feedback to that organisation. For the purposes of this case study one student project
is used to illustrate the nature of researching and writing a dissertation thesis in consultation with
a professional organisation. The student conducted research with the charity Street Games, an
organisation which makes sport accessible to young people. Before undertaking the dissertation
research at level 3 the student undertook a six week placement with Street Games in level 2 and
began researching the organisation throughout the summer period, prior to undertaking her level
3 studies. The students’ involvement and research with Street Games as an organisation has
enabled her to develop key skills and professional relationships at the organisation and with the
Local Authority. In addition to writing her research up in an 8,000 word dissertation the student
produced an undergraduate research conference paper for UCLAN’s Research Student
Conference and provided feedback, with recommendations, to Street Games.
Sources:
http://insight.glos.ac.uk/TLI/ACTIVITIES/NTF/CREATIVEHOPS/EXAMPLES/Pages/Education,S
ocialandEnvironmentalSciences.aspx
1.4 Geography and Environmental Studies
Geography students at Glasgow Caledonian University, UK, submit reviews for
publication made available to the local community
Practising Geography, the second year undergraduate Human Geography module, offers
individual students the option of submitting coursework in the form of a briefing paper based on
a small-scale, fieldwork-based research project that they themselves have designed and
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executed. On completion of the module, students can then elect to have their paper refereed by
an independent expert (generally a local resident from the field locality or a member of one of
the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Regional Centres). Publication on the project website
is conditional on an acceptable referee’s report.
Source: McKendrick et al. (2003); http://www.butegeog.gcal.ac.uk/index.html
Geography students at University College London, UK, and at Oxford Brookes, UK
interview staff about their research and views on contemporary geography
All year one students do an assignment in term one, in which students interview a member of
staff about their research.
 Each first year tutorial group is allocated a member of staff who is not their tutor.
 Tutorial groups are given three representative pieces of writing by the member of staff
along with a copy of their CV and arrange a date for the interview.
 Before the interview students read these materials and develop an interview schedule.
 On the basis of their reading and the interview, each student individually writes a 1,500
word report on a) the objectives of the interviewee's research; b) how that research
relates to their earlier studies c) how the interviewee's research relates to his or her
teaching, other interests and geography as a whole (emphasis added).
This curriculum was adapted from one developed for a third-year synoptic course on the
philosophy of geography at the then Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes), which at the time
received little funding for research:
 Students were divided into groups and each group was allocated a member of staff, who
gave them a copy of their CV.
 A student group then interviewed that member of staff (with the rest of the students
attending), about their academic history and views on the nature of contemporary
geography.
 The student group then wrote up the interview and set that person’s view of the discipline
in the wider context of the contemporary discipline.
The aim in this teaching-focused department was to develop students’ understanding of recent
research developments in the discipline.
Sources: Dwyer (2001); Cosgrove (2001); Accounts of two interviews:
http://gees.pbworks.com/w/page/10115571/UCL%20students%20interview%20their%20lecturer
s; Course Guide: http://www.geog.ucl.ac.uk/admissions-andteaching/undergraduates/modules/geog1008
Embedding enquiry-based learning in a skills module concerned with sustainability at
Gloucestershire, UK
‘Skills 4 Sustainability’ is a first year course in which enquiry-based learning is embedded in a
personal learning and skills module concerned with sustainability. The module is delivered from
weeks 1-12 of the first semester by a team of 8 tutors to c150 students with no formal lectures.
Students are organised into tutor groups according to their subject specialism with a tutor with
relevant specialist skills. The format varies from week to week including tutorials (commonly
consisting of time in the classroom followed by independent time for students to explore topics
raised), an organised debate for the whole cohort, and presentations.
The aim is to encourage students to take charge of their own learning and develop a community
of enquiry within the group as a whole and in smaller groups within which students work on the
main enquiry-based component of the course. This is a project where students enquire into and
develop a proposal improving the sustainability of the University which they must research and
present as a group. The students are prepared for their enquiry-based project by different
activities in the preceding weeks, which encourage students to engage with sustainability
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through discussion, research into sustainability topics and formulating questions for a
Sustainability Question Time debate. Tutors encourage exploration of the skills needed for
research and collaborative working and introduce the use of an e-portfolio package to promote
reflection and group communication between students and tutors which contributes to the
enquiry-based learning (EBL) approach. A module blog is run through the e-portfolio package
which further facilitates engagement with issues around sustainability and elicits contributions
from both tutors and staff, further strengthening the community of enquiry.
There are 3 points of assessment. The first is concerned with researching, retrieving and
presenting information on sustainability in a short essay with full references in the Harvard style.
The second is the main enquiry-based project with groups enquiring and putting together the
proposal for improving the sustainability of the University and presenting it to the group for tutor
and peer assessment. Following this, the best proposal from each tutor group goes forward to
the Green Dragons’ Den for consideration by an expert panel comprising the University Vice
Chancellor, Director of Institute for Sustainability and a local business manager. The EBL
activity is designed to engage students with a real-world problem and entrepreneurship. The
third assessment, carrying 50% of module marks is the creation of an individual e-portfolio which
is built up throughout the module and carried on until near the end of the second semester when
it is submitted. The construction of the e-portfolio aids the enquiry process by encouraging
students to reflect on sustainability issues, their own position and action they might take to
improve their own sustainability, both environmentally and as a learner. Initial research into the
first two years of module delivery is favourable with students enjoying the active learning
approach and the promotion of independent enquiry.
Further information: Swansborough et al. (2007)
Giving students first-hand experience of research-based consultancy in environmental
management at University of Queensland, Australia
Team-based problem-based learning is used in the final year capstone course for the
Environmental Management, Rural Management Environmental Tourism and Tropical Forestry
degrees at the University of Queensland’s Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture and
Veterinary Science to give students experience of research-based consultancy. It is a year-long
course, team taught by an interdisciplinary staff (in recent years, a social scientist and an
ecologist for the internal students, a multi-skilled environmental manager taking the external
students). The staff solicit suitable ‘problems’ and clients among their contacts, for instance
from government agencies, non-governmental organisations, or land care groups, or the private
sector. The staff may help the client mould the topic to achieve appropriate degrees of difficulty,
and equity in workload and difficulty across the student groups. The students work like
consultants to their client, coping if the client changes the brief during the year (as many do a
couple of times). They work in groups of about six students. The clients come to campus at
least three times, for an initial briefing to their students, and presentations at the ends of first and
second semester. They liaise with the students all year, usually off campus at their offices, and
by phone and email. The staff give a flexible program of lectures in first semester, to prepare
the students with skills they need towards each forthcoming step of their tasks, and in group
processes. At the end of the year their report is 'published' (printed and bound) for the clients.
Peer and self-assessment are used to distribute group marks among the contributors.
Source: Correspondence with Helen Ross, 2006
Helping students to engage more effectively with the research process in undertaking
their undergraduate dissertations at Keele University, UK
Undertaking an independent research project in the form of a dissertation can be the most
challenging and rewarding part of an undergraduate student’s university experience. However,
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students often suffer from disjuncture expressed as lack of motivation, hesitancy and avoidance
when faced with the daunting enormity of the task and the high demands placed on them as
independent learners and problem solvers. Robson (2006) undertook a case study of her efforts
as a supervisor, using action research, to help students to engage more effectively with the
research process. The aim of the research was to make effective changes to improve students’
motivation, commitment and achievement with regard to completing a geography dissertation. It
is argued that listening to students and responding to their perceived needs is an effective way
to improve supervision practices. Initial findings showed students to be lonely and insecure
about their dissertations and the supervisor pressured by a considerable supervisory burden.
Four cycles of action research were subsequently conducted with a group of eight dissertation
students during one academic year. The research implemented and evaluated four interventions
whereby the supervisor-researcher invited the students to:
(i)
evaluate their progress
(ii)
learn from examples of completed dissertations
(iii)
share and support each other
(iv)
engage in peer assessment.
Qualitative evidence demonstrates a shift from a status quo of individual supervisory meetings
between poorly motivated students and a frustrated supervisor, to highly motivated students
effectively empowered as independent self-learners and peer supporters. It is concluded that
given the right circumstances students can be facilitated to ‘do it better themselves’.
Source: Robson (2006)
Engaging students in environmental health research and outreach at Allegheny College,
Pennsylvania, US
This is an example of combining undergraduate research with public engagement as part of the
assessed curriculum. It is also a clear example of a faculty-led project in which students gather
data on an issue of interest to the member of faculty. At Allegheny College, the junior seminar is
a required one-semester course, in the third year of a four year course that provides a window
into the research experience and which allows students to develop a thesis proposal. This
course prepares students for their thesis project. All students at Allegheny are required to
conduct an independent one or two semester thesis project, which allows the student to conduct
original research, evaluate it and place it in context with existing professional research. In the
interdisciplinary Department of Environmental Science (ES), the junior seminar is taken in the
third year, so the students have some cross-disciplinary training, and some early experience into
project-based learning. Each junior seminar, which typically has between 8 and 24 students,
has a different theme, geared to the faculty and students’ interests.
In 2007 in the Junior Seminar in Environmental Health, Justice and Development, students
developed and evaluated an environmental health outreach program. This concerned the critical
role of indoor home environments on early childhood health in a rural, low-income community.
The course leader provided the causes of childhood diseases and health disparities, the class
then evaluated effective and ineffective health campaigns. Using this academic foundation, the
class planned and implemented an outreach effort. The goal of the outreach was to develop
greater awareness among children of health in the home environment. The students compared
the efficiency of outreach directly targeted to students in 5 th and 6th grade (10-12 years of age) to
outreach targeted more broadly through family-oriented community events, such as a children’s
workshops and a Halloween parade.
Both quantitative survey data, addressing how well participants learned and retained information
about Healthy Homes, and qualitative assessments from community partners, were undertaken.
Additional measures of impact were evaluated as well, including the number of home
assessments that were generated from both types of outreach. Students presented their
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findings in a public meeting to community partners, teachers, school district administrators, local
public health officials, campus administrators and ES department faculty and students. Using
feedback from the presentation, the students completed the semester with a single written
document with report overview, background, findings and recommendations.
The students enjoyed the program so well that they collectively requested to continue it through
independent study, volunteer or outside class projects through the spring semester 2008 and
beyond. Enthusiastic comments were also received from the school teachers and community
groups involved.
This model is appropriate not only for staff interested in using students to assist piloting new
avenues of their research, but also for those who are hoping to find a topic to use and replicate
from semester to semester or year to year.
Sources: For further details and a reflection of the issues faced by the course leader see:
//resources.glos.ac.uk/ceal/resources/casestudiesactivelearning/undergraduate/index.cfm; for
the Healthy Homes-Healthy Children (HHHC) Website see:
http://webpub.allegheny.edu/employee/c/cwaggett/hhhc/
For Caryl Waggett’s Website see:
webpub.allegheny.edu/employee/c/cwaggett/index.html; for a link to the Course Syllabus and
Final Product and Poster see: http://webpub.allegheny.edu/employee/c/cwaggett/courseses588.html
Final year students undertook team research projects on local environmental issues
which were in part peer and self-assessed at the University of Gloucestershire, UK
Issues in Environmental Geography ran for about a decade at the University as a final year
capstone module; and an earlier version ran at Coventry University for several years. Students
worked in groups of 4-6 on local environmental issues. The module was concerned with
analysing competing environmental philosophies, applying them to understanding a particular
local or regional environmental issue and coming up with policy recommendations. The
students developed their own projects, starting with a proposal. They were supported through
two key lectures on environmental philosophies, a workshop on effective teamwork and
individual group tutorials on their chosen topics. The semester long course was assessed
through a group report (60%); oral presentation of project (30%) and an individual learning
journal and reflective essay (together counting for 10%). The marks given for the group project
were redistributed among group members using peer and self assessment of the quality and
effectiveness of their contributions on a five point scale to five group processes (ideas and
suggestions; leadership, group organisation and support, minute taking; data collection/
collation/ analysis; report writing, production and editing; and preparing/ giving verbal
presentation). The average mark for the module was consistently c3-5 percentage points higher
than for other modules reflecting the benefits of working in teams. The difference in marks was
confirmed by the external examiners.
Sources:
Healey and Addis (2004); Healey et al. (1997); Mick Healey (mhealey@glos.ac.uk)
Public scholarship projects in introductory environmental courses at Pennsylvania State
University, USA
Introductory geography courses at Penn State require students to carry out a ‘public scholarship’
project. In these students investigate an issue of public concern and also present their results in
a public forum. For example, students investigated their experience of changing their transport
habits (e.g. not using a car!), food choices and water consumption. Other students produced
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local food and furniture from reclaimed materials. Assessment of this semester long project
involved a project proposal, a project update and a final presentation of their work which has to
be in some public forum, such as a local newspaper, public meeting, or YouTube video.
Originally developed in summer courses with low enrolments these projects were individual; but
the basic framework was then adapted for group projects in a year one course with 175
students.
Sources: Baum et al. (2012); http://sethbaum.com/teaching/geog30/
http://www.geog.psu.edu/academics/course/geography-30-web-geographic-perspectivessustainability
Research Placements in Geography at Staffordshire University, UK
The department has developed a Level 3 (third or final year) undergraduate option for selected
students – particularly those seeking a research orientated career. The option is a one or two
semester course that is scheduled to require 150 hours work. Students work on faculty research
projects and/or in association with an external client. Projects are issues that can be examined
through fieldwork and/or by library/archival investigation or by the analysis and/or presentation of
data that have already been collected. Assessment is by means of a 30-minute oral presentation
to discuss key findings of the project work and a reflective report, including a work diary.
Source: Tweed and Boast (2011)
Embedding research in a field based module at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Field work is embedded in a module in ways that support students understanding of the whole
process of research from design to publication. The context is a end of second year summer
field course, which also prepares students for the final year research dissertation. A series of
assessed activities, including peer review, are central to the course design. There are three key
stages and assessment tasks.
 Prior to the field course students in groups prepare and submit a proposal for their field
research. In addition they submit a contribution to the Field Guide.
 In the field, after initial days on research training students in teams carry out their
research project
 After the field course they analyse and interpret the data collected and present their
findings in a scientific report in the form of a journal article. These are then reviewed by
other students in the course and the course leader before final submission.
Source: Nicholson (2011)
1.5 Archaeology and Earth Sciences
Giving Community College students in US their first experience of research in
archaeology
At Cuyahoga Community College, in Cleveland, Mark S. Lewine, a professor of anthropology,
established a Center for Community Research. The center has provided more than 2,000
students with their first experience with primary research in the field or laboratory. He
encourages graduate students and community college students to work together on
archaeological digs. In 2006 he was awarded US Professor of the Year in the communitycolleges category.
"We're digging on abandoned church property, abandoned hospital property, doing land-use
history of the inner city. The 'aha' response is immediate. They say, Oh my god, this land
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that we're living on actually has a rich history. They get very interested because it connects
to them. They enjoy the subject while learning the process. Too many of our students,
unfortunately, are working two or three jobs, have family responsibilities, and just don't have
the time. Often the participation begins with an hour in the lab or on the site. Then they'll try
to find time on a Saturday. What I tell my students is: If you like it, if you're learning with it, if
you're reliable and consistent in your work, I will offer you internships. Plus I tell them: When
you come from an urban high school that isn't giving you what your potential really needs,
and a graduate school looks at your record and sees primary research, that makes your
record stand out.”
Sources: Bollag (2006a); http://chronicle.com/article/Award-Winning-Teaching/31170
Terrascope: First year geoscience and engineering students investigate a complex
problem at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US
Terrascope is a cross departmental optional programme for year one students. Each year
addresses a different theme, for example, tackling global climate change by removing carbon
from the atmosphere. The pedagogy is ‘problem based learning’ with a minimum of structure,
but with a range of support from faculty, librarians, upper-level students and alumni mentors.
In semester one, students form themselves into groups of 5-10 and develop their understanding
of possible solutions to the chosen issue. Each team has to “produce a comprehensive web site
that outlines the problem and how they propose to solve it” (Bowring et al., in press). In the
second semester the main offering is a class where students are presented with a range of
research questions relating to that year’s theme and investigate these in teams. Each team has
to produce a booth filled with resources which demonstrate their research topic. These are then
presented at a public ‘Bazaar of Ideas’, where members of the public and faculty question the
students. The other semester two option ‘Terrascope Radio’ focuses on public dissemination of
student work on the theme. Each group produce a programme which is broadcast on MIT radio.
Terrascope students can also choose to join an annual spring field course, often in an
international venue, on that year’s theme.
Entry to the programme is effectively by student choice and each year some 100 students enrol
but “it is not uncommon to lose a third by the end of the third week. Students who continue
become deeply engaged in the class” and produce high level work (Bowring et al., in press).
Sources: http://web.mit.edu/terrascope/www/; Bowring et al. (in press)
Student groupwork assignments based on analysis of current Geoscience discipline
journal article analyses at the University of Adelaide, Australia
This Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Interactive Multimedia (IMM) project is an exercise in knowledge
engineering that was a central feature of a final year undergraduate structural geology course for
over ten years. Students are given an introductory and explanatory session describing the aims,
objectives, tools and methods, together with a short hands-on practical class on how to use the
available multimedia authoring system (e.g. Hyperstudio) and how to access the array of digital
resources which might be needed to carry out the assignment. The exercise clearly provides a
close link to the teaching of structural geology in this course and the most current research being
carried out in the discipline. Students not only have to read and understand one international
journal article, but they must also search through the bibliography of that article for a number of
relevant papers. They must interrogate and summarise not only the text, but also become
familiar with the figures, diagrams, plates, tables and these days often simulations and
animations which may be available on the author's website. One very important key to the
research-teaching link is when the students have to devise a question to the author(s) and to
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email that question. Receiving a reply (which does not always happen), is most exciting to the
students and is a critical point in the realisation that the author is a real person and is carrying
out their research usually at a University. Authors generally reply positively to the questions (it at
least shows that someone is reading and interested in their own research), and occasionally a
general dialogue occurs.
Source: James (2003)
1.6 Arts and English
Involving first year English students in the international research community at the
University of Gloucestershire, UK
Arran Stibbe allows students to take on the identity of a researcher right from the start of their
time at university. In the EZ102 Language & Ecology module the students have an opportunity
to share their insights with the wider research community. The research community in turn has
something to gain from student contributions because students can critically analyse aspects of
their language and culture that others have yet to examine. The students are encouraged to
take part in the international research community through working with the Language & Ecology
Research Forum - the main international forum for research in ecolinguistics. The Forum links
together a network of scholars, has an online journal, a range of resources, and a dedicated
section for the EZ102 module. The approach works best when students are becoming critically
aware of texts that they are familiar with, rather than struggling to understand new genres
understood better by the lecturer than students. In 2012 the process was simplified and applied
to the successor first year module HM4202 Sociolinguistics and Ecolinguistics. Instead of a
dedicated student section and a journal, the website now contains a mixed collection of articles,
some of which are by students and some by researchers. These articles can be found at
www.ecoling.net/articles.
Sources :
http://www.english.heacademy.ac.uk/explore/publications/casestudies/sustain/ecolinguistics.php
http://resources.glos.ac.uk/ceal/resources/casestudiesactivelearning/activelearningcasestudies/i
ndex.cfm
Introducing enquiry-based teaching methods in literary studies at Manchester University,
UK
The traditional form of Literary Studies teaching in HE is tutor-centred. In this case study a group
of second year students studying Eighteenth Century Literature are introduced to enquiry-based
learning in the first week of the first semester. The course consists of a weekly lecture and a
weekly seminar. The latter consists of 15 students divided into three groups. During the
seminars the tutor acts as a task-giver and thereafter as both an information resource,
responding to student requests and as a facilitator moving from sub-group to sub-group helping
discussion to develop. For example, in week 1 the students were given a poem by Samuel
Johnson, ‘On the death of Dr Robert Levet’. The poem was issued to students without
annotations or supporting detailed biographical information. Each sub-group was asked to
address two questions: ‘What kind of language does the poem use?’ and ‘What belief system, if
any, does the poem imply?’. Most groups responded to this task actively by exploring and
considering the possibilities from a range of perspectives, establishing and pooling any existing
knowledge and assessing its applicability to the task in hand. By emphasising the need to seek
other sources to contextualise their answers the facilitator began to establish the research
element crucial to moving from ‘problem solving’ to something more active.
Source: Hutchings and O’Rourke (2003)
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Community Project Work in Architecture at University of New South Wales, Australia
A new approach to community-based design projects in the Architecture Program is being
trialled by working in association with FBEOutTHERE!, the University of New South Wales,
Faculty of Built Environment’s outreach program that engages in community-oriented research
and learning. With the real prospect of a selected project being constructed, students are asked
to design an ‘ageing in place' independent living accommodation project. This project responds
to needs identified by a social enterprise group that provide community services for people
experiencing multiple intellectual disabilities (service users) in rural New South Wales. With an
emphasis on enhancing service users’ quality of life, students undertake this task by firstly
engaging with the literature, interviewing the service users and staff and visiting the service
users’ homes to understand their needs. Only after the students have reviewed and evaluated
the interviews, home visits and literature are they able to commence the design element of their
projects, the progress of which is discussed regularly with the community.
In this way, students design with an inquiry evidence based approach, responsive to community
needs. In addition, students keep reflective journals which are intended to help them think about
the research findings, their interaction with the service users and their needs, and how these
impact upon their design approach to the project. The completed student designs are exhibited.
This allows for community feedback on the designs and facilitates discussion about design
approaches that best meet the target group’s needs. Students receive individual written
community feedback about their designs and this collectively informs the interdisciplinary site
and context research phase of the project with Landscape Architecture students.
In 2007, 16 students selected this studio project, Rural Community Wellbeing Enhanced through
Design from a range of design project offerings in the Year 4 core subjects in the Bachelor of
Architecture program. Students work in groups to undertake the literature and context/site
research phase of the project. They conduct the service user interviews and home visits in
pairs. These findings are shared through studio presentations and documented in web folders
on the Faculty server. Students undertake the project design individually, informed by shared
investigations as well as progressive design studio interaction.
Student evaluations indicated that this course encouraged them to be self-directed learners and
to learn how to apply their theoretical knowledge to developing a feasible project.
Source: ALTC Teaching Research Nexus website:
http://trnexus.edu.au/uploads/examples%20June%203/Architecture%201.pdf
Introduction to writing research and contemporary cultures at Miami, Ohio, US
Students in the first year core course in ‘writing and cultures’ investigate how the forms of
writing, and the methodologies for researching writing and culture, are being transformed
through web-based communication. Through this reading and writing intensive seminar,
students investigate how digitized technologies are transforming the forms of writing and
communication. The course culminates in a group assignment where students, using secondary
and primary sources, investigate an aspect of contemporary culture (e.g. dating, shopping) and
how the forms of communication there are being reshaped by the Internet. They produce a
multimodal web site that includes text, digital images, audio, and video. The course fulfils
institutional requirements for liberal education goals of critical thinking.
Source: http://www.users.muohio.edu/mckeeha/h101-09;
http://www.users.muohio.edu/mckeeha/h101-09/final_project.html
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1.7 History
Wikipedia and Lying About the Past: George Mason University, USA
‘Lying About the Past’ is an advanced history course where students construct false Wikipedia
articles or edit current ones in ways that have them constructing fake documents, interviewing
fake experts / constructing documents; in short constructing historical hoaxes. Thus one group of
students using “newspaper databases … identified four actual women murdered in New York
City from 1895 to 1897, victims of broadly similar crimes. They created Wikipedia articles for the
victims, carefully following the rules of the site. They concocted an elaborate story of discovery”
(Applebaum, 2012). T. Mills Kelly who designed and teaches the course explains to students
that by “learning about historical fakery, lying, and hoaxes, we all become much better
consumers of historical information. In short, we are much less likely to be tricked by what we
find in our own personal research about the past.” The course has been an issue of media
attention and heated discussion amongst the Wikipedia and academic ‘communities’.
Sources: Appelbaum (2012); http://globalaffairs.gmu.edu/courses/1124/course_sections/6500;
http://globalaffairs.gmu.edu/system/syllabuses/6500/original/HIST389-09-S12Kelly.pdf?1327440993; www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=420711
Students taking a historical methodology course engage in original oral history research
at Indiana State University, US
The 30 or so students taking the introductory historical methodology course are engaged in
original research. Anne L. Foster, an assistant professor of history, who teaches the course, was
eager to find topics in which her students could "become experts" and make a real contribution
to local knowledge. In 2004, the class produced a history of the black community of the Wabash
Valley, including Lost Creek, a neighbourhood of Terre Haute, Indiana, the city that is home to
the university. Lost Creek was established in the 1820s by freed and runaway slaves with the
help of local Quakers. The course stresses oral histories, and that year's project included a
video interview with a 104-year-old woman whose grandparents were slaves. Another group of
students, in the fall of 2005, interviewed three elderly local men with connections to the
Holocaust: a concentration-camp survivor from Latvia, a Jew whose family managed to flee
Germany, and a former U.S. soldier who helped liberate a concentration camp in Germany. One
student did an independent project that turned the class material into a permanent exhibit at
Terre Haute's Holocaust museum. Students would have interviewed more people, but changes
in the university's rules on human research subjects made it difficult. Ms. Foster says she
expects the university's research board to relax the new rules to facilitate the taking of oral
histories.
Source: Bollag (2006b)
History students contribute research findings to a Web site at Victoria University, Canada
In 2002, John Lutz taught for the first time History 481: Micro History and the Internet, a learnercentred and research-oriented course in which the main activity was primary archival research
on various aspects of life in Victoria, British Columbia from 1843 to 1900. Initial course activities
include orientation to the historical archives in Victoria and basic web-site creation skills.
Students work in small groups on a research project and the final research ‘product’ of the
course is a web site and not a standard research paper. The course has been developed with
the support of local community groups and another university. It is one of the international
innovative examples of digital history where the web is used as a research tool, a means of
disseminating research and developing student web skills.
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Sources: http://www.victoriasvictoria.ca/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_history;
http://web.uvic.ca/~jlutz/courses/hist481/index.html
1.8 Education and Philosophy
Designerly Thought and Action: An investigation into opportunities within the Primary
Curriculum at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK
This project engages students within the Faculty of Education in episodes of school-focused
research. These episodes will be conducted through school placements. The research will
engage our students, our partnership schools and academic staff. As a prelude to a major,
externally funded project proposal, we have gained the support of training-based funding
agencies such as Smallpiece Foundation.
The proposed development will research the opportunities presented within the primary school
curriculum for the development of designerly thought and action. This is seen as vital to the
needs of an information-rich, knowledge transfer society, moving into what Pink (2005) has
called ‘The Concept Age’. This would require a re-definition of the Primary curriculum,
incorporating a cross-curricular process model. Many primary schools are moving into more
topic-based work and we feel it is opportune to document the way in which this relates to other
government initiatives concerned with creativity and a more active approach to children’s
learning. The project is intended initially to run from January 2007 – July 2008. The proposed
research development is seen as a pilot study that will develop and hone research instruments
to identify the key skills, capabilities and processes that underlie designerly thought and action
across the curriculum.
For our students, there are clear benefits in terms of personal development as reflective
learners/ future practitioners as a consequence of engagement with the delivery, modification
and evaluation of research instruments in schools. The students may also develop as critical
thinkers and become action-researcher in their future classrooms.
For more information on the project please contact Eric Parkinson
(eric.parkinson@canterbury.ac.uk) or Gill Hope gill.hope@canterbury.ac.uk).
Source: Based on:
http://www.canterbury.ac.uk/Support/learning-teaching-enhancementunit/Projects/RIT/Home.aspx
Learning to think like a philosopher: developing students’ research skills in a history of
philosophy course, University of Leeds, UK
One aim of most degree courses, at least if they are in a single discipline, is to help students
think like, for example, historians, chemists, or planners. Traditionally in philosophy this is
attempted by ‘sitting at the feet’ of experienced philosophers and ploughing through long reading
lists. Research into philosophy is seen as something largely reserved for postgraduate study.
At the University of Leeds, George MacDonald Ross developed a more active approach in a
final year module, which engages his students directly with a philosophical text – Kant’s Critique
of Pure Reason – and helps them develop key research skills. George has since retired – here
we present the course as he taught it with the aim of encouraging the thinking that is
characteristic of the mature historian of philosophy.
He taught the course by running interactive seminars, rather than lectures, at which students are
forbidden to take notes, except for a secretary, who posts minutes on a website within 24 hours.
This has the advantage that students focus more on discussion during seminars, and that they
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treat the minutes as secondary literature, rather than their own intellectual property to be used
without acknowledgment. Most of the time is spent discussing the interpretation of key
passages projected on a screen. However, most of the students’ learning time is taken up by
reading the text in conjunction with George’s running commentary; preparing short answers to
interpretative questions, some of which will form the basis of the following seminar; and writing
essays. Researching and writing essays is a small-scale version of what historians of
philosophy do as researchers, and it is central to the module. Apart from one final essay,
students write three two-page essays during the year. They are given the assessment criteria
(presentation, referencing, accuracy, clarity, argumentation, independence, other strengths and
weaknesses) before hand and have to self-assess their attempt against them. He does not put
the mark on the essay, instead he tells them to guess the mark in the light of his comments, and
sign up for a 15-minute individual tutorial at which he reveals the mark, and advises them on
how to improve their performance next time.
Source: Based on a draft case study by George MacDonald Ross 2006.
For four examples of the use of enquiry based learning in education at the University of
Birmingham see case studies 1, 5, 7 and 10 at: http://www.ebl.bham.ac.uk/index.shtml.
1.9 Interdisciplinary
Unravelling complexity at Australian National University (ANU)
The course involves final year undergraduate students from each of the seven colleges/faculties
examining different disciplinary ways to “unravel complexity”. It is the first of what the ANU
hopes to be a suite of “Vice-Chancellor” courses where “ANU researchers from different
disciplines sharing leading research ideas and discoveries with students.”
The number of students taking the course increased from 70 (10 per College) in 2009 to 210 (30
per College) in 2010. They are selected on the basis of outstanding results and interest in and
commitment to working in policy areas. The course has a weekly two hour panel of different
high profile researchers speaking to the class on how different disciplines deal with complexity.
Each panel typically consists of a range of speakers taking different perspectives on an issue,
e.g. global financial crises, the collapse of empires, contemporary 'failing' states, pandemics,
engineering and network failures and the moral and legal dimensions of these issues. Students
in pairs then facilitate a tutorial discussion with about 16 of their classmates on this topic. As the
course unfolds students are encouraged to apply methods and insights from different disciplines
to each week’s case example. Reflective and interdisciplinary thinking is encouraged through a
learning portfolio being the major assessment piece for the course – see http://fennerschoollectures.anu.edu.au/lectures/2010/VCUG3001/doku.php?id=assessment:learning_portfolio.
Strong support was provided by the two highest officers of the University. In 2009 the DVC
tutored on the course and the VC participated in some of the final student presentation and
social events.
Students commented that the course structure modelled likely work scenarios they were soon to
be in – i.e. working in interdisciplinary teams on complex problems that need a diverse range of
tools and perspectives to address. The learning portfolios show clear evidence of extensive
deep learning. Several of the outstanding students from the 2009 class participated as tutors in
the 2010 class.
Its basic philosophy and structure is readily adaptable to other research intensive universities
where strong institutional leadership is encouraging the involvement of leading researchers in
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undergraduate teaching. Aspects of its approach – in particular its focus on seeing complex
issues from different disciplinary research perspectives - are also developed in a large
introductory course at ANU (Baker and Lupton, 2003). They are a feature of some final year
synoptic capstone courses (Jenkins, 2008).
Sources: Baker (2010):
http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/resources/toolkit/resources/ugcs/Documents/RichardBakerUnravelling
Complexityfinal.pdf
Course description:
http://fennerschool-lectures.anu.edu.au/lectures/2010/VCUG3001/doku.php?id=introduction
Learning portfolio: http://fennerschoollectures.anu.edu.au/lectures/2010/VCUG3001/doku.php?id=assessment:learning_portfolio
http://fennerschool-people.anu.edu.au/richard_baker/teaching.html
Involving Students in Interdisciplinary Interactive Media Consultancy Projects at Miami
University, Ohio, US
Interactive Media Studies at Miami University is an interdisciplinary programme (including
Computer Science, Engineering, MIS, English, Marketing, Graphic Design, Education, etc.) that
brings together students and faculty to investigate how interactive media informs and transforms
their disciplinary perspective. The programme has been running since 1996 and uses problembased learning and team-oriented projects to help students to learn how to apply their theoretical
knowledge to innovative digital solutions for a paying client. About 100 students a year take the
programme. Demand is high and they have to turn away 2-5 students a day from the
programme. With 2-3 sections running each semester; the students work in groups of up to 20.
The students themselves decide how to divide up tasks; typically there are groups undertaking
development, design and marketing. The programmes are team taught with the last two weeks
spent on de-briefing and talking about what they’ve learnt. The students are typically in class
four hours a week, but spend many more hours, for example visiting clients, undertaking
research or doing user testing. They make a presentation to their client at the end of the project.
Commercial companies are charged $20,000 per project paid on delivery; non-profit
organisations and charities are typically charged c£5,000. They found the client did not take it
as seriously when no charge was made. From the client’s perspective, they get out of the box
thinking that they would never obtain from a consultant firm. The clients typically end up with
something that far exceeds their expectations. The students find it surprising and challenging to
manage the changes which commonly occur during the development stage of the project.
Recent completed projects include:
 Healthcare IT asked IMS to create a new logo for their company and build a new Web
presence to highlight their state-of-the art hospital tracking systems. IMS assessed needs
and built the site, a product demo and a back end administrative system for managing
sales and customer support.
 Procter & Gamble's Beauty Care Division contracted with IMS to develop a Web-based
expert system that would allow customers to get product recommendations suited to their
personal needs. A kiosk was designed to be deployed in a major retail chain.
 The Taft Museum of Art needed a complete Web strategy. IMS developed a web identity
for them, put their collection online and created e-commerce capability for their gift shop.
Sources: Interview with Glenn Platt 14 November 2007;
http://student.sba.muohio.edu/
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Inter-disciplinary inquiry-based learning (IDIBL) focused on action research in the
workplace at Bolton, UK
The IDIBL framework project at the University of Bolton has developed an undergraduate and
postgraduate module framework for inquiry-based learning. The student is seen as an actionresearcher who must identify an opportunity in their work-context for improvement. Learners
support each other in an online community to combine study with work.
The modules contained within the framework focus on process, and generic concepts and
outcomes, rather than subject content. Through a process of negotiation between the individual
learner and the course staff, a personalised inquiry is developed to include learning activities
and assessment products that meet the module requirements and informed by the learners’
professional practice. The student then plans the action they will take, undertakes it in their own
work context, evaluates the action, and revises the plan.
Sources: Milwood et al. (2007, 2008); idibl.bolton.ac.uk/; inquirypatterns.wordpress.com/;
resources.glos.ac.uk/ceal/resources/casestudiesactivelearning/undergraduate/index.cfm
Viet Nam Field School - giving Australian National University undergraduates real
research opportunities
In field course disciplines, such as biology, geology and here geography, there are potentially
clear connections between the experience of staff carrying out research and students learning
through research. The students are often learning in inquiry or research mode and students are
focussed on one or two questions in an intense semi-structured experience.
This field course differs in that it takes 20-25 selected ANU students from across the University
to Viet Nam for an 18 day intensive field course focusing on the interaction between
development and environment issues. During the trip each student is part of a group based
research project - and is supported by Vietnamese students from Danang University. Each
group presents their final research outcomes to the whole class in a day long workshop at the
end of the in-country field trip. One of the key features of the course – and one that is
transferable is that: “There is strong focus in the course on developing research skills and
thinking critically about what research is. Students are required in their introductory learning
statements to give a personal definition of what research is and then throughout the course are
encouraged to reflect on their changing understandings of what research is. And a key final task
is to reflect on what they have learnt about doing research.”
Their learning portfolios indicate what they have gained from the Field School. E.g:
“Vietnam was much more than just six credit points. It was a life changing experience. Through
exploring the themes as mentioned above we were able to learn about ourselves, group work,
Vietnam and first hand experience the highs and lows of cross cultural research.” (Asian Studies
Student, 2008)
“Nobody ever indicated that research would involve walking precariously over endless fields
of rice paddies that are practically drowned with pesticides. Nor did anyone think to mention
that the process could involve curious children following us, reading our notes and shouting at
each other while we were trying to conduct interviews. Nobody talked about how informants
may try to sell us things in the marketplace, or about how sad stories have the power to
compel one to buy a bunch of bananas. And it seems odd as well that nobody has said that
research can involve making friends as I did with many of my informants, especially my billet.
But these are all things I think about when I hear the word ‘research’ now.” (Arts Student,
2010)
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Sources: Baker (2010):
http://resources.glos.ac.uk/ceal/resources/casestudiesactivelearning/undergraduate/index.cfm
http://fennerschool-people.anu.edu.au/richard_baker/ENVS2017/index.htm
2. Undergraduate Research and Inquiry in Departments
2.1 Biosciences, Chemistry, Medicine and Health Sciences
At Cornell University, USA, all first year biologists have research experiences
The ‘Explorations Program’, which has been running since 1991, introduces biology first-year
undergraduates to research by Cornell staff, in the context of a course of 700-900 students.
Large-scale funding has created 100-120 ‘experiences’, each of approximately 3-4 hours, for
groups of 6-8 students. Most are designed to introduce students to the kinds of research
problems on which the academic staff member works. Programmes take place both in research
labs on campus and at field sites near campus. The programme is structured so that each
student is required to participate in one ‘Exploration’ per semester. For example, recent
explorations have varied from ‘the control of body weight’ to ‘fossil flowers of the dinosaur age’;
and from ‘how do you tell if animals have color vision’ to ‘why do sperm swim in circles?’
Sources:
http://www7.miami.edu/ftp/ricenter/Spotlights/spotlight.html#explorations
http://biog-1101-1104.bio.cornell.edu/BioG101_104/explorations/explorations.html
http://vivo.cornell.edu/display/individual30988
http://biology.cornell.edu/forms/research_booklet.pdf
Department undergraduate student research journals in biology at Chester, Leeds
Nottingham and Plymouth UK and a national undergraduate research journal
The biology departments at the Universities of Chester, Leeds and Nottingham have developed
journals to publish research by undergraduates in their departments. They are based explicitly
on the US practice of undergraduate research journals (Hart 2012; Kinkead, 2003). Origin
(http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/projects/potter.aspx) at Chester was paperbased and generally involved selected students rewriting their dissertations or research projects
for external publication. Biolog-E at Leeds
(http://www.sddu.leeds.ac.uk/uploaded/learning-teaching-docs/fellowship/Knight%20UG%20ejournal%20poster%20v2.pdf) is an electronic journal, as is BURN from Biosciences at
Nottingham University (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/burn/) and The Plymouth Student Scientist
(https://studentjournals.plymouth.ac.uk/index.php/pss/index). These showcase 1st Class
undergraduate research and support those undergraduates seeking academic research careers.
Drawing on the expertise of these department journals, in March 2008 the first issue of the UK
national undergraduate research Bioscience Horizons was published. All papers are written by
students and based on final-year research projects.
Sources: biohorizons.oxfordjournals.org/; Knight (2006); Luck (2011)
Intergenerational student teams support first-year inquiry courses in chemistry at the
University of Michigan
Each year the chemistry department at Michigan has c100 students in term time or summer
involved in undergraduate research with the c40 Department research groups. In addition,
standard undergraduate laboratory instruction courses have been modified in order to create a
more deliberate link to more authentic research practices.
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An inquiry-based curriculum for first-year students. The large (c1400 students)
introductory organic chemistry courses have been significantly revised to focus more on student
inquiry, narrowing the gap between how faculty understand chemistry and how students
experience chemistry in their coursework.
Authentic laboratory research for many. A subset of c160 students in this first year course selfselect into a supplemental instruction program where they spend two additional hours per week
engaged in tasks that involve their connecting with, understanding, and transforming information
and data from the primary literature. In the laboratory, after spending about half their time
developing manipulative skills around small, open questions they take on the design and
implementation of limited but authentic laboratory primary research.
Upper level student support and development. This supplemental instruction program is a
collaborative activity between the primary faculty member and a team of 8 upper-level
undergraduate students (themselves graduates from the first year course) who have codesigned the instructional materials and who are solely responsible, with guidance from the
faculty member, to implement these 2-hour sessions. These students are seen as potentially the
next generation of teacher-researchers.
Source: Coppola (2005)
Co-ordinated interventions in Zoology at University of Tasmania, Australia
The department has developed a set of linked strategies and interventions including:
Year One c200 students
 Workshop on the use of animals in research: students put in the position of researcher,
considering experimental design and animal ethics to complete an animal ethics
application form
 Throughout the year, students encouraged to interact with a web portal
(www.zoo.utas.edu.au/rir/rir.htm) with links to ‘Hot Topics’ in Zoology related to lecture
material
Year Two
 Over several weeks an assessed task in which real, experimental data is given to the
students for guided analysis and preparation as a manuscript for publication
Year Three
 Courses include group research projects, critical reviews of current literature, writing
research grant applications, lectures from scientists outside the school, and training in
scientific communication
 Zoology Research Unit (fcms.its.utas.edu.au/scieng/zoo/unitdetail.asp?lUnitId=3349)
individual students are matched with an academic supervisor to complete a semesterlong research project
 Selected students work with staff to prepare a research paper for Nexus Journal of
Undergraduate Science, Engineering and Technology
(http://www.utas.edu.au/scieng/nexus/)
Years Two and Three
 All invited to participate in Student Research Volunteers program
(http://www.zoo.utas.edu.au/Staffpg1/summvolunteer3.htm). Volunteers are matched
with mentors, usually Postgraduate or Honours students in the School, for short-term, inhouse research placements that may offer either laboratory or field experiences
Years One, Two and Three
 ‘Reach into Research’ seminars held several times each semester
(www.zoo.utas.edu.au/rir/rir2&3.htm). Speakers from industry, collaborating institutions
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School PhD students present their research, and then all non-undergraduate audience
members, except the facilitator, leave the room
Source: Edwards et al. (2007); http://www.utas.edu.au/zoology/
Integrating research and learning in the chemistry undergraduate curriculum at Utrecht
University, Netherlands
Traditionally undergraduate chemistry in the Netherlands only ended with a “real” research
assignment, which students undertake in one of the research groups of the University. However,
this model is not very effective in developing the required scientific skills for a chemist, such as
presenting their work, critically evaluating their work, and designing new experiments based on
the results of previous experiments. Most chemistry students in the Netherlands go on to take
the masters in the same university (approx 90% at Utrecht). A few years ago Utrecht opted for a
curriculum in which learning research skills and knowledge go hand in hand.
First year - On the first day of their studies students start with a group laboratory project in which
they are asked to prepare and characterize a polymer (a kind of plastic). The final material which
they have to prepare is clear, however, the route to prepare that material is developed by the
students themselves. At the end of the first year ALL the students (approx 70) work for three
weeks in groups in one of the research departments.
Second year - In order to keep a link between the students, lecturers and researchers, students
visit and carry out experiments in the research departments. At the end of the second year
students are involved in a 5 week pre-determined group research project. The goal of their
project is discussed with the supervisor (in most cases a senior PhD student). In that way the
students are involved in a relevant, authentic research project.
Third year - At the end of the third year all students carry out an individual BSc-thesis research
project. Students contribute for 10 weeks to an on-going PhD research projects in which they are
assigned to their own sub-project.
Source: Personal correspondence Harry Bitter, Utrecht University
http://www.uu.nl/faculty/science/EN/education/Pages/default.aspx
Research Emphasis Days in Veterinary Medicine at Edinburgh and Florida
Each year the School of Veterinary Studies at University of Edinburgh organises a ‘Research
Emphasis Day’ where local researchers present current work to students of all years in a
conference style format. In addition the School invites speakers from a variety of potential
research employers to an event called VetChoice where students from any year are invited to
learn about research opportunities for veterinary undergraduates and graduates. These range
from talking about research opportunities within the Veterinary School to opportunities outside
the School. The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine organises a similar event.
Sources: Struthers et al. (2008); http://www.link.vet.ed.ac.uk/internal/red.htm
http://www.wlcastleman.com/ufvetmed/phizeta07/index.htm
Ways of knowing and research literacy in undergraduate nursing, health and behavioural
sciences at University of Wollongong, Australia
Research subjects are built into each year of undergraduate nursing. By the time students reach
the end of their course, some are potential researchers and all are committed to evidence-based
practice. The aim is to build research awareness, access and appreciation in students through
engaging curriculum design. Approx 200 students on three different sites explore research in
three modules over the curriculum:
NURS164, Patterns of Knowing in Nursing
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They begin by addressing questions such as: "what is the knowledge you need and where does
it come from"? The students then explore where they will find each of
Barbara Carper`s (1978) four ways of knowing: empirical; aesthetic; personal; and ethical in the
curriculum. They look at articles that apply each way of knowing to a topic (elder care). The
subject is team-taught, and each way of knowing is woven through the lecture series. We give
emphasis to ethical and legal issues, as well as critical thinking and argument. Each student
chooses two case studies and then writes a reflective piece on using Carper`s model to
understand different perspectives of the case studies.
NURS264, Reflection and Practice
In this module students look more deeply into sources of evidence, and further develop critical
thinking and reflection skills. In tutorials, students are encouraged to share stories and reflect on
the ways of knowing that they contain. They examine arguments and discourses. During the
sessions, students work on their ability to present logical arguments and critique the arguments
of others. For their assignment, students take a dramatic episode or movie with a health care
setting, and draw it as a conceptual map.
NURS364, Research Appreciation and Application
This module is built around the assumption that all graduates need to be able to appreciate and
apply research. A registered nurse needs to be aware of how their knowledge informs practice,
and appreciate evidence-based practice. They need to know how to find out about new
knowledge and implement change management. Students examine literature from an evidence
perspective. Which assertions in articles and textbooks are backed up by evidence? During the
session, different researchers come in to talk to students about their research. Their first
assignment involves them formulating a nursing question on a topic of their choice, carrying out
a literature review and drawing a conclusion. For their second, students work in groups and
critically analyse the methodology of a published research article.
An evaluation showed improved information literacy skills and enhanced levels of selfconfidence in developing search strategies and accessing current research evidence. The other
theme that comes through is "retrospective appreciation" where students indicated that they did
not fully appreciate the usefulness of the research skills they developed until their final year of
study.
Source: http://www.uow.edu.au/about/teaching/index.html?RT=CS22
http://teaching.uow.edu.au/ltgp/search.aspx?RT=CS22
Bridging the gap between textbooks and scientific research: Cell Biology at University of
Utrecht, Netherlands
A third year course for cell biology majors focuses on writing and defending a research proposal
as an open ended authentic assignment; ie modelling much of the authentic research
experience of cell biologists, but not the actual laboratory research: and includes students teams
writing a PhD proposal. It builds on the more textbook orientated knowledge and limited
controlled laboratory experiences in years one and two.
The 15 week course with some 24 students has these components:
 A general research topic is defined by staff, and students read selected research papers
with a focus on research methodology and research questions.
 Students are divided into four groups of six and out of class formulate a research question
and methodologies. They also visit relevant research laboratories, contact experts and
discuss their proposals in class with their fellow students and staff.
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
Student teams present their final proposals to a jury of 4 staff (two cell biology specialists,
one biologist, and one non-biology scientist). The broad composition of the jury requires
that the proposal should be clearly formulated for both specialists in the field and for nonspecialists.
Students then take an Extended Senior Research Thesis (usually in the summer semester and
often extending into the summer vacation). Some students will work in the lab of jury members,
as they were invited by them to do their research project with them.
Six years of course evaluations and also a survey of alumni has shown the initial difficulties
students face in moving beyond textbook knowledge; the value of the various components; and
the course’s success in helping them to think as scientists and better appreciate how research is
conducted.
Sources: Wiegant et al. 2011; Course web page:
http://www.uu.nl/university/college/EN/studying/advancedcellbiology/Pages/default.aspx;
Web page of the Extended Senior Research Thesis:
https://www.osiris.universiteitutrecht.nl/osistu_ospr/OnderwijsCatalogusSelect.do?selectie=cursu
s&collegejaar=2011&cursus=UCSCIRES32
2.2 Engineering and Mathematics
Introducing students to staff research: department of mechanical engineering, Imperial
College, London, UK
This activity was a feature of the first year course in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College
London in the l990s. We lack firm details on some of the aspects of this activity. If anyone has
them please contact us.
 In January of their first year mechanical engineering students were divided into 10-15
groups of 4-5 students
 Each student group was given an engineering ‘artefact’ e.g. a safety razor; the bottom
frame of a bicycle. In the next few weeks these student groups could knock on the doors
of any of the department’s research groups or staff, and ask questions around the issue
of ‘what research are you doing that might effect how this artefact will look like and
function in c5 years time?’
 Later all student groups presented a poster which provided a summary of their findings
 The poster session was held in large public space in the department with some 700
attending; academic staff, support staff, postgraduates and first year and other students
Source: Correspondence with Eric Meyer (Durham University) who witnessed this as a visitor to
the department
Across Department Undergraduate Research Programme in College of Engineering,
Maryland, USA
Gemstone is a highly innovative programme for selected ‘honors’ students in engineering and
other disciplines. The programme is now in its seventeenth year. Student teams, formed in the
freshman year, undertake three-year, student-initiated research projects in which they analyze
and propose solutions to societal problems, which generally involve a significant technology
focus. Team members work as a coordinated group, investigating their project from the
perspective of individual majors, under the guidance of a faculty mentor. In their first two years
students are encouraged to live together on a residence hall floor reserved for Gemstone
participants. The research projects e.g. ‘a comparative study of erosion control measures in the
Chesapeake Bay area and homeowner response to such interventions’, are developed in
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consultation with outside experts and agencies. In their final year student teams present their
research to experts in the field or outside agencies and write a team thesis. The learning
process mirrors the team based consultancy style research that students are likely to carry out
after graduating.
Sources: http://www.gemstone.umd.edu/; Destler (2001)
A department undergraduate research pathway in Mathematics at Ithaca College, US
The Department of Mathematics at Ithaca College, New York, over some 7-8 years radically
changed its course offering, its culture and organisation to make “research with students,
designed as part of the curriculum… a distinguishing characteristic of mathematics at Ithaca
College”. There is a blend of inquiry / research for all students – including non majors – and an
elective research focus for those interested.
The main components of this overall focus include:
 A first year course for all students Mathematical Experimentation. Students use computer
software (in particular Mathematica (http://www.wolfram.com/) to conjecture and test
mathematical ideas, much like a natural scientist uses the laboratory to test hypotheses.
Since these are first year students, there is not an expectation of rigorous proof, but rather to
focus on the manner in which mathematicians go about creating new ideas.
 A second year course for all students (majors and non majors) – Sophomore Seminar brings
together all students and all staff to explore mathematics. Groups of students work with staff
and give class presentations on particular issues e.g. voting methods, group theory in kinship
and so on.
 The main development has been a research sequence of two courses in the junior year.
These focus on the pre-graduating class and both supports those honours/major students
who wish to take a research thesis in their final year and education majors with mathematics
as a minor who wish to take this research focus forward into their role as a teacher.
 The first such course, Junior Seminar, is required of all maths majors and introduces
students to mathematical research methods, writing and citation. Students in groups also
work on small research projects guided by staff.
Research Experience in Mathematics is the main course in the research sequence. It has
students working in groups on research questions shaped by staff research interests and those
posed by students in previous years’ projects. (Note the course is team taught and is rotated
around the department to better ensure effective integration of ‘undergraduate research’ into the
department culture. Students investigate “a research question initiated in the Junior Seminar.
Completion of the research project involves, in addition to the mathematical arguments, a written
report consistent with the standards of publication in mathematics and a public presentation at
an academic symposium or conference” (Brown and Yurekli, 2007, 576). In 2011 the
department received a five-year, $1.2 million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation
to support selected students to have a strong research based approach to work in New York
high schools.
Sources: Brown D personal communication (2008); Brown and Yurekli (2006; 2007)
http://ithaca.edu/news/releases/ithaca-college-receives-national-science-foundation-grant20638/; http://www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/math/;
Research summer schools in mathematics and statistics at St Andrews, UK
In the context of a four year degree, selected third year students (those with high scores in the
third year January exams –and selected students from other universities) participate in an
intensive un-assessed 6-8 weeks ‘course’. Students are introduced to topics on the interface
between their undergraduate degrees and research interests of the staff involved. It serves as
motivation and advertising for PhD courses. In Pure Mathematics, typically lectures occur during
the first half of the school and in the second half of the school, the students are set projects
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relating to research topics. In Applied Mathematics, the schools are conducted more similarly to
PhD supervision.
Sources: Quick (2009); http://www-circa.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/CIRCA/summerproj.html;
http://www.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/pg/pure/Analysis/Summer.html
Developing a complete research cycle in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics at University of Maryland East Shore (USA)
The institution is an historically black largely undergraduate institution. In these disciplines
faculty have designed a set of linked curricula interventions in the mainstream curriculum to give
many students and faculty experience of the whole research cycle, from project design to
research dissemination. They argue that “Too often, undergraduate research projects are
conducted during summers or other shortened periods, or concluded without determining
possible extensions or formally presenting results in scholarly venues including professional
meetings, conferences, and journals” (Johnson et al., 2005, 28). A range of initiatives have
been built into the curriculum over the four years of the degree to include defining research
questions, grant proposal preparation, year round undergraduate research project and
research dissemination. This initiative has been supported by bids to the Minority Science and
Engineering Improvement Programme of the Department of Education and National Science
Foundation.
Source: http://www.ed.gov/programs/iduesmsi/index.html
Linked degree programme of engineering clinics at Rowan University (USA)
Rowan is a regional largely undergraduate university in New Jersey. Students in its engineering
programme can concentrate in Chemical, Civil & Environmental, Electrical & Computer and
Mechanical engineering. However, all students take ‘Engineering Clinics’, an eight-semester
course sequence from the freshman to the senior year. Their common features include an
emphasis on ‘design’ or the solution of open-ended problems that challenge students to apply
higher-level skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The clinics focus on
multidisciplinary problems often of an applied nature and students and faculty generally work in
teams. Through the four years the problems become more complex and research like – with
those in the junior and senior year often being supported through external research grants and
through research-based consultancies. Research indicates these clinics / programmes are
effective in supporting more students into graduate school and supporting high retention, in
particular for women students.
Sources: Sukumaran et al. (2006); www.rowan.edu/colleges/engineering/programs/
Compulsory research project with cultural engagement: Civil and natural resources
engineering, final-year students at University of Canterbury, NZ
Students in small groups conduct a compulsory four term research or consultancy project. The
‘project’ starts in year 3 and runs through the three terms of year 4. Projects are developed
jointly by academic staff and industry practitioners and are based on some sustainable
engineering problem with interdependencies between people, the environment and the economy
embedded in technical solutions. Most projects are funded by industry partners, at little or no
cost to the University. A particular aspect of the project is the inclusion of indigenous people's
cultural engagement. In New Zealand, the Maori are the legally and culturally recognised
guardians of the country's natural resources. As part of the project students take two full-day
interactive workshops facilitated by a non-for-profit organisation to learn about the principles and
implications of the Treaty.
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Source: O’Sullivan and Cochrane (2009)
Minority science and engineering improvement program Department of Education (USA)
This program assists predominantly minority institutions in effecting long-range improvement in
science and engineering education programs and increasing the flow of underrepresented ethnic
minorities, particularly minority women, into science and engineering careers. The program
funds are generally used to implement design projects, institutional projects, and cooperative
projects. The program also supports special projects designed to provide or improve support to
accredited non-profit colleges, universities, and professional scientific organizations for a broad
range of activities that address specific barriers that eliminate or reduce the entry of minorities
into science and technology fields.
Source: www.ed.gov/programs/iduesmsi/index.html
Simulating Research Using Electronic Laboratories at MIT and Purdue, USA
Online laboratories can support many students and often at many locations worldwide to carry
out simulated research experiments. Such may not have the authentic value of working in a real
laboratory, but can support such real world experience and/or for institutions coping with large
numbers provide an experience that in part gets close to authentic lab based research. Two
such initiatives are:
i Labs at MIT. From their own computers at any time of the day or night, students in science
and engineering can use these remote lab setups to conduct experiments, working remotely with
instruments housed at MIT to complete course assignments with curriculum materials that
combine remote experiments and Open Course Ware content.
Simulation-led Learning in Nanotechnology at Purdue. Founded in 2001 with support from the
National Science Foundation, this Web portal features more than 50 high-performance,
interactive tools let users input their own data and parameters to run complex experiments from
their desktops. Much as the MIT iLabs Shared Architecture lowers the barrier of participation by
providing students with access to instruments at remote locations.
Sources: Lombardi and Oblinger (2007); https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/ILAB2/Home;
http://nanohub.org/home
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Students work in multidisciplinary teams on both year-long engineering capstone
projects for partnering corporate sponsors and two to three year-long entrepreneurial
sustainable projects at Olin College, USA
Olin College (USA) is an innovative engineering institution with a curriculum from year one built
around group project based entrepreneurial engineering design projects. Early projects are
shaped by faculty but later projects are student designed with faculty support. Each year every
student presents a project they have been working on at the Fall Project Expo. In the final year
capstone, seniors work in multidisciplinary teams of 5-7 students on full-year engineering
projects for partnering corporate sponsors. Olin works with companies and technology clients to
develop SCOPE projects that are important to the sponsor while providing an important
educational experience for the student. The corporate partner provides financial and
organisational support. Olin provides a faculty advisor and dedicated work space and technical
support and equipment. The teams deliver formal mid-year and final reports to the sponsors.
Partly drawing on the SCOPE experience, Olin with neighbouring Babson College (an
entrepreneurial business college) has recently developed a linked course that starts in the junior
year but can also serve as an alternative or additional capstone. ‘Affordable Design and
Entrepreneurship’. Student teams from Olin and Babson work on entrepreneurial, but
sustainable projects around the world, including the USA in areas such as energy, water, health,
agriculture, transportation and communication. An ideal student path would be to complete an
internship with an initiative partner, take the course for two semesters, work for a mission-driven
company or NGO as an intern, and be part of launching a new social venture. The plan is for
projects to last 2-3 years, with dozens of students “getting on and off the (project) bus,” as one
course or one year is not enough time for the necessary technology and business model
development.
Sources: Kearns et al. (2004); http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wRj1G15eiE;
http://scope.olin.edu/about/; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDitxrXeYnA;
http://design.olin.edu/courses/ade/course/description; http://design.olin.edu/courses/ade/;
http://nciia.org/node/1724; http://www.tornado-in-greensboro.info/
2.3 Arts and Social Sciences
Department and institutional research resources support undergraduate research in
history at Virginia
This case study demonstrates how the research resources of a research-intensive university
department can support undergraduate research in a large’ course. Developed by Edward
Ayers, then Dean of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia and a leading researcher on
the American South. The School hosts the Virginia Center for Digital History. The resources of
this Center, University and School research archives, research librarians, a postgraduate
research and teaching team, support a range of undergraduate research programmes including
research in an undergraduate course with an enrolment of c180 students for which Ayers is the
course leader. The course involves undergraduate student teams using university archives to
research a specific time or place and then publish their research to a web site for use by current
and future students and other researchers nationally.
(Note Ayers is now President at University of Richmond and Senior Research Fellow of the
University’s Digital Scholarship Lab, which with the support of selected undergraduates
produced in 2012 a digital map of the emancipation of slaves at the time of the US Civil War.)
Sources:
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http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/HIUS323/syllabus.htm;
http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/index.php?page=VCDH;
http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/SHD/howtobegin.html;
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/interactive-map-traces-slaves-path-toemancipation/36729; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_history
Scaffolding of Research Tasks in an Applied Theatre Program at Griffith University,
Australia
Professor Michael Balfour, who teaches Applied Theatre in the Education program,
progressively introduces research tasks at different year levels:
Year one: Students conduct background research for an applied theatre project within set
parameters, but do not implement the project. Students undertake a background literature
review using journal articles, library sources and informal interviews with people who work with
their target group. After this research has been completed, the students develop an idea for an
applied theatre performance in consultation with the lecturer and prepare a two-page project
proposal.
Year two: Following set guidelines, students undertake a directed performance project under
the guidance of the lecturer. For example, one group of students developed a performance
workshop and study notes for school children to support and exhibition at the State Library in
response to a project brief outlining the Library’s requirements. This activity is more challenging
than the year one activity because it involves the development and presentation of a
performance, but is directed by academic staff members.
Year three: In groups of three or four, students undertake a research project in a much more
independent manner. Students:
 select and approach the organisation with whom they want to work
 conduct a background literature review of previous initiatives and practice with their target
group
 discuss the project with the organisation’s employees
 design and implement a theatre project, and
 reflect on the project’s effectiveness with supervision from academic staff members.
Masters level: Students at this level have previous experience in either teaching or drama.
They are expected to produce work that demonstrates a deeper level of reflection and analysis.
The curriculum covers action research, ethnographic, case study and narrative enquiry research
tools to help students engage in and understand the practical work in a more systematic and
critical manner.
Source: ALTC Teaching Research Nexus website:
http://trnexus.edu.au/uploads/examples%20June%203/Applied%20Theatre%202.pdf
A Department Undergraduate Research Scheme: Psychology at York, UK
Department initiatives to formally support undergraduates doing research – in close involvement
with staff research – are a feature of many US departments (Kinkead, 2003). A growing number
of UK departments are now developing their own undergraduate research programmes (Jenkins,
2006). That in the psychology department at York University was initiated in 2005 and replaced
and developed previous informal arrangements. The scheme enables students who wish to gain
research experience to volunteer to assist with current department staff projects. Any 1st or 2nd
year student can take part in the scheme though preference is normally given to second year
students. Third year students are typically busy with their own projects and tend not to
participate. Staff enter details of their projects on PsychWeb together with an outline of the
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research questions, what research assistance is needed and the rate of pay. Generally the
payments to students come from research grants.
Source: Goebel and Gennari (2006);
http://www.york.ac.uk/psychology/research/research-training/ures/
Introductions to academic practice: humanities and social sciences at Windsor, Canada,
‘Ways of Knowing’ in the departments of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Windsor
focuses on students developing disciplinary skills in research and critical thinking. Each year a
particular theme is identified - generally one that reflects a Windsor community issue - and
student teams investigate and present in public the results of their inquiries. Senior student
mentors and community members act as mentors to these investigations. There are institutional
discussions on extending this ‘model’ to other departments.
Source: apps.medialab.uwindsor.ca/cfl/reflexions/volume01/issue01/Ways_of_Knowing.htm
Using undergraduates to evaluate student experiences of teaching and learning in the
Sociology Department, University of Warwick, UK
In the Department of Sociology at Warwick selected second and third year Sociology students
led an evaluation of their peer’s experiences of teaching and learning. They used a variety of
social research methods – including focus groups, interviews and participant observation – to
explore the learning experiences of their peers. The results were widely discussed within the
department, and at a department away-day, and have led to students being more involved in
department academic debates. Clearly it is more transferable to those departments and
disciplines such as sociology, education, psychology, management, where students developing
research skills ‘match’ the research focus.
Source: Hughes (2005)
Junior Research Bursaries in Social Sciences and Cultural Studies at Sussex (UK)
From 2008 the School of Social Sciences and Cultural Studies at Sussex University is offering
competitive awards to selected first and second year students for summer research bursaries at
a rate of £200 (not taxed) per week for 8 weeks for summer research projects. Applications
must be sponsored by a member of faculty in the School, who must be willing to act as
supervisor for the duration of the award. Bursaries are awarded to projects that clearly link to
the research agenda of the supervisor and support their Department's research strategy.
Bursaries are not awarded for projects that are part of assessed work for a degree (e.g. projects
or dissertations), or for projects involving work away from Sussex
Source: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lasi/teaching/bursaries
Developing authentic undergraduate research in Art & Design at Nottingham Trent
University, UK
The Critical Practices Modules occur throughout the students’ undergraduate degree in years 1,
2 and 3. The process of teaching in Years 1 and 2 develops this focus on research, and also on
collaborative learning. The modules focus on critical and contextual thought and practice in the
context of an undergraduate design programme. The teaching starts from the presupposition
that the research process as an inquiry should have primacy, and that the modes of
development and exposition should be “authentic” to the research context. Authentic in the
context of a creative art & design programme is therefore understood to include creative art &
design practice itself. Student research is as likely to be situated in the context of developing
creativity in the context of a Primary School, or practically applying Bakhtin’s notion of carnival to
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flashmobs, as it might be focused on deconstructing Wagnerian Stenography, or analysing the
visual language of Jacobean play texts.
The final year Major Research Project has been revalidated to replace a written dissertation with
a three part structure:
 A “research document” which can be in any form relevant to the research. This can
include the traditionally written dissertation, but has also included video, animations,
documented performances, artefacts and business plans. These are usually integrated
within written texts.
 An abstract of 750–1500 words which articulates the fundamental aspects of the research
project (research question, methodology, findings, and conclusions). The abstract
effectively makes the claim for the research project and cross references the evidence in
the research document.
 A seminar presentation which frames the research for a live audience, where the student
responds to questions which arise from the research.
Source:
http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/activities/ntf/creativehops/examples/Pages/Arts,MediaandHumanitiesE
xamples.aspx
2.4 Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Integrating the development of inquiry and research skills through a whole degree
programme: geography and earth sciences at McMaster
Departments have the power and resources to better ensure that the disciplinary case studies
that feature in earlier sections of this handout are at some point integrated into a coherent
structure such that (undergraduate) students are systematically and progressively developed as
researchers through their degree. Over the last c10 years, in part response to McMaster’s
institutional policy to encourage ‘student inquiry, the School of Geography and Earth Sciences
has radically redesigned its Earth & Environmental Sciences (EES) programme.
In Level One the development of inquiry and research skills begins in courses where
students are introduced to inquiry-based learning through the use of a Socratic, ‘questioning
style’ of lecturing and lab assignments that require students to formulate and answer their
own research questions. Students also develop introductory oral and written communication
skills through research presentations to small groups of their peers and through writing short
reports.
Many Level II and III courses involve students in short- term (several weeks) independent or
team research projects. Students present the results of their research as a written paper, a
poster or an oral presentation.
In Level IV all students are required to undertake some form of individual research project,
either as a one term (13 week) research paper, or as a full year (minimum 26 weeks)
undergraduate thesis that usually involves gathering of primary data prior to the start of Level
IV.
Undergraduate Research. Many thesis students are employed as research or field assistants
by faculty during the summer months or on a part-time basis during term-time. Funding is
available to help offset the costs of hiring a student through McMaster University and
competitive scholarships are available through funding agencies such as NSERC (Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada). McMaster University hosts an
Undergraduate Research Poster Session each year and many undergraduate students are
encouraged to present the findings of their research at national or international conferences
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and to submit manuscripts (co-authored with their research supervisors) for publication in
scientific journals.
Source: Correspondence with Carolyn H. Eyles and Susan Vajoczki, School of Geography and
Earth Sciences, McMaster University
Students across all three years of an environmental studies degree course at Sunderland
University, UK, work together on local sustainability projects
Students on an Environmental Studies degree at the University of Sunderland undertook local
sustainability projects, which brought levels 1, 2 and 3 students together in small research
groups to work in collaboration with Sunderland City Council's Local Agenda 21 personnel, and
other local environment and development agencies.
Source: Hughes et al. (2001)
Academic Journal Writing as Part of Course / Programme Requirements: Geography at
Oxford Brookes, UK
GEOverse is a national undergraduate research journal for Geography which has been piloted in
four institutions. The geography departments in Oxford Brookes University (the lead institution)
Queen Mary, University of London, the University of Gloucestershire, and University of Reading
comprise the editorial board of the journal. GEOverse publishes student-led original research
based on theoretically considered and empirically-based investigations undertaken at
undergraduate level. The aim is to motivate and reward students for producing innovative and
best undergraduate research practice, and then give them support through the review process
before disseminating their work through publication. Papers are reviewed by a panel of
postgraduate students.
Students at Oxford Brookes undertake a compulsory second year module called Geography in
the Field where they go on a field trip and work in groups and collect data. An optional third year
honours module was created in which students could write up their research as a paper with
supervisory support from a tutor. This resulted in many students becoming authors of research
papers but in a supervised manner. This helps fill a gap in the research cycle for undergraduate
students because they did not get the same kind of constructive, meaningful and useful
feedback that an academic would get from going to conferences, putting papers in, and getting
feedback from peer reviewers. In this module students get dialogic feed-forward on their work
and they are provided with an opportunity to disseminate their research through organizing a set
of undergraduate conferences as well as the opportunity to publish in GEOVerse.
The work has also impacted on the work of colleagues in other institutions and transformed their
curricula. Colleagues at the University of Reading have replaced an examination with writing a
journal article for GEOVerse. The University of Gloucestershire has developed a collaborative
writing assignment in which students write a collaborative journal article. At Queen Mary,
University of London they have an expedition to Iceland. Students are given the opportunity to
produce a research paper on their return.
Source:
http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/activities/ntf/creativehops/examples/Pages/Education,SocialandEnviro
nmentalSciences.aspx;
http://resources.glos.ac.uk/ceal/resources/casestudiesactivelearning/undergraduate/index.cfm.
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Undergraduate and postgraduate student conservation science conferences at
Cambridge (UK) and Duke (US) Universities
An annual student research conference has been held since 2001 at Cambridge and since 2005
at Duke. The series aims to build links among young conservation scientists from biological,
environmental and geography departments of universities as well as conservation and resource
management agencies. Delegates include students from around the world, as well as
conservation practitioners from leading international conservation bodies.
Sources: http://www.sccs-cam.org/; http://www.env.duke.edu/sccs/
Developing an undergraduate research culture in earth sciences at Oxford University, UK
Philip England (2007) of the department of earth sciences at Oxford University, comments on
the culture of his department:
“The goal of our course is to give students the analytical and observational apparatus to …
[investigate the] processes that govern the evolution and present state of the planet upon
which we live. When we discuss how we try to achieve this goal we rarely discuss
teaching strategies or learning outcomes, because we regard the undergraduate
experience as more akin to an apprenticeship than to four years of formal teaching.
Fieldwork is a central aspect of Geology and, almost irresistibly, it imposes a flavour upon
our teaching. … A day in the field typically involves more than 12 hours of close-contact
teaching, in which the agenda is set by the observations that the students make, and the
questions that they pose. Frequently, those questions have no known answer. …
The informality engendered in field teaching cannot be erased or forgotten back in Oxford.
By the time they are in their second year, most undergraduates are on first-name terms
with the academic staff …. A variety of practices underpin this informality in ways that,
separately, do not appear particularly powerful but which, because they are valued by all,
have a large cumulative effect. Interaction space is highly valued, and it is an (unwritten)
guiding principle that anyone can interact with anyone else in the common space (library,
staff coffee room, undergraduate common room, etc.).” That perspective is validated by
Graham Gibbs (2007) analysis of the department as part of a study of ‘research intensive
departments’.
“The central social space in the department has posters on the walls that have just come
back from conferences, and which change regularly. It would not be possible for students
to be unaware of what research was being undertaken or who was undertaking it. In this
social space, informal discussion of research, with undergraduates involved, seemed to be
going on constantly. Students were invited into research projects in the lab or the field in
an ad hoc way if they showed interest. Students were being inducted into a 'community of
practice' rather than only being taught, and there were blurred distinctions between
teaching and research with everyone simply 'doing geology'. This is the most striking
example I have encountered of the link between research and teaching being one of joint
engagement in shared scholarly activity within a supportive social environment, with
students gradually being included in the community as junior members.”
Sources: England (2007); Gibbs (2007)
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2.5 Developing research skills and academic practices
Auditing and developing student research skills at Adelaide, Australia and Reading, UK
Selected departments at both Adelaide and Reading have systematically audited department
based undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for the extent to which they develop
student research ‘skills’.
Research at Adelaide has developed both a conceptual framework on student research
development and based on this a diagnostic tool to support interventions to strengthen student
research skill development in courses. Thus two consecutive first year courses in Medical
Science have adapted their assessment tasks to explicitly and systematically develop student
research skills in accordance with the Research Skill Development (RSD) framework. A
broadened application of the framework is being trialled, including with laboratory-based and
numeracy-rich research, and to other disciplines and departments, including Petroleum
Engineering, Nursing and English.
This framework has obtained national funding through the Australian Learning and Teaching
Council and has been widely integrated into the practices and strategies of a range of
disiciplines and insitutions in Australia and the the South Pacific. The framework is publicly
available for other institutions to adapt (Willinson and O’Regan, 2007).
Within Departments methods to collect data on undergraduates' research skills teaching and
learning can be time-consuming and ineffective. At the University of Reading a related electronic
'research skills audit tool' has been developed for staff to systematically map research skills
teaching and assessment within their own modules. The tool facilitates quick and easy collation
of modular data across entire degree programmes, thus making it a valuable Departmental
resource for reviewing undergraduate curriculum design (Fraser et al., 2007).
Sources: Fraser et al. (2007); Willison and O’Regan (2007); http://www.adelaide.edu.au/rsd/;
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/rsd/otherfiles/RSD_Handbook_Dec09.pdf
Introductions to academic practice: economics and business at Sydney, Australia
The Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Sydney has radically rethought its
approach to issues of plagiarism and academic honesty. Through a collaborative action research
project they have moved from an approach of compliance to inducting students into the nature of
academic practice. Starting with a voluntary on-line first year module in 2004, academics are
supported to reshape their courses and practices across the faculty in ways that reflect a view of
students ‘as uninformed, but willing participants in the promotion of academic honesty.’ The
Faculty's management system has instituted ‘multiple linked activities' to promote academic
honesty amongst students and engage staff in such discussions. Thus in 2005 the module was
made compulsory for all new students before submitting their first assignment. Videos of
students talking about academic honesty are used in orientation and induction activities. Faculty
are being supported in revising their assessments and course work to more explicitly integrate
academic practices re research honesty and ethics into their courses, in part prompted by the
institutional commitment to research-enhanced teaching.
Sources: Freeman et al. (2007)
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3. Undergraduate Research and Inquiry in Institutions
3.1 Europe
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) at Imperial College London,
UK
The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) gives students the chance to
take part in the activities of College research groups. Founded in 1980, this is the earliest
example of such a programme in the UK and was directly based on the MIT scheme. The
scheme focuses on students in year two and is often used to develop ideas for their final year
dissertation or project. While most projects are undertaken in the summer they can also take
place in term time. Students are awarded bursaries for their work from a variety of sources but
most commonly from supervisors’ research funds, general departmental funds or external funds
such as the Nuffield Foundation’s Undergraduate Research Science Bursaries. The scheme is
also open to students from outside from Imperial. Over 3,300 students have participated since
1980. In 2012, c500 students participated.
Source: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/urop
Undergraduate research at University of Gloucestershire, UK begins at induction
In 2007 over 650 students in the Faculty of Education, Humanities and Science undertook
discipline-based inquiry projects during induction week. This involved them working in small
groups to collect information from the library and in the field, analyse it, present it to tutors in
novel ways, and receive formative feedback. For example, the human geographers and the
sociologists researched the experience of Gloucester residents of ‘the Great Flood of 2007’.
The Biologists and the Psychologists investigated primate behaviour at Bristol Zoo, while English
Literature students visited an arboretum and explored the use of trees in literature. Social and
academic activities were integrated, the students and staff had fun, and, importantly, they made
friends, all before going to their first class. The approach was developed, and initially supported,
by the Centre for Active Learning. Other Faculties in the University are developing their own
versions of developing undergraduate research as part of induction. It has also proved a
significant staff development activity both for the many academic tutors in designing inquiry-led
activities and the library staff who changed their approach to library induction to support the
specific student research projects.
Source: Further information is available at: http://resources.glos.ac.uk/ceal/preinduction/index.cfm
University of Roskilde, Denmark: Half of the work of all students is spent undertaking
projects
At least 50% of student time in the assessed curriculum in five years from BA to MA is taught
through project work. The projects involve students working in groups guided by staff. ‘Problemorientated project work... [is] participant directed indicating that it is the group members that
collectively... take the responsibility for the project. … The result is a body of knowledge owned
for the most part by the students that produced it and not borrowed from the teachers who
taught it’ (Legge, 1997, p.5). The first two years are interdisciplinary group projects; later
projects tend to be within one discipline and sometimes may be undertaken individually.
Sources: Legge (1997); http://www.ruc.dk/en/education/full-degree-graduate/interdisciplinarityand-project-work/
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Oxford Brookes University (UK): Building undergraduate research into the curriculum
From 2007 all Schools / Departments are required to develop a more structured approach to
developing all students as researchers in all course programmes in years one and two; and
through specialist pathways to support those students who choose a more extended research
curriculum. Such pathways may include a focus on community-based undergraduate research.
These requirements derive from a study visit to selected US institutions and are being supported
through the Reinvention Centre for Undergraduate Research at Brookes and Warwick
Universities. The requirements build on a previous university-wide intervention. In the context
of the move to semesters, in 2002-3 all undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses were
redesigned with the requirement that they ‘demonstrate how the linkages between research and
teaching and learning are realised in the formal curriculum and the wider student experience.’
This process was overseen by a university-wide steering group, the Redesign Advisory Group.
Source: Huggins et al. (2005; 2007a)
University of Gloucestershire: Embedding undergraduate research and inquiry
Following a nine-month development and consultation process the University has adopted a new
Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy. The core value underpinning the Strategy is
‘learning for life through active engagement.’ Drawing on work of the Centre for Active Learning
undergraduate research and inquiry are key elements of the engaged learner. To be inclusive of
different academic disciplinary and professional cultures a broad definition of the undergraduate
as researcher is used in the university to describe student engagement at all levels in research
and inquiry into disciplinary, professional and community-based problems and issues whether
individually or in groups and in collaboration with or independently of staff. The strategy is
underpinned by research into ‘Leading, Promoting and Supporting Undergraduate Research in
the New University Sector’
Sources: http://resources.glos.ac.uk/adu/clt/ltaframework/index.cfm; resources.glos.ac.uk/ceal
Integrating staff and students at different levels through ‘subject families’ at University of
Oxford, UK
As part of overall institutional planning, Oxford University is using the idea of ‘subject families’ to
help integrate undergraduates and postgraduate students with research staff and academics in
the Colleges. Periodically students and staff in related subjects come together for academic and
social activities which showcase and discuss current research by College members. These
changes have also opened up opportunities to develop inter-disciplinary links and for
undergraduates to appreciate better the research done by staff in their college and the prospects
for some of them of pursuing research careers. This may be an idea that other institutions could
adapt for departmental implementation.
Sources: Correspondence with Claire Stocks; University of Oxford (2005);
http://www.st-annes.ox.ac.uk/study/current-graduates/subject-families.html
Institutional Research Skills Certificate at Warwick and York Universities, UK
Many (UK) institutions have strategies (including Personal Development Planning http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/pdp) to help students record their developing
employment related skills and achievements – including research skills. Warwick University and
York University have developed institutional (research) skills certificate/awards to help students
identify and develop the graduate attributes and skills developed through involvement in
research.
Sources: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/scs/skills/usp;
https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/skills/york-award/
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Nottingham Trent University (NTU): Research Informed Teaching
NTU have introduced a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Research Informed Teaching which
helps members of academic staff develop skills in research practice in order to become better
placed to teach and to supervise projects at undergraduate / postgraduate / PhD level. It is
aimed particularly at those lecturers who have previously worked as practitioners before entering
university teaching, and have therefore joined the university sector as teachers in mid-career. It
offers a teaching and learning experience for lecturers who wish to familiarise themselves with
the skills and perspectives that inform current research practice, and who wish to gain direct
experience in conducting high-quality empirical research.
Source: http://www.educaedu.co.uk/pgdip-research-informed-teaching-postgraduate-28250.html
Undergraduate research for North American exchange students at Aachen, Germany
The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program at RWTH Aachen University fosters
research partnerships between undergraduates from top US and Canadian universities and
Aachen research faculty. The program‘s duration is ten weeks. The first two weeks are
dedicated to an intensive German language course and an introduction to research and culture.
Weeks 3 to 10 are settled around a mentored research internship in one of the faculties. The
programme is organised through the International Office.
Sources: http://www.sfp.caltech.edu/opp/UROPinternational%20Okt%202008%20A4-small.pdf
Research active curriculum at the University of Sunderland
The University of Sunderland in January 2010 revised its institutional teaching and quality
assurance processes to deliver a curriculum that is “research active”. The (undergraduate)
curriculum will be designed to promote progressive development of graduate research attributes
fostered through increasing student engagement in enquiry and understanding of research in a
structured way through all levels. At level 3 all programmes will ensure that students experience
a suitable synoptic activity which helps them bring together their understanding of their discipline
and professional area and prepare them for their subsequent employment and civic
engagement.
Implementation of this broad framework is at Faculty level. In the Business School the
programmes are being redesigned to offer a common first year comprising an 80-credit ‘super
module’ in which students will work in multi-disciplinary teams to research and design a business
start-up; a 20-credit ‘Contemporary debates in ….’ module, where experts from the various
disciplines of business and management will lead debates on topical and controversial issues in
their subject area to raise student awareness of the uncertainty, subjectivity and the dynamic
nature of knowledge. The ‘research active curriculum’ is now also being developed in the
community colleges linked to the University (Stevenson and O’Keefe, 2011).
Further information
https://docushare.sunderland.ac.uk/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-5568/AQHA10+Research+Active+Curriculum.pdf; http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/research/
Stevenson and O’Keefe (2011)
Student as Producer is the organising principle for learning across the University at
Lincoln, UK
Student as Producer is now the organising principle for the learning landscapes at the University
of Lincoln. The focus of Student as Producer is the undergraduate student, working in
collaboration with other students and academics in real research projects, or projects which
replicate the process of research in their discipline. Undergraduate students work alongside staff
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in the design and delivery of their teaching and learning programmes, and in the production of
work of academic content and value. Students are supported by student services and
professional staff so they can take greater responsibility not only for their own teaching and
learning, but for the way in which they manage the experience of being a student at the
University of Lincoln. Staff and students can apply for development funds to the Undergraduate
Research Opportunities Scheme (UROS) and the Fund for Educational Development (FED).
Student as Producer is making research-engaged teaching an institutional priority. As courses
come up for validation staff and students are asked to consider Student as Producer in terms of
the following key features:
 Discovery: Student as Producer
 Technology in Teaching: Digital Scholarship
 Space and Spatiality: Learning Landscapes in Higher Education
 Assessment: Active Learners in Communities of Practice
 Research and Evaluation: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
 Student Voice: Diversity, Difference and Dissensus
 Support for research based learning through expert engagement with information
resources
 Creating the Future: Employability, Enterprise, Beyond Employability, Postgraduate
Further information:
http://studentasproducer.lincoln.ac.uk/; http://researchengaged.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/ Neary with
Winn (2009); Neary (2010; 2011)
CILASS: Centre for Inquiry-based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences Sheffield
University, UK
Higher Education Funding Council for England’s (HEFCE) established 74 Centres for Excellence
in Teaching and Learning 2005 each of which received up to £2.35m capital and £0.5m
recurrent expenditure pa for five years. Several were centrally concerned with supporting
undergraduate research and inquiry: CILASS at Sheffield had a central focus on supporting
inquiry based learning using a wide range of information technology and designing classrooms
to support the use of that technology The CILASS spaces included 3 ‘collaboratories’ equipped
with state of the art technology including an Access Grid Node (video conferencing facility
enabling people to work collaboratively with students and experts from other institutions),
Huddleboards and CopyCams (lightweight whiteboards that enable images to be captured and
accessed via the web), Sympodiums (interactive displays which allow users to make digital
annotations), and a range of fixed desktop and laptop computers. CILASS also had a variety of
portable technology aimed at facilitating IBL.
Sources: Levy (2011; 2012); http://www.shef.ac.uk/ibl/cilass; http://www.hefce.ac.uk/cetl
EuroScholars: North American students in European Research Universities
EuroScholars is a highly selective programme for academically high ability US/Canadian
students who are seeking a (scientific) research career. It is organised through a formal
partnership of eleven European research universities (e.g. Leiden, Amsterdam), all members of
the League of European Research Universities (LERU). English is the language of ‘instruction’.
Students spend at least a semester in one European university and the central task is an
independent supervised research project. In addition they do a literature review (independent
study), elective (if applicable), and a language and culture course at the host university.
Sources: http://www.euroscholars.eu/programstudents.htm; http://www.news.leiden.edu/news2011/euroscholar-2011.html
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3.2 Australia and New Zealand
Australian National University: Introduction to Inquiry
The University aims to ensure that ALL their undergraduate students are introduced to inquiry
learning from the beginning of their program of study. An inquiry-based approach to learning
involves students directing their learning by formulating questions, defining problems and
investigating issues relevant to their future roles as researchers and professionals. Examples
are presented from courses on The Big Questions in Physics; Human Biology; Resources,
Environment and Society; Money, Power, War; Science and Public Awareness; and Introduction
to Psychology. The site also includes two examples of inquiry-based learning in more advanced
courses.
Sources: http://studyat.anu.edu.au/courses/LAWS8174;details.html
http://studyat.anu.edu.au/minors/MUSI-MIN;overview.html
http://stlc.anu.edu.au/files/research_led_learning.pdf
Advanced Study Courses at Australian National University (ANU)
In 2003 ANU established the Bachelor of Philosophy degree to provide a research based
education for elite students. Students undertake research at a high level from the beginning of
their undergraduate degree through the inclusion of six or more research-led projects, during
their three year degree (Wilson et al., 2007; Newitt, 2007; Wilson and Howitt, 2012). To enter
the programme students have to be in the top 1% of high school graduates and to subsequently
maintain high grades at ANU. These courses replace lecture based courses and “may consist of
a reading course with a world-leading scientist or joining a research team to assist in the
advance of knowledge” (ANU, 2009). Graduation from the programme is also dependent on
achieving an overall first class Honours grade in their fourth year, during which students may
undertake some coursework but which typically focuses on a substantial piece of original
research.
Those ‘teaching’ on the programme include research-only staff from ANU’s the Institute of
Advanced Studies. The programme is still evolving and has had to grapple with how to provide
strong mentored support and how best to use the expertise of high level research focussed staff.
To an extent expertise from this programme is being extended to ‘mainstream’ courses through
the developing expertise of the staff directly involved (Strazdins, 2007) and through a university
wide forum (Centre for Educational Development and Academic Methods, nd).
This institutional case study should also be seen as part of a wider issue in (Australian) higher
education, clarifying the nature and purpose of an ‘honours’ degree programme (Kiley et al.,
2009).
Sources: ANU (2009); Centre for Educational Development and Academic Methods (nd); Kiley
et al. (2009); Newitt (2007); Strazdins (2007); Wilson et al. (2007); Wilson and Howitt (2012);
http://studyat.anu.edu.au/courses/SCNC1101;details.html
The University of Queensland, Australia, funds research staff to engage in teaching
Since 2006 the University of Queensland has used some of the money raised through the
Enhanced Student Contribution (levied at 25% additional charge to students) to pay for research
staff to engage in teaching at undergraduate and/or graduate coursework level for 10 or 25% or
their time. In 2009 AUS$4 million has been set aside for this purpose.
The scheme, named ResTeach, is designed to remove a frequently stated impediment to
utilising research staff, namely resource allocation, and thereby:
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
expose students to key researchers, who hopefully can convey the excitement of their
field;
 improve the student: teacher ratio in an effective and efficient manner;
 provide an opportunity for interested researchers to expand their portfolio;
 strengthen the relationship between research and teaching to improve the student
learning experience, and
 reduce the teaching loads of existing T&R academics.
The primary purpose of ResTeach is to improve the learning experience of students, not to be a
prime source of funds for centres or institutes or the operating budgets of schools. A review of
the scheme in 2008 concluded that “the ResTeach scheme is now a key component of UQ’s
strategy to link teaching and research and is, in fact, one of the few mechanisms that has
effectively supported the teaching-research nexus.”
Sources: http://www.uq.edu.au/teaching-learning/index.html?page=92623&pid=0;
http://www.uq.edu.au/teaching-learning/index.html?page=92623f; Correspondence with Deborah
Terry, 30 Oct 2008
Griffith University: Identifying programmes including research-based learning component
To meet the strategic target that ‘70% of all Griffith programs include a research-based learning
component by 2010’ the University has developed a policy to define what evidence is needed for
a program to satisfy the minimum requirements to qualify as including a ‘research-based
learning component’ and the criteria against which Course Convenors should assess whether
their courses contain such components.
For the purposes of the University’s Strategic Plan, each program that claims to demonstrate
research-based learning must be able to provide evidence that the approaches and activities
that are built into the degree program are relevant, systematic, auditable, connected in
philosophy, and are not dependent on particular teachers being available for teaching particular
courses. In other words, the research-based character of a program should be robust. The
activities or opportunities in question must be ones that all students in the program experience,
and are not to be confined to electives. For a program to contribute to meeting the University’s
strategic performance indicator for research based learning at least 20% of the student course
enrolments are in courses identified as having significant elements of research-based learning.
To determine whether 20% of the program’s courses contain significant elements of researchbased learning, the Office of Quality, Planning & Statistics is responsible for mapping students
enrolled in a course, with a status of including a research-based learning component, to the
students’ program of enrolment.
Course Convenors assess their courses against the following categories:
 Systematic introduction of a significant amount of current discipline related research into
the course content and teaching
 Use, as the primary pedagogical approach for the course, of inquiry-based processes that
are modelled on the research approaches that are common in the discipline or field
 Research methodology courses are included in the undergraduate program.
Embedding Research in the Curriculum at University of Western Australia
In 2008 a review of the University Courses – Education for Tomorrow’s World – recommended
extensive changes to the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum, including the proposal
that “that every undergraduate major include a demonstrable emphasis on enquiry-based
learning and research skill development through direct engagement with the research culture of
the relevant discipline”. The University endorsed this proposal and in 2009 the University
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agreed an implementation framework for this. This framework included the following
requirements on all majors seeking approval for course validation.
“The following elements, along with other discipline content, should be explicitly taught,
practised by the students, and formally assessed:
 The evolution of the discipline, including its history, philosophy and theorising.
 The methods of enquiry that the discipline uses, including methods of research
ethics.
 The practice of enquiry-based thinking relevant to the discipline.
 The discourse conventions of the discipline. ...
The embedding of the research must be reflected in three aspects:
 Curriculum content (what has to be learnt – e.g. discourse conventions must be
taught)
 Pedagogy (how the learning occurs – e.g. field work, lab classes)
 Assessment (how students demonstrate what they have learnt – e.g. critical
reviews, exams).”
Sources: Markwell (2008); University of Western Australia (2009)
3.3 United States
Developing a group project based (engineering design) curriculum at Olin College, USA
Olin is an innovative small private institution that admitted its first students in 2003. It was
founded by a foundation whose aim is to transform engineering education. From an intensive
weekend selection of potential students the curriculum is built around group project based
entrepreneurial engineering design projects. Early projects are shaped by faculty but later
projects are student designed with faculty support. A final year capstone involves students in
teams of 5-7 developing an entrepreneurial innovation with a commercial sponsor. There is a
strong focus on interdisciplinary education and this is supported by Olin’s strong curricula links
with neighbouring Babson (an entrepreneurial business college) and Wellesley (liberal arts,
women only). Olin's Curriculum expires every five years, and must undergo an internal
curriculum review to ensure that the college maintains a culture of change and continuous
improvement. The issue of transferability, including to less endowed institutions, has been
central to Olin College since it started. The Initiative for Innovation in Engineering Education
(I2E2) in part helps other institutions to adapt Olin’s principles, but its central focus is helping
other engineering institutions and departments to develop strategies to meet their curricula
agendas. The Initiative runs a summer institute to support engineering departments to reshape
their curricula. A major current project is Olin supporting the College of Engineering at Southern
Illinois University’s I Foundry Initiative.
Sources: Kearns et al. (2004)
http://www.aei.org/files/2010/06/03/Richard%20Miller.pdf; http://i2e2.olin.edu/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_W._Olin_College_of_Engineering
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2LkjjUOY-Q
http://globale3.studioabroad.com/_customtags/ct_FileRetrieve.cfm?File_ID=11952;
http://i2e2.olin.edu/summer/applicationform.html; http://ifoundry.illinois.edu/about/
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Engaging first year students in undergraduate research at SUNY Potsdam, USA
The State University of New York at Potsdam has designed a pilot program to promote
undergraduate research across-the-curriculum and to foster an institutional culture of inquirybased learning that engages first-year students as active learners. The instructional goal is to
engage both faculty and students in meaningful research, scholarship, and creative activity in
multiple classroom, laboratory, or studio settings. The program is funded by a curriculum
development grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Strengthening Institutions
Program to design a learning community model of two or more courses that broaden a student’s
knowledge of at least academic disciplines. The Freshman Interest Group (FIG) pilot model
introduces basic principles of undergraduate research to first year students in a series of
developmentally sequenced foundation courses that strengthen skills in research methodology,
critical thinking, and information literacy. The pilot model encourages first-year students to make
meaningful connections among various branches of knowledge. The research based teaching
and learning experiences also promote integrative learning experiences, inquiry-based
instructional skills, active problem-solving tasks, and oral or written communication assignments.
The pilot program’s desired learning objectives include a student’s ability to locate and analyze
primary and secondary sources; distill and synthesize information; communicate an
understanding of research findings; and broaden knowledge of at least two academic disciplines.
Further information: http://www.potsdam.edu/faculty/research/titleiii
Barak Obama, The Harvard Law Review and Undergraduate Research and Publishing
In 1991 Barak Obama, then 28 years old, became the first black editor of the Harvard Law
Review. He stated a determined to make it a “forum for debate'', bringing in new writers and
pushing for livelier, more accessible writing (Butterfield 1990).
“The Harvard Law Review is a student-run organization. Student editors make all editorial and
organizational decisions and, together with a professional business staff of three, carry out dayto-day operations. A circulation of about 8,000 enables the Review to pay all of its own
expenses. ... The Review publishes articles by professors, judges, and practitioners and solicits
reviews of important recent books from recognized experts.
Most student writing takes the form of Notes, Recent Cases, Recent Legislation, and Book
Notes. Notes are approximately 18 pages and are usually written by third-year students.
Recent Cases and Recent Legislation are normally six pages long and are written mainly by
second-year students. Book Notes, also written by second-years, are six-page reviews of
recently published books. All student writing is unsigned. This policy reflects the fact that many
members of the Review, besides the author, make a contribution to each published piece.”
Sources: Butterfield (1990); http://www.harvardlawreview.org/
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program
(http://mit.edu/urop/)
The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) supports research partnerships
between MIT undergraduates and academic staff. Formed in 1969, it is one of the earliest such
programmes. “UROP projects take place during the academic year, as well as over the
summer, and research can be done in any academic department or interdisciplinary laboratory.
Projects can last for an entire semester, and many continue for a year or more. UROP students
receive academic credit, pay, or work on a voluntary basis.” MIT recently worked with the
department of engineering at Cambridge University (UK) to develop an undergraduate research
programme there (http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/teaching/urops/). MIT conducts an audit of UROP
participation among graduating seniors each year. For the class of 2004, 82 per cent of
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graduating seniors had participated in UROP at least once during their undergraduate careers
(Huggins et al., 2007).
Mainstreaming Undergraduate Research and Inquiry at Miami University,
Ohio, US
In 2007, Miami University began a new initiative –strongly supported by an incoming President that was intended to institutionalize “engaged learning” and the ‘student as scholar ‘across the
curriculum. The TOP 25 project called for innovative approaches that moved learning away from
“too much time telling students what we think they need to know, and not enough time using
their curiosity to drive their learning.” The focus was on the largest recruiting courses being
rewritten as inquiry-based courses: with seven or eight courses per annum being redesigned
over a four year period. Most of these courses were in years one and two and across a wide
range of disciplines. Each course was allocated $35,000 to fund curriculum revision and the
support of learning technologists and educationalists.
By 2011 the project had affected 29 of the largest-enrollment classes at the University, with over
30,000 students enrolled. The courses use a wide range of strategies from those that are taught
in multiple class sections of 25 students, to those that have used inverted classroom model in
which most of the lectures are provided electronically using, for example, videos, I-pods, and
VLEs, while most of the contact time is used for interaction between faculty and students.
Surveys of students in Top 25 courses show statistically significant gains in class activities that
move students toward intellectual independence, and studies show students moving from a selfconcept as receivers of knowledge to seeing themselves as participating in its construction.
The challenges in maintaining this ‘project’ include reduced financial support because of
problems in the national and thus institutional economy, in maintaining the momentum. The
visibility of the Top 25 project and its support at the highest levels of the university have
encouraged the development and expansion of programs that support student engagement. For
example, the First Year Research Experience (FYRE) program has been established to offer
incoming students an opportunity to engage in research and to establish early contact with a
faculty mentor.
Sources: Hodge et al., 2007; 2008; 2011; Taylor et al. (2012)
http://www.units.muohio.edu/celt/engaged_learning/top25/;
http://www.units.muohio.edu/oars/undergrad_research/first_year_research_experience/fyre_info.
php
Final Year Project Presentation at Alaska Pacific University
At Alaska Pacific University, a small private university, all students in all disciplines undertake a
senior project and present it to the campus community on designated days at the end of each
semester. Thus students experience both the experience of doing research, but also
communicating it through spoken presentation. The institution has a strong commitment to
active and research based learning and they now market themselves as "The University of
Active Learning." They have a strong year one orientation to active learning and a range of
required courses in all years involving research techniques and projects which lead into the
required final year senior project. This has a strong applied focus. As well as a formal research
paper, students in discipline groups (mainly Environmental Sciences, Human Services, and
Business) present their research as a professional public presentation. These end of semester
presentations are advertised for the faculty, staff and students, as well as interested members of
the public. Other classes are cancelled so that the student body may attend. Often members of
the site where the investigation takes place attend. The final assessment is on the 40-60 page
research paper, the quality of the presentation and handling of questions at the presentation.
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While numbers of graduating students are small (c70 per year) the idea of a public presentation
as part of the final year project could be adapted by larger departments and institutions.
Sources: Correspondence with Carl Hild;
http://www.alaskapacific.edu/academics/environment/environmental-policy/active-learning/
http://www.alaskapacific.edu/
Undergraduate research programmes to support first year success racial and cultural
diversity and widening participation: University of Michigan, US
A number of Undergraduate Research Opportunity Programs (UROPs) focus on what in the UK
would be called ‘widening participation’. At the University of Michigan there is targeted support
for largely Afro–American students from inner-city Detroit. While the University had been
successful in recruiting these students, their drop out rate was high. Special UROPs were
targeted at these students in year one and two to enhance their integration and academic
success. There has since developed related projects to support transfer students into Michigan
from community colleges and four-year colleges. Research demonstrates significant positive
impacts (Locks and Gregerman, 2008). In addition linked to the University wide UROP
programme a first year residential programme for some 80 students is aimed at culturally and
geographically diverse US students and international students. Research is conducted with
selected faculty and supported by resident second and third year peer mentors.
Source: Huggins et al. (2007); Locks and Gregerman (2008);
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/urop
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/urop/students/fallwinterprograms/changinggearsprogram
Hampshire College: Linking research and teaching is key element of the college’s
mission
Hampshire is a small private liberal arts US college focused on self-initiated, individual research
programs of study negotiated by students with academic staff. More specifically:
Beginning and Division 1 Requirements: ‘Students must formulate substantive questions on a
range of specific subjects and then reflect critically on the implications of the analytical
frameworks and methods they used in pursuing the questions’ (Prince and Kelly, 1997, p.7).
Division 2 Requirements: ‘Working with at least two or three faculty, students … define a
substantive area of study and then specify key questions that will serve as general guides
through the concentration... In the second step … the student designs a program of study,
including … independent study’ (ibid., p.8).
Division Three and Capstone Requirements: This is ‘primarily devoted to a … thesis or artistic
project’ (ibid., p.9).
Sources: http://www.hampshire.edu/academics/2566.htm;
http://www.hampshire.edu/discover/433.htm; http://www.hampshire.edu/news/10476.htm
Community Based Research at Bates College, Maine, US
Bates has a strong social service, citizenship ethos (it was founded by abolitionists in 1865 and
gave early support for black and female enrolment at the College) and more recently with has
developed a strong focus on “service learning and supporting students as active informed
citizens” Recently this public service mission has been greatly strengthened in scale and given a
more clearly central academic focus through the establishment in 2005 of the Harward Center
for Community Partnerships. The central goals of the Centre include:

Based on previous service learning, student and staff volunteering – building a strong
scholarly research based approach that both supports community development but also
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

transforms teaching and research in the disciplines. Now several departments have
integrated research based service learning into their courses and senior capstones.
One important priority is working with faculty and community partners as a “Collaboratory”
to transform in term and out of term research learning opportunities and the mainstream
curricula in the disciplines at Bates.
The Harward Centre seeks to build long term projects founded in community needs and
student and faculty research interests that enable students and faculty to work with
community partners within semester based courses on issues of common concern. The
projects are co-generated by community partners and faculty. Thus one project had local
museum staff working with humanities students who were learning and using oral history
research methodologies to interview former mill workers to develop a travelling exhibit
about Lewiston’s mills and mill workers in the twentieth century.
Sources : http://www.bates.edu/harward/; http://www.bates.edu/harward/cbl/community-basedresearch/;http://www.bates.edu/Prebuilt/CEYES1011FINAL.pdf
Undergraduate Research Celebration Days
Many US institutions have a special day, days or a whole week in which students from across
the institution present their research – generally by posters but also by talks, exhibitions or
performances. These are often accompanied by talks from leading researchers in that institution
or nationally. Audiences for such events are faculty, fellow students; and in some cases, e.g.
Boston University and Bates College, the dates for such events are carefully selected to ensure
parents, potential students, alumni and potential sponsors can attend (Huggins et al., 2007b). In
2013 the University of New Hampshire celebrates its 14th undergraduate research conference;
over 1000 students will participate over a fortnight. Parents, friends and students applying for
entry to the University are invited to join in the events.
Source: Huggins et al. (2007b);
http://www.cur.org/resources/institutions/celebration_days/; www.unh.edu/urc/;
Experiential learning for all at Indiana University-Purdue University, US
In 2008 the university launched an initiative to encourage all students to undertake experiential
learning activities in two of four areas: undergraduate research (defined within each
department), service learning, international experience, or other experiential active work. The
work must be within a course and pass muster, for undergraduate research, as meeting the
university’s broad definition of ‘undergraduate research’. The Assistant Vice Chancellor for
Research “expect(s) this initiative to increase student research on campus and looks forward to
it ultimately being required for all students. Right now only some of our departments require
this.” (Wilson, 2009)
Sources: Kathryn J. Wilson, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research, Indiana University-Purdue
University Indianapolis (IUPUI), posting to Council on Undergraduate Research web site 30
January 2009; http://crl.iupui.edu/
Diversity Research Scholars Programmes at Indiana University–Purdue University
Indianapolis (IUPI)
IUPI is an urban State university with a strong focus on supporting diversity. There is a range of
undergraduate research programmes supporting that goal with priority to academically able
minority students and Indiana residents. These include:
 an eight week summer programme for (incoming) first year students who are matched
with a faculty research mentor to develop a new project or to continue on a previous
student project.
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 Selected first year students are immediately placed in a mentored research setting.
Research mentors are primarily IUPUI faculty and in some instances can be members of the
corporate sector. The goal is to have the mentor and scholar work together to develop a
scholarly research project during the next four years. The programme provides individualized
support to the students on an ‘as needed’ basis. A range of other undergraduate research
programmes have a similar focus on supporting minority students, some with a particular
disciplinary focus.
Sources:
http://crl.iupui.edu/programs/DSRP/
http://honorscollege.iupui.edu/scholarships/dsrp/
On campus undergraduate research employment: Northwest Missouri (US) and York
University (UK)
Undergraduate students being employed in a variety of roles, including academic roles, on
campus is an important feature of many US universities. The scheme at Northwest Missouri is a
strong example of such structured programmes - with c40% of university employees (over 540)
being students. Some have roles of considerable responsibility and their employment is an
integral part of their learning experience. In the UK and elsewhere there is strong pressure from
government to expand and link employment and higher education. York University, through its
careers service and supported by a National Teacher Fellowship, aims to expand the breadth
and number of part-time and temporary higher level employment opportunities available to York
students - in part shaped by the Northwest Missouri example. The project involves scoping and
prototyping a comprehensive on-campus student employment scheme, with a particular focus on
higher skilled work, and to explore the application of this scheme with local businesses. York is
particularly interested in exploring how the scheme may be used to involve students in a variety
of forms of undergraduate research.
Further information
Charlotte Melia, York University; DIUS (2008); catpages.nwmissouri.edu/m/lgmf/documents/
http://www.nwmissouri.edu/hr/student/index.htm
First-year on-line introduction to research course at Virginia Tech University, US
The Undergraduate Research Institute at the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at
Virginia Tech is piloting in 2008-9 an on-line course to introduce students to undergraduate
research. Virginia Tech, like many other large research universities faces the dilemma of
knowing the importance of exposing undergraduates in year one to the research culture of the
institution while not having the resources to give each one of them an individualized experience
with a faculty member.
Research about undergraduate inquiry was explored in addition to models from other
institutions, and student development theory pertaining to working with first-year students.
LAHS 2984: Introduction to Undergraduate Research spans both semesters. Assignments vary
from readings that help students understand the culture of a research university and the
importance that research plays in university life, to them attending the Undergraduate Research
Institute Kickoff and experiencing the Virginia Tech Undergraduate and Prospective Graduate
Student Research Conference. Students are not just exposed to what research means in their
major field of study, but gain an interdisciplinary perspective by examining the ways that
research and creative work is conducted across disciplines.
In its first year enrolment is limited to c30 students – but the intention is to use this ‘experiment’
to then ‘scale-up’ the course so that it can support many students by crafting assignments that
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would be thought provoking and informative but easily evaluated by graduate students and
second year students who have passed the course.
Sources: Correspondence with Diana Ridgwell, Director of Student Development and the
Undergraduate Research Institute, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Virginia Tech.
http://www.uri.clahs.vt.edu/Student%20Resources.html
Investigating ‘writing across the curriculum’ at Utah State University, US
At Utah State undergraduate students with outstanding communication skills are selected to
serve as rhetoric associates to support student writing. This institutional strategy came out of a
project which reviewed the amount and kinds of writing in over 700 syllabi at the undergraduate
level. It was undertaken by about 20 undergraduates as part of a seminar on tutoring writing
across the curriculum. “Although the research problem - what is the nature of writing
assignments at this institution - was not one developed by the students, they engaged in the
research process and decision making from thereon” (Kinkead, 2009). They started by studying
current research on writing across the curriculum and, guided by the instructor, devised common
research protocols and methodologies which each then separately applied to particular
departments and shared the results and proposed interventions.
Sources: Kinkead (2009); www.usu.edu/raprogram/
Women in Science and Engineering (WISE): University of Southern California, US
Research Fellowships are granted each year to support summer and academic year research.
The goal is to familiarize students with laboratory research and link them with a mentor early on.
It is hoped that through the experience of first-hand research at the undergraduate level, the
chances will increase that students will choose to pursue a graduate degree in science or
engineering. The WISE programme was established in 2000 through a £20 million pound
anonymous endowment.
Source: http://www.usc.edu/programs/wise/programs/undergrad_research/
Adding a ‘Research Intensive’ designation to specific courses at University of Toledo,
USA
In 2009-10 the Toledo University Senate endorsed a proposal from the Director, Office of
Undergraduate Research, to designate certain mainstream courses as Research Intensive (RI).
These would then be registered on the student graduating transcript. The rationale for
introducing then was: a) RI experiences are viewed very positively by prospective employers
and/or graduate school admissions committees; and b) the RI designation will greatly assist the
Office of Undergraduate Research in maintaining a more complete survey of the multitude of
research activities undertaken by UT undergraduate students.
In order for a course to be identified as "Research Intensive (RI)", all of the following four criteria
must be satisfied:
1. Students must make serious attempts to advance (and/or make significant contributions to)
the knowledge or understanding in the field of the investigation.
2. Neither the students nor the instructor have a priori knowledge of the final result(s).
3. The student investigators must present and/or disseminate their results to a wider audience
than to just their class population.
4. A summary Course Report from the instructor of each RI course must be submitted to the
Office of Undergraduate Research at the end of the semester the course is offered.
Source: http://www.utoledo.edu/utlc/undergradresearch/ResearchIntensiveCourses/mainresearchintensive.html
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Senior Capstone at Portland State University, US
During the final year each undergraduate student is required to participate in a Senior Capstone,
the culmination of the University Studies program. The Senior Capstone is a community-based
learning experience that a) provides an opportunity for students to apply the expertise they have
learned in their major to real issues and problems in the community; and b) Enhances students
ability to work in a team context necessitating collaboration with persons from different fields of
specialization. Each student works with a team of students and faculty. Each Senior Capstone
must result in some form of summation, closing project, or final product that puts closure to the
students' experience.
Source: http://www.pdx.edu/unst/senior-capstone
www.oirp.pdx.edu/portweb/published_pages/prototype/themes/cp/capstone/
Cross-Discipline Faculty-Student Community Development in Uganda at University of
San Diego, USA
Led initially by the Graduate School of Nursing, the University in collaboration with partners in
Uganda has developed a cross-disciplinary initiative to research and community development
project in Mbara, Uganda. The focus is to save the lives of many children at risk from
preventable diseases. Now involving disciplines including nursing, business, biology, and
education, cross disciplinary teams of faculty and selected undergraduates have undertaken a
range of investigations. Following graduation a number of these undergraduates have returned
to work as interns in hospitals in the region.
Sources: James et al. (2009); http://www.holyinnocentsuganda.com/Default.htm
Building Excellent Scientists for Tomorrow at Bradley, US
The BEST Research Internship program is designed to provide high school students and
undergraduates with hands-on experience in scientific research. Students are placed in
research labs in the Peoria area for full- or part-time internships, to be completed during a 10week period in summer. They will learn first-hand about the scientific research process, working
side-by-side with top researchers and their teams. They will also receive additional training in
science methods, scientific ethics, also safety and related topics. Participants will receive a
stipend for the research internships, and one hour of college credit for the classroom portion of
the programme.
Source: http://www.bradley.edu/dotAsset/187215.pdf
http://www.bradley.edu/inthespotlight/story/?id=5ca5dd97-d58c-488b-9b0c-ecbf2c7fc23f
Independent Study Programme at the College of Wooster, USA
Independent Study (IS) is an integral part of the Wooster degree. Students are given
opportunities to develop their skills, to support them in the completion of their IS, from their first
year. Students are exposed to research opportunities in the second semester of their first year.
They are also offered an opportunity to participate in Wooster's Summer Research Program;
which can act as an apprenticeship.
The IS programme allows students to demonstrate skills and abilities that employers value. IS is
a year-long project conducted by all senior students at Wooster. It is an individual study which is
completed in consultation with a mentor. The project can take different forms; depending on the
research area and student’s interests. IS can culminate in a major research paper, an art exhibit
or a performance. Students are required to present their initial ideas in front of professors and
peers. It is as a result of this process that mentors are chosen; ensuring that students are given
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appropriate support. Students meet with their mentor in weekly, hour-long, one-on-one
meetings.
Students are required to conduct a literature review and plan and conduct research in an
appropriate environment (i.e. lab, theatre, or studio). At the end of their project students are
required to orally defend their research. There are also opportunities for celebration. There is the
hand in deadline, IS Monday, which ends with an IS parade that provides students with a final
focus. The Senior Research Symposium, a celebration of IS, allows students, staff, peers,
parents and community members to celebrate the accomplishments of students in their senior
year. It is a day where students’ classes are cancelled and they hold presentation, art exhibits,
research posters, etc., to demonstrate their knowledge and achievements.
Sources: http://www.wooster.edu/Independent-Study;
http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/activities/ntf/creativehops/examples/Pages/ExamplesofCreativeHonou
rsprojectsfromScience,Technology,EngineeringandMathematics.aspx
Introducing Undergraduate Research Principles in a Freshman Interest Group (FIG) at the
State University of New York at Potsdam, US
The University has designed a pilot program to promote undergraduate research across-thecurriculum and to foster an institutional culture of inquiry-based learning that engages first-year
students as active learners. The instructional goal is to [re] define traditional SOTL perspectives
related to first-year students and to engage both faculty and students in meaningful research,
scholarship, and creative activity in multiple classroom, laboratory, or studio settings. The
program is funded by a five-year $1.6 million dollar curriculum development grant awarded by
the U.S. Department of Education’s Strengthening Institutions Program.
The FIG pilot model introduces basic principles of undergraduate research to first year students
in a series of developmentally sequenced foundation courses that strengthen skills in research
methodology, critical thinking, and information literacy. The pilot model promotes SOTL
perspectives from both an epistemological and pedagogical perspective while encouraging firstyear students to make meaningful connections among various branches of knowledge. The
research based teaching and learning experiences also promote integrative learning
experiences, inquiry-based instructional skills, active problem-solving tasks, and oral or written
communication assignments. The pilot program’s desired learning objectives include a student’s
ability to locate and analyze primary and secondary sources; distill and synthesize information;
communicate an understanding of research findings; and broaden knowledge of at least two
academic disciplines.
Further information:
http://www.potsdam.edu/faculty/research/titleiii
Library Undergraduate Research Fellowship at California State University, Irvine, USA
The Library at Irvine has established annual awards to selected students involved in the
institutional Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). The students chosen
have research projects that:



make significant use of scholarly information resources, the library, and its collections;
demonstrate comprehensive or creative applications of research methodology; and/or
focus on research about the scholarly information-production process itself.
The chosen students receive enhanced access to library facilities and the opportunity to work
closely with a research librarian who is a subject expert in the student’s field of inquiry
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Source: http://www.lib.uci.edu/about/projects/urop/undergraduate-research-opportunitiesprogram.html; www.urop.uci.edu/about.html
Students work with librarians to construct annotated bibliographies and make
recommendations on enhancing the library collections at Alverno College, Milwaukee, US
As part of the ‘Gender in the Early Modern World’ course students produced an annotated
bibliography on specific topics within the broad period of women in the early modern world and
were encouraged to go beyond the geography of Europe. The class visited the library several
times during the semester to find information, explore the print collections; several students
arranged individual consultations with reference librarians. A key part of the assessment asked
students to write a formal memo to the library director detailing their evaluation of the library’s
collection in their chosen subject area. The memo required them to summarize their findings and
include three purchase recommendations. Library administration and interested librarians
attended the final class session where students shared their work. After reviewing the
recommendations, a number of books were ordered for the general and reference collections.
The experience has led other subject librarians to suggest a similar type of assessment in their
liaison areas.
Further information: Duerr and Eastberg (2012)
3.4 Canada
University of British Columbia: University-wide research-based learning experience
In 1998 UBC announced Treck 2000 a University Academic Plan that stated that undergraduate
students who choose to attend UBC should have the opportunity to benefit from attending a
major research institution. Every student should have the opportunity to engage in research and
experience the excitement of discovery should they desire. In order to support this type of
learning experience, the Undergraduate Research Committee out of the VP Research Office
developed the Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Program (MURP) in 2004. Supported
by a Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund Grant (TLEF), MURP’s goal was to develop a
cohesive undergraduate research program at UBC to support the enhancement of research
experiences for our undergraduate students. This strategy was further developed through Treck
2010 with a range of strategies and initiatives to increase research in undergraduate
programmes including an annual Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference. The
Carl Weiman Education Initiative is a major stimulus to inquiry based learning in the sciences.
Source: http://www.vision.ubc.ca/index.html; http://www.vision.ubc.ca/principles/research.html;
http://murc.ubc.ca/; www.cwsei.ubc.ca
University of Alberta: Institution-wide project ‘Research makes sense to students’ leads
to strategic focus on ‘discovery learning’
In 2003-4 the University introduced a "Research Makes Sense for Students" initiative under the
Office of the VP (Research). This raised awareness among faculty of the issues and
international literature on teaching research relations, and various task forces considered how
then policies and practices could be enhanced. Relatedly in conjunction with the Student Guild
there was a range of activities focused on undergraduates and graduate students making them
aware of the potential benefits of learning in a research environment. This led in the 2007-2011
planning cycle to a range of funded initiatives and policies to support ‘discovery learning’ with a
clear focus on year one courses and final year small capstone courses.
Source: www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/researchandstudents/;
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http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/researchandstudents/nav01.cfm?nav01=19717
Institutionalising Inquiry at McMaster University, Canada
MccMaster is an institution which has to an extent succeeded in integrating various forms of
inquiry guided learning (IGL) and is rightfully seen internationally as a key institutional innovator.
It also reveals some key difficulties that need to be recognised and ‘overcome’ in embedding
and institutionalising IGL.
McMaster University became an early pioneer in problem-based learning (PBL) in Health
Sciences during the early 1970s.The success of this innovation supported further innovations in
various forms of inquiry based learning. In 1981 McMaster created the Arts and Science
programme that focused on learning through inquiry in an interdisciplinary context, for example,
math and music for selected high grade students. In the 1990s several new interdisciplinary and
inquiry-based theme schools were established, as in Engineering (e.g. Science, Technology and
Public Policy). In a Theme School a group of faculty identify a set of problems arising out of their
research, establish a program of study focused on these problems, and gather a group of
students interested in investigating them. These theme schools also appealed to academically
gifted undergraduate students. In 1998, introductory and interdisciplinary inquiry courses were
fashioned at the first-year undergraduate level within each of the Faculties of Sciences, Social
Sciences, and Humanities. In each faculty, instructors collaborated across several departments
and disciplines to create and run these courses in several sections, each with no more than
twenty-five to thirty students. In 2000 the university established a new inquiry-based bachelor of
health sciences degree that institutionalized inquiry across a wide variety of courses from levels I
to IV. Some instructors also embedded IGL in individual courses inside programs and
departments.
While these developments were largely initiated and supported at ‘local level’ they also received
cross institutional support through the Centre for Leadership in Teaching and at times senior
managers and institutional strategies. In there various forms there is strong research based
evidence of the positive impacts on student learning (see e.g. McMaster first year social science
case study). Reviewing these developments certain challenges or barriers were identified:
faculty who saw conflicts between students learning in inquiry form and disciplinary knowledge;
faculty who were not skilled in inquiry pedagogy; students who were focussed on grades; and
institutional managers who may not come from a strong curricula background and or soon leave
for other roles. “By contrast, important enabling conditions include administrators with a clear
understanding of inquiry; succession planning of inquiry instructors; and collaboration among
instructors, who together provide optimal conditions for students to ask questions” (Cuneo et al.
2012, 102)
Sources: Cuneo et al. (2012)
http://cll.mcmaster.ca/resources/inquiry.html; http://cll.mcmaster.ca/resources/pbl.html;
http://cll.mcmaster.ca/resources/misc/whats_unique_about_inquiry.html
Independent Studies courses at Augustana, Alberta, Canada
Augustana is a long established liberal arts institution and now a Faculty of the University of
Alberta with some 1000 students. Undergraduate research is mainly developed through its
Independent /Directed Studies Programme. Some 15-20 of these courses are offered each term.
They provide one-on-one instruction and collaboration undertaken by faculty and students
across the disciplines. Students negotiate their course with the instructor of their choice, and
must then apply for departmental permission for the course to proceed. Generally, these courses
include weekly meetings; a large amount of independent work, whether in the lab or the library;
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several short assignments; a substantial term assignment; and presentation of the research at
the term-end Student Academic Conference.
Sources:
Harde and Haave (2012);
http://www.augustana.ualberta.ca/research/undergraduate/supervisors/credit/starting_directed.ht
ml;
http://www.augustana.ualberta.ca/research/undergraduate/students/credit/sac.html
4 National and International Initiatives to Support Undergraduate Research and Inquiry
4.1 Research Councils
Research Councils UK
RCUK is the organisation which is the strategic partnership between 7 Research Councils which
support research in the UK higher education sector “The role of the Research Councils has
evolved beyond its traditional place on one side of the Dual Support system, and the Councils
are taking a more pro-active role in promoting and supporting the broader context for research
and research careers. Vacation Bursary schemes and the RCUK Academic Fellowships are two
examples of the way in which Councils are seeking to strengthen this broader context as one in
which research, and the innovative thinking of the next generation of researchers, can develop”
(Lyne 2007). Vacation Bursary schemes operated by the Research Councils (currently BBSRC
and EPSRC) are a way of supporting the recruitment of the best undergraduate students into
research degrees – and therefore ultimately about improving the supply of researchers (ESPRC
2007).
Sources: Diamond (2006); EPSRC (2007); Lyne (2006, 2007)
http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/researchcareers/rcdstrategy.pdf;
http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/researchcareers/SustainabilityoftheUKResearchWorkforce.pdf
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) in 2004 established a
pilot scheme to offer Vacation Bursaries to give promising undergraduates an opportunity to
experience first hand a period of time during the summer vacation in a research laboratory in a
UK university or a BBSRC-sponsored research institute to encourage them to consider a career
in scientific research. The pilot in 2004 proved to be so successful that in 2006 it was expanded
to 80 bursaries per year, and also in 2006 'Vacation Bursaries in Mathematical Biology' were
introduced. In 2007 BBSRC awarded 100 Vacation Bursaries to 65 different departments. The
bursaries are primarily allocated pro rata with the award of our Quota PhD studentships.
Studentship quotas are allocated through a competition process which looks at the broad
training environment offered by a department. In November 2006, BBSRC and EPSRC held a
joint good practice event to discuss the use and objectives of Vacation Bursaries. In 2011 The
John Innes Centre, an institute of BBSRC, and The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich organised
a summer undergraduate research programme for 2011 to give promising students a flavour of
research through an eight week lab project and participation in weekly training events.
Source: EPSRC (2006); http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/; http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/people-skillstraining/2010/101103-n-students-get-flavour-of-research.aspx
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The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
The Vacation Bursary Programme has provided funding for undergraduate students to gain firsthand experience of research in a UK university to help them consider a research career. A pilot
programme was carried out in the summer of 2006. An evaluation of that programme concluded
that “the pilot was shown to have been very successful for all those involved. Students said that
it was a positive experience and that they would recommend to others. Based on this
evaluation, we will now consider continuing the programme in the future and what improvements
can be made” (EPSRC, 2007, 4). Students carry out a research project lasting around 10 weeks
during the summer vacation. Students were in the middle years of a first degree within EPSRC’s
remit, and could fulfil EPSRC doctoral training grant eligibility requirements by the end of their
undergraduate degree. Projects have a clearly defined objective within EPSRC’s remit, but are
not to be part of a normal degree course. In 2007, 15 universities were selected to take part the
activity, based on their EPSRC research income. From 2011 funding for vacation bursaries
were incorporated into the Doctoral Training Grant. Up to 15 vacation bursaries per annum may
be funded by each university.
Source: EPSRC (2007); http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/Pages/default.aspx;
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/PostgraduateTraining/VacationBursaries/default.htm;
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/students/Pages/vacationbursaries.aspx
US: National Science Foundation (NSF) have established the Undergraduate Research
Collaborative Program which seeks to include first and second year college students
The Undergraduate Research Collaboratives (URC) Program funded in 2006 sought new
models and partnerships with the potential (1) to expand the reach of undergraduate research to
include first- and second-year college students; (2) to broaden participation and increase
diversity in the student talent pool from which the nation's future technical workforce will be
drawn; and (3) to enhance the research capacity, infrastructure, and culture of participating
institutions. This program has helped stimulate a range of initiatives and funding schemes by the
NSF to support undergraduate research including primarily undergraduate institutions
The program developed from two NSF workshops - Exploring the Concept of Undergraduate
Research Centers: A Report on the NSF Workshop (http://urc.arizona.edu/) and Workshop on
the Implementation of Undergraduate Research Centers
(http://www.scu.edu/cas/research/urc.cfm). The emphasis on participation of first- and secondyear students in authentic research – the creation of new knowledge that is potentially
publishable - will challenge the imagination and creativity of the community to rethink the
directions of undergraduate education.
“Each award provides approximately $3-million over a five-year period. The projects under way
through that program can provide blueprints for research-oriented curricula for thousands of firstand second-year college students http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=104533.
An initial award, for a project led by, The Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education,
Purdue University, includes nine academic institutions in Illinois and Indiana.
http://www.purdue.edu/dp/caspie/
The project has created research modules for traditional courses around such themes as
biodiesel fuels, solar-energy conversion, and food chemistry. The consortium will:
1. Provide first and second year students with access to research experiences as part of the
mainstream curriculum.
2. Create a collaborative, “research group” environment for students in the laboratory.
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3. Provide access to advanced instrumentation for all members of the collaborative to be
used for undergraduate research experiences.
4. Help PUI faculty develop research projects so that their own research capacity is
enhanced and the students at these institutions can participate in this research.
5. Create a research experience that is engaging for women and ethnic minorities and
appropriate for use at various types of institutions, including those with diverse
populations.
As of 2012 the success of such programmes has resulted in a range of NSF programs to
support undergraduate research including programs aimed at primarily undergraduate
institutions to promote a more diversified undergraduate population and diverse research
workforce.
Sources: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2006/nsf06521/nsf06521.htm;
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=6675&org=CHE;
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5518;
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12569/nsf12569.htm.
Ireland: Science Foundation for Ireland (SFI) sponsor undergraduate research experience
and knowledge awards (UREKA)
SFI’s Undergraduate Research Experience & Knowledge Award (UREKA) Programme offers
undergraduate students the opportunity to work in research and to acquire a range of scientific
skills during a ten to twelve week period during the summer. Students get the chance to conduct
an independent research project within a cutting edge research group. Students participating in
a UREKA site will also attend a variety of events to further develop the skills needed for a career
in research. The programme aims to afford students from Ireland and abroad with an
exceptional chance for interaction with world-class scientists and engineers in an innovative
environment. UREKA Sites are funded for up to three years and consist of a group of
researchers and a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 16 undergraduate students who are
assigned research projects. In 2011 there were 7 such sites
Source: http://www.sfi.ie/education-outreach/third-level/
Portugal: Undergraduate Research Grants
The government recently initiated a programme of competitive undergraduate research grants.
The stimulus were the curricula reforms – including supporting transferable credits between
(Portuguese) institutions – prompted by the Bologna process.
All Portuguese research units and associated laboratories - both from public or private HE
institutions - can offer research grants. All first-year undergraduate students can apply for a
one-year grant in any institution. In the following year they can apply for another grant, but this
work has to be developed in a different institution or research unit. This strategy emphasises the
importance given to mobility and to the contact with several research realities, methodologies
and subjects. The selection of students is made by the institutions they apply for and the
evaluation is based on their academic success. Students will be supported by a qualified
supervisor and by the end of the grant, the student needs to write a report to be presented and
discussed in a public session, organised by the foster institution. Moreover, the research units
or associated laboratories may establish an agreement with the institution so that the learning
outcomes achieved from the involvement on a specific research activity can be converted in
student credit.
Source: Huet et al. (2011); http://alfa.fct.mctes.pt/apoios/bolsas/concursos/BII2008.phtml.en;
http://ijl.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.30/prod.2413
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Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) and Undergraduate Research Experience Program
(UREP)
The Qatar National Research Fund was established in 2006 to establish Qatar as a knowledgebased economy and has funded a whole array of research and educational initiatives including
the Undergraduate Experience Program. This supports selected students and faculty through
competitive grants for mentored research experiences. These can be at Qatar University or in
those (foreign – largely US - universities); and also in research companies in Education City, a
designated area for education and knowledge based industries. As of 2012 there has been 12
such annual awards.
Source: http://www.qnrf.org/newsroom/press_releases/detail.php?ID=2905
4.2 UK National Organisations
British Conference on Undergraduate Research (BCUR)
The British Conference of Undergraduate Research promotes undergraduate research in all
disciplines. The Conference meets annually every Spring in a different British university.
Undergraduates submit papers, posters, workshops and performances to the Conference.
Abstracts are peer-reviewed and those accepted are invited to attend the conference.
BCUR was founded in 2010 and held its first conference in 2011 at the University of Central
Lancashire. The conference doubled in size for the second conference, held in 2012 at the
University of Warwick. The next conference will be held in Plymouth, 15th-16th April 2013.
Source: http://www.bcur.org/
British Society for Animal Science (BSAS) Summer Placement Scheme
http://www.bsas.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=41
Since 1995, BSAS, commercial companies and research institutes have been cooperating
together with motivated college and university students on the Summer Placement Scheme.
The scheme enables companies and institutes to have access to students to help complete
specific projects and tasks at a busy time of year. For students it means practical work
experience in an environment that will match their area of study or interests. Long term it will
help career prospects for young people. Depending upon the individual companies and
institutes involved, the work available ranges from practical field work or laboratory studies to
computerised data handling of literature reviews and report writing. BSAS helps match
appropriate companies and students and put them in touch with each other. Placements last for
a minimum of 6 weeks. BSAS has £500 for each project. This sum is expected to be matched
by an institute or company.
Source: http://www.bsas.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=41
Cancer Research UK Undergraduate Bursaries
Cancer Research UK provides support for selected students to become involved in research
projects at our Institutes: for example, the London Research Institute and the Beatson Institute
for Cancer Research in Glasgow run summer internship schemes.
Source: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/science/vacancies/developing-researchcareer/undergraduate-opportunities/
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Carnegie Trust (Scotland) Vacation Scholarships and Undergraduate University
Expeditions
Undergraduates who were born in Scotland or who have a parent born in Scotland or who have
at least two years of secondary education in Scotland may be considered for the award of a
Vacation Scholarship for the pursuit of a full-time research project, usually in the vacation
between their second and third years. Vacation Scholarships cannot be used for attendance at
conferences. Candidates can only be considered on the nomination of Deans, who are asked to
rank in order of merit all applicants from their Faculty. Scholarships are for maintenance of up to
a maximum of eight weeks, whether based at home, elsewhere in the United Kingdom, or
abroad. Nominees can come from any Faculty and nominations by Deans be must be received
by April 1st. Applications can only be accepted via University Faculties.
The Trust will consider applications for a grant towards the cost of expeditions which are
approved and supported by a Scottish University. The expedition, which must bear the name of
the University and comprise at least five undergraduates from that University; it must have as its
purpose the training of undergraduates in research techniques through the discovery of new
knowledge. The expedition must have a coherent research programme and must be
accompanied throughout by a member of staff or someone of equal standing acceptable to the
Trust.
Source: http://www.carnegie-trust.org/our-award-schemes/undergraduate-schemes.html
Experimental Psychology Society: Undergraduate Research Bursaries
This scheme finances a limited number of bursaries (5) to support undergraduates in the
summer vacation immediately prior to their final year. Awards are made to members of the
Society and provides up to 10 weeks’ support (£200 per week) for their nominated
undergraduate. It is intended that the bursaries be targeted at undergraduates who are
considering a research career in experimental psychology (as defined by the content of the
Society’s journals). The bursary is administered, and the research project carried out, at the
applicant’s institution, although this need not be the institution at which the student is currently
registered for a degree. The purpose of these bursaries is to allow the student to learn at first
hand about experimental procedures and analyses employed in the host laboratory. Awards will
not be granted for work that is a central part of an already-funded project. The award is for a
maximum of £2,000, and any additional expenses must be borne by the host institution.
Source: http://www.eps.ac.uk/index.php/undergraduate-research-bursary-scheme
Institute of Structural Engineers (URGS)
The Undergraduate Research Grants scheme sponsors undergraduate research projects carried
out during term-time as part of a degree programme. The scheme is funded by the Institution’s
Research Fund and aims to support challenging and satisfying research at undergraduate level.
In 2012 ten grants of a maximum of £800 each are available and awarded to students and
universities submitting the best project ideas. Supervisors submit applications during March and
April for a particular project idea to be carried out in the next academic year. If the application is
successful the supervisor then selects a suitable student to undertake the project. The timing of
the project is decided by the supervisor and is intended to coincide with the university’s usual
arrangements for term time undergraduate projects that are assessed for a degree.
Source: http://www.istructe.org/education/scholarships-grants-and-bursaries/undergraduateresearch-grants
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Paul Kelly: Undergraduate Research Opportunities in Software Performance Optimisation
Undergraduate Research Opportunities are provided for up to three students to spend the
summer working in the Software Performance Optimisation research group. The objective is to
involve them in the Group research work. A successful UROP project should lead to them being
co-authors on a published paper, and/or being responsible for an open-source software release.
The criterion for selection is that the students need to be able to get stuck into very complex
software, and make it work.
Source: http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~phjk/phjk-UROP.html
Society for General Microbiology Vacation Scholarships
Vacation Studentships are small awards to enable undergraduates in the UK and Republic of
Ireland to work on microbiological research projects for 6-8 weeks in the summer vacation
before their final year. There are elective grants for medical, dental and veterinary science
students. These are small awards to enable medical, dental and veterinary science
undergraduates to work on microbiological research projects during their elective periods.
Source: http://www.sgm.org.uk/grants/vs.cfm
Universities Federation for Animal Welfare Student Scholarships
UFAW established the vacation scholarship award scheme in 1983 to encourage students to
develop an interest in animal welfare and to provide them with the opportunity to conduct
relevant research. Applications are welcome from undergraduates (or equivalent) in agricultural,
biological, medical, veterinary or zoological sciences. Students must be registered at a
university or college in the British Isles. Preference is given to undergraduates.
Source: http://www.ufaw.org.uk/vacationScholarshipawards.php
Welcome Trust Vacation Scholarships
The Vacation Scholarship is intended to provide promising undergraduates with 'hands-on'
experience of research during the summer vacation and to encourage them to consider a career
in research. Applicants should be university undergraduates in the middle years of their first
degree studies (i.e. not the first or last year) and registered for a basic science or veterinary
degree, or medical students between the end of their second year and the end of their
penultimate year. Scholarships are not available for the completion of student projects that are
part of the normal degree course. Preference will be given to undergraduates without previous
research experience. Students are encouraged to arrange their scholarship away from their
usual place of study.
Source: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospectivestudents/scholarships/undergraduate/wellcome_vac_schol
4.3 National Government Support for Undergraduate Research and Inquiry, UK and
Ireland
England: Some of the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s (HEFCE) Centres
for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETLs) were focused on undergraduate
research and inquiry
HEFCE established 74 CETLS in 2005 each of which received up to £2.35m capital and £0.5m
recurrent expenditure pa for five years. Several were centrally concerned with supporting
undergraduate research and inquiry:
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1. Sheffield Hallam University, the Centre for Promoting Learner Autonomy
(http://extra.shu.ac.uk/cetl/cpla/cplahome.html
2. University of Gloucestershire, the Centre for Active Learning in Geography, Environment and
Related Disciplines (http://resources.glos.ac.uk/ceal/)
3. University of Manchester, Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning
(www.manchester.ac.uk/ceebl)
4. University of Reading Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning in Applied
Undergraduate Research Skills (http://www.reading.ac.uk/cetl-aurs/)
5. University of Sheffield, Centre for Inquiry-based Learning in the Arts and Social Sciences
(CILASS) (http://www.shef.ac.uk/ibl/cilass)
6. University of Surrey, Surrey Centre for Excellence in Professional Training and Education
(SCEPTrE)
7. Universities of Warwick and Oxford Brookes, The Reinvention Centre for Undergraduate
Research (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/sociology/research/cetl/)
These formed the Learning Through Enquiry Alliance (LTEA) (www.ltea.ac.uk)
Source: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/cetl
England: The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) are supporting the
development of research-informed teaching environments, with funds allocated inversely
proportional to an institution’s research funding
HEFCE announced in March 2006 additional funding to support research informed teaching
(RIT) to be allocated in inverse proportion to an institution's research funding. This is part of
HEFCE’s Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund. £40m was allocated over three years. The
division between which universities received funding and those which did not, largely mirrors the
old/new university divide.
HEFCE (2006, 6-7) stated that: “We have identified four areas where institutions could seek to
invest funds:
 keeping the curriculum up-to-date and active, effectively supported by appropriate
learning resources linked to recent research
 enabling staff to engage with developments in their field and link to developments in their
teaching
 ensuring that courses are designed in ways that support the development of learning
outcomes appropriate to the knowledge economy, including appropriate pedagogy – that
is, students experiencing research, and developing research skills
 embedding research-informed teaching in institutional structures, including human
resources strategies and quality assurance processes.”
Some institutions including University of Central Lancashire have used their funding to support
institutional initiatives re undergraduate research and inquiry
Sources:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100202100434/http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2
006/06_11/
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/information/services/ldu/research/rit.php
Irish Undergraduate Research Journal and Awards
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The Irish Undergraduate Awards were launched in September 2008 and is now supported by all
seven Irish universities and the two Northern Ireland universities as well as by leading corporate
organisations and individuals. The aim is to celebrate undergraduate research across Ireland.
They aim to hold events that bring selected undergraduate students in contact with leaders in
commerce … industry and public life to discuss issues of public concern, and encourage a more
entrepreneurial culture - in a scholarly manner.
From 2012 The Huffington Post College will assist UA in building awareness of the programme
internationally through multi-channel coverage, including publishing the winning research papers
on HuffPost College.
Central to the scheme is the Undergraduate Journal of Ireland which publishes the papers,
projects, essays and dissertations considered most outstanding by the judging panel. Each
academic field has its own team of peer reviewers. Essays that are to appear in the Journal,
along with those that make the shortlist, may appear in abridged form in the Irish Times, and
shortlisted authors may be invited to present their works at conferences organised by the Irish
Undergraduate Awards and its partners.
Sources: http://www.undergraduateawards.com/index.asp;
http://www.undergraduateawards.com/HuffPost_College_Announces_Partnership_with_Undergr
aduate_Awards_.asp; http://www.undergraduateawards.com/Journal.asp
4.4 National Support for Undergraduate Research and Inquiry, US
US: Reinvention Center
The Reinvention Center at Miami is a national center focusing on undergraduate education at
research universities, including supporting undergraduate research. The Center was born of the
excitement and intense national and international interest generated by the Boyer Commission
Report, Reinventing Undergraduate Education: A Blueprint for America's Research Universities
(1998).
Source: http://www.reinventioncenter.miami.edu/
US: Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR)
Founded in 1978, is a national organization of individual and institutional members representing
over 900 colleges and universities. The mission of the Council on Undergraduate Research is to
support and promote high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and
scholarship. The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) and its affiliated colleges,
universities, and individuals share a focus on providing undergraduate research opportunities for
faculty and students at predominantly undergraduate institutions. It runs a range of programmes
and conferences – including the annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research;
publishes books and a journal CUR Quarterly highlighting innovations in undergraduate
research. It also works with national government organisations and funders.
Sources: http://www.cur.org/; http://www.weber.edu/ncur2012
US: Project Kaleidoscope
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Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) is one of the leading advocates in the United States for building
and sustaining strong undergraduate programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM)
Sources: http://www.pkal.org/
Consortia of Engineering Institutions engage in Grand Challenge Scholars Program
(GCSP), USA
“Each GC scholar must participate in a substantial team or independent project relating to a
Grand Challenge theme.”
The US National Academy of Engineering has instituted a Grand Scholar Program to promote
engineering curricula – including a focus on students as researchers - that centrally address
“complex and interrelated problems that require more than just practical solutions.” These
challenges go beyond the invention of devices and address global issues such as managing the
nitrogen cycle or making solar energy economical. Institutions that can demonstrate they meet
key curricula criteria (see below) can display the National Academy of Engineering Grand
Challenge Scholar logo on their web site. Students who successfully complete a GCSP receive
a GSP Certificate endorsed by the National Academy of Engineering and a GSC designation on
their transcript. About 40 US Colleges have now implemented such a program: while those
leading the initiative have succeeded in getting industry involvement and shaping funding
initiatives from the US Government.
The five curricula requirements are:
 Project or research. Each GC scholar must participate in a substantial team or
independent project relating to a Grand Challenge theme.
 Interdisciplinary curriculum. Preparing engineering students to work at the overlap with,
e.g. public policy, business, law, ethics, and human behaviour.
 Entrepreneurship. Preparing students to translate invention to innovation and to develop
market ventures that scale to global solutions in the public interest.
 Global dimension. Developing the students’ global perspective necessary to address
challenges that are inherently global as well as to lead innovation in a global economy.
 Service learning. Developing and deepening students’ social consciousness and their
motivation to bring their technical expertise to bear on societal problems.
For example, at Duke University the research project component must include: (1) at least one
practicum immersion experience that spans an 8-week summer or a regular semester; (2) at
least one independent study directly related to the practicum experience: and (3) at least one
additional regular semester class or second independent study that is directly or thematically
related to the practicum experience.
Sources: Kaplan–Lieserson (2011); http://www.grandchallengescholars.org/;
http://www.grandchallengescholars.org/files/grandchscholars/u1/proposing_a_gcs_program.pdf;
http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/; http://www.pratt.duke.edu/grandchallengescholars#indepth
4.5 International Initiatives to Promote Undergraduate Research and Inquiry
Cross National Funding of Research Materials to Support Student Learning (JISC UK and
NSF,USA)
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National funding systems and research evaluation systems can support student inquiry and
research by positively valuing and explicitly funding high quality learning materials that support
student research and inquiry. Here information technology offers the potential to make high level
research materials available to many students and to support them in using these materials for
research and inquiry. In the UK, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) has funded a
number of such projects including some with the US National Science Foundation. JISC is also
playing a central role in researching, advising and funding projects that support the physical
redesign of learning spaces to support student inquiry.
(www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/JISClearningspaces.pdf).
Innovative approaches to teaching and learning in Geography, US and UK
DialogPlus was an experimental project funded jointly by the US National Science Foundation
(NSF) and the UK JISC. The project combined the efforts of geographers, education specialists
and computer scientists at Pennsylvania State University and the University of California, Santa
Barbara (US) and the Universities of Southampton and Leeds (UK) to create electronic learning
resources that enabled students to work more independently out of class.
Further information
Martin and Treves (2007); Rees et al. (2008); www.dialogplus.soton.ac.uk/
C: STRATEGIES TO MAINSTREAM UNDERGRADUATE RESEACH AND INQUIRY
Departmental and course team strategies to mainstream undergraduate research and
inquiry (based on Healey and Jenkins 2009)
Review understanding and practice of undergraduate research and inquiry
Work with colleagues to review their conceptions of undergraduate research and inquiry and
then build that understanding into the curriculum.
Develop a set of related curricula interventions
The Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University (1998, 15-22,
27-28) called for ten key changes in undergraduate education, four of which directly call for
organisational changes at department and institutional level to strengthen the undergraduate
experience of research:
“1: Make Research-Based Learning the Standard – Learning is based on discovery guided by
mentoring. Inherent in inquiry-based learning is an element of reciprocity: faculty can learn
from students as students are learning from faculty.
2: Construct an Inquiry-Based Freshman Year – The first year of a university experience needs
to provide new stimulation for intellectual growth and firm grounding in inquiry-based learning
and communication of information and ideas.
3: Build on the Freshman Foundation – The freshman experience must be consolidated by
extending its principles into the following years. Inquiry-based learning, collaborative
experience, writing and speaking expectations need to characterize the whole of a research
university education.
7: Culminate with a Capstone Experience – The final semester should focus on a major project
and utilize to the full the research and communication skills learned in the previous years.”
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Offer undergraduate research and inquiry as a pervasive and early element of the
curriculum
Give students experience of undertaking research and inquiry with different levels of
independence
Link undergraduate research and inquiry to student employability
If the concept of a ‘knowledge economy’ has any validity then undergraduate education for all
has to include some understanding of, and ability to do or use, research. Calling this
‘undergraduate research’ and making explicit to students the fact that this may well aid their
employability, can … help them to appreciate better the role of research in the university
Ensure assessment practices and policies support students as researchers –this might
include rethinking the form of the final year dissertation to make it closer to research processes
and forms of dissemination in the discipline? Perhaps the final year displays by arts students
and undergraduate student journals are two strategies to adapt ? Perhaps
Include all and be selective
While clearly involving all students in some form of research, course teams may also choose to
offer special undergraduate opportunities to selected students.
Institutional strategies to mainstream undergraduate research and inquiry (Healey and
Jenkins 2009)
A.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Develop supportive institutional strategies and policies
Embed in vision and teaching and learning and research strategies of university.
Develop supportive institutional curricula frameworks and structures.
Link undergraduate research and inquiry to institutional policies for employability.
Link undergraduate research and inquiry to institutional policies for widening participation.
Link undergraduate research and inquiry to institutional policies for civic and community
engagement.
B. Encourage and support student awareness and experience of undergraduate research
and inquiry
6. Embed undergraduate research and inquiry from day students enter university.
7. Raise students’ awareness of research.
8. Provide opportunities for selected students to undertake undergraduate research and inquiry
within and outside the curriculum.
9. Provide opportunities for all students to undertake undergraduate research and inquiry within
and outside the curriculum.
10. Have students investigate issues that are of importance to the university or other students.
11. Value the role that student organisations can play in supporting undergraduate research.
12. Celebrate undergraduate research and inquiry.
13. Provide support and encouragement to students undertaking undergraduate research and
inquiry.
C. Ensure institutional practices support undergraduate research and inquiry policies
14. Ensure quality assurance, quality enhancement and institutional assessment processes and
policies support students as researchers.
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15. Ensure appropriate learning spaces are available to support undergraduate research and
inquiry.
16. Align student support from library, information and communication technology services and
laboratories with needs of students undertaking undergraduate research and inquiry.
D. Encourage academic staff awareness and support and reward engagement with
undergraduate research and inquiry
17. Increase academic staff awareness of undergraduate research and inquiry.
18. Provide support to academic staff with regard to professional development so that they are
encouraged to become engaged in undergraduate research and inquiry.
19. Provide incentives and rewards for academic staff to support undergraduate research and
inquiry, particularly through workload planning, institutional and departmental recruitment,
criteria for appointment, performance review and promotion processes.
National strategies for developing undergraduate research and inquiry (from Healey and
Jenkins, 2009)
1. Fund high quality learning resources to support student research and inquiry.
2. Ensure national quality assurance and enhancement systems support undergraduate
research and inquiry.
3. Ensure research funding supports research dissemination and undergraduate research.
4. Target research opportunities to students in particular disciplines.
5. Target research opportunities to students from under-represented groups.
6. Encourage disciplinary and professional associations to support undergraduate research and
inquiry.
7. Recognise and value student organisations playing a leading role.
D: SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
C.1 References cited
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Ambrosio C and Jackson, C M (2011) Building on the 'Directed Community' Model: Projects and
Prospects, Discourse: Learning and Teaching in Philosophical and Religious Studies 10(3)
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Angelo, T and Asmar, C (2005) Research-led learning and teaching at Victoria University
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Anon (2012) The human trafficking and people smuggling debate grows at UQ, UQ News,12
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Appelbaum, Y (2012) How the Professor Who Fooled Wikipedia Got Caught by Reddit, The
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Barrie, S (2004) A research-based approach to generic attributes policy, Higher Education
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Baxter Magolda M B (2001) Making their own way: narratives for transforming higher education
to promote self-development. Sterling, VA: Stylus
Beckman, M and Hensel, N (2009) Making explicit the implicit: defining undergraduate research,
Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly 29(4), 40-44
Beichner, R J et al. (2007) The student-centered activities for large enrollment undergraduate
programs (SCALE-UP) project, Research-Based Reform of University Physics 1 (1), chapter
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Bollag, B (2006a) Award-Winning Teaching: 'Professors of the Year' take varying approaches to
winning over their students, Chronicle of Higher Education, 12 January
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i15/15a01001.htm
Bollag, B (2006b) History Undergrads Perform Original Research in Course at Indiana State U.,
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 15 December
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i17/17a00802.htm
Bowring, S A, Epstein, A W and Harvey, C F (in press) Terrascope: The earth system as the
ultimate complex problem, in Tong, V (ed.) Geoscience: Research-enhanced education at
universities, Springer Press
Boyle A, Potts, G, Williams, M and Williams, P (2006) Preliminary report on studio teaching in
Earth sciences: a way to improve students’ problem-solving capabilities, Planet, 17, 34-36.
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Brew, A (2003) Teaching and research: new relationships and their implications for inquirybased teaching and learning in higher education, Higher Education Research & Development
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Brew, A (2006) Research and teaching: beyond the divide. London: PalgraveMacmillan
Brew, A (2007) Research and teaching from the students’ perspective, International policies and
practices for academic enquiry: An international colloquium held at Marwell conference
centre, Winchester, UK, 19–21 April
Brew, A and Prosser, M T (2003) Integrating quality practices in research-led teaching and
institutional priorities, Proceedings of the Australian Universities Quality Forum: National
Quality in a Global Context, pp.118-121
Brown, D. and Yürekli, O. (2006) Integrating inquiry/discovery based activities into the
mathematics curriculum, Mathematicians and Education Reform Forum Newsletter 19(1), 1-4
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Engineering clinics: an integration of research into the undergraduate engineering curriculum,
Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly 26(3), 115-121
Sutherland, P (2005) Whither inquiry, presentation at the Canadian summit on the integration of
teaching and research, Edmonton.
http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/researchandstudents/nav03.cfm?nav03=37560&nav02=375
57&nav01=32191
Taylor B, Bakker A, Nadler M, Shore C and Dietz-Uhler (2012) Integrating Inquiry-Guided
Learning Across the Curriculum: The Top 25 Program at Miami University, in Lee V S (ed)
Inquiry Guided Learning, New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 129, Jossey Bass: San
Francisco, pp.61-70.
Taylor, C and Green, B (2007) The Sydney Basin Aerobiology Survey: engaging students in a
current research program, as part of the first year Biology curriculum, poster presented to
ISSoTL Conference, Sydney
Taylor, PC and Geden, JV (2008) Reinvented Labs, in Bates, S, Aliotta, M, Sinclair, B and
Kohnle, A (Eds) Physical Sciences Discipline Project Enhancement Themes: ResearchTeaching Linkages: Enhancing Graduate Attributes: Physical Sciences Discipline Project ,
QAA Scotland , Glasgow
http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/pages/docdetail/docs/publications/enhancinggraduate-attributes-physical-sciences
Thomas, N (2003) Using independent, investigative learning in environmental geology,
http://www.gees.ac.uk/projtheme/linktr/Thomas.htm
Todd, M, Bannister, P & Clegg S (2004) Independent inquiry and the undergraduate dissertation:
perceptions and experiences of final-year social science students, Assessment and
Evaluation in Higher Education 29 (3), 335-355
Turner, N, Wuetherick, B, and Healey, M (2008) International perspectives on student
perceptions of research: the role of academic development in implementing research-based
teaching and learning in higher education, International Journal for Academic Development
13(3), 161-173.
Tweed, F & Boast, R (2011) Reviewing the ‘Research Placement’ as a Means of Enhancing
Student Learning and Stimulating Research Activity, Journal of Geography in Higher
Education, 35 (4), 599-615
University of Alberta (2005) Canadian Summit on the Integration of Teaching and Research, 3-5
August http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/researchandstudents/nav01.cfm?nav01=32191&
University of Western Australia (2009) Embedding Research Working Party Report Future
Framework Implementation http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/200910071748/new-courses-2012staff/working-party-reports-now-available
University of Oxford (2005) Corporate Plan 2005–6 to 2009–10
http://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/2004-5/supps/corporate.htm
Vick, B (2006) Constructing a Research-led Seminar Programme at Level 3
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/hca/resources/detail/constructing_a_research_led_seminar_pro
gramme
Wiegant, F, Scager, K and Boonstra, J (2011) An Undergraduate Course to Bridge the Gap
between Textbooks and Scientific Research, CBE Life Sci Educ. 10(1): 83–94
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3046892/
Willmott, C J R, Clark, R P and Harrison, T M (2003) Introducing Undergraduate Students to
Scientific Reports Bioscience Education e-journal 1 (1)
http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/journal/vol1/beej-1-10.htm
Wilson, A. and Howitt, S. (2012) Is more always better? An Australian experiment with a
research-intensive undergraduate degree, CUR Quarterly 33(2), 28-32
Wilson, A., S. Howitt, K. Wilson and P. Roberts (2007) Research-led education: challenges and
experiences, proceedings of the Science Teaching and Learning Research Including
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Threshold Concepts Uniserve Science Conference in Sydney, September 2007. Available
from http://science.uniserve.edu.au/pubs/procs/2007/30.pdf
Willison, J W & O'Regan, K (2007) Commonly known, commonly not known, totally unknown: a
framework for students becoming researchers, Higher Education Research and Development
26(4), 393-409
Woodhouse, D (1998) Auditing research and the research/teaching nexus. New Zealand Journal
of Educational Studies, 33(1), 39–53
Woodhouse, D (2001) The teaching/research nexus: lessons from New Zealand audits,
presentation at the VC Symposium: The Teaching–Research Nexus: Enhancing the Links,
University of Wollongong, 3 October
Zadnik M, and Radloff A. (1995) A new approach to a communications unit: A student organised
conference. In L. Summers (Ed.), 4th Annual Teaching and Learning Forum. Quality in
teaching and learning: A focus on learning, (pp. 292- 296). Edith Cowan University, Perth:
Educational Development Unit, Edith Cowan University.
http://lsn.curtin.edu.au/tlf/tlf1995/zadnik.html
Zetter R (2002) Making the departmental link between research and teaching, in Healey M, and
Jenkins A (eds) Linking Teaching and Research, Exchange, 3, Milton Keynes, Centre for
Higher Education Practice. http://www.exchange.ac.uk/issue3.asp
Zubrick, A, Reid, I and Rossiter, P (2001) Strengthening the nexus between teaching and
research. Department of Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, Australian Government
Publishing Service: Canberra
C.2 Further reading
For over 300 references and a list of useful Web sites see: Healey, M Linking Research
and Teaching: A selected bibliography www.mickhealey.co.uk/resources
Barnett, R (ed) (2005) Reshaping the university: new relationships between research,
scholarship and teaching. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill/Open University Press
Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University (1998) Reinventing
undergraduate education: a blueprint for America's research universities, Stony Brook: State
University of New York at Stony Brook. Available at:
http://www.niu.edu/engagedlearning/research/pdfs/Boyer_Report.pdf
Brew, A (2006) Research and teaching: beyond the divide. London: PalgraveMacmillan
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teachng (2006) Opportunities for Scholarship,
Presentation to Hong Kong University Grants Committee, Hong Kong 23-24 January 2006
http://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/ugc/publication/prog/rae/rae.htm
Healey, M (2005) Linking research and teaching to benefit student learning, Journal of
Geography in Higher Education 29(2), 183-201
Healey, M and Jenkins, A (2005) Supporting research informed teaching, HERDSA News 25(3),
6-9 http://www.herdsa.org.au/?page_id=145
Healey M, Jordan F, Pell B and Short C (forthcoming) The research-teaching nexus: an
institutional case study of student experiences of research, Innovations in Education and
Teaching International
Jenkins, A (2004) Supporting undergraduate research (in the UK): An outline proposal, paper
presented to Research and Teaching: Closing the divide? An international colloquium,
Marwell, Winchester, February 13-14.
Jenkins, A, Breen, R, and Lindsay, R with Brew, A (2003) Re-shaping higher education: Linking
teaching and research. London: RoutledgeFalmer
Jenkins A, Healey M and Zetter R (2007) Linking teaching and research in departments and
disciplines York: The Higher Education Academy: York
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/research/LinkingTeachingAndResearch_Apri
l07.pdf
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Kaplan–Lieserson, E (2011) Engineering Solutions. PE Magazine (March)
http://www.nspe.org/PEmagazine/11/pe_0311_Engineering.html
Kaufman, L R and Stock, E (eds) (2004) Reinvigorating the undergraduate experience:
Successful models supported by NSF’s AIRE/RAIRE program Washington: Centre for
Undergraduate Research. http://www.cur.org/publications/AIRE_RAIRE/toc.asp
Kinkead, J (ed.) (2003) Valuing and supporting undergraduate research: New Directions for
Teaching and Learning 93, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Reinvention Center (2004) Integrating Research into Undergraduate Education: The Value
Added. Conference Proceedings, Washington DC, 18-19 November
http://www7.miami.edu/ftp/ricenter/Conference_04/proceedings.htm
Rueckert, L and Morgan, K (2008) Measuring the Unmeasurable: Recent Advances in the
Assessment of Research Outcomes, paper presented at Biennial CUR Conference St
Joseph, Minnesota. http://www.neiu.edu/~lruecker/curassess08.htm
Smith, C (2008) Conceptions of embeddedness: RBL, generic skills and the undergraduate
curriculum, Keynote address to the Scottish QAA Themes conference, 6 March
http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/documents/AETC2008/CalvinSmith.pdf
Trowler, P and Wareham, T (2007) Reconceptualising the ‘teaching-research nexus’,
International policies and practices for academic enquiry: An international colloquium held at
Marwell conference centre, Winchester, UK, 19–21 April
Turner N, Wuetherick B, and Healey M (2008) International Perspectives on Student Awareness,
Experiences and Perceptions of Research: Implications for academic developers in
implementing research-based teaching and learning, International Journal for Academic
Development 13(3), 199-211
Vajoczki S (2010) A Canadian Perspective on Undergraduate Research, CUR Quarterly, 31(3),
41-47 www.cur.org/publications/curquarterly
C.3 Useful web sites
See also CETL web sites in Section 4.3
Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC):
 The Academic's and Policy-Maker's Guides to the Teaching-research Nexus
http://www.trnexus.edu.au/
 Undergraduate Research in Australia www.undergraduateresearchAustralia.com (ALTC
Senior Fellowship project web site for Angela Brew housed at Macquarie University)
Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) Undergraduate
Research Leadership http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/scholarship-teachinglearning/themes-participants#Undergraduate
Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) http://www.cur.org/
International Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Inquiry: A Scholarly Discussion
http://www.cur.org/conferences_and_events/special_offerings/preissotl/
Dublin Region Higher Education Alliance Research Skills for Undergraduates
http://www.drhea.ie/undergradresearch/index.php
Higher Education Academy Research and teaching
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/resource_database/teaching_research
Learning through enquiry alliance http://www.ltea.ac.uk/. Alliance of seven HEFCE funded
Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning:
McMaster University Centre for Leadership in Learning, Inquiry-based learning resources
http://cll.mcmaster.ca/resources/inquiry.html
National Academy for Integration of Research and Teaching and Learning, Ireland
http://www.nairtl.ie/
New Zealand Inquiry Based Learning Project http://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/projects/inquiry-basedlearning
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Queen Mary University of London The Research Based Learning Project
http://www.thinkingwriting.qmul.ac.uk/rbl1.htm
Reinvention Center at University of Miami http://www.reinventioncenter.miami.edu/
Research Skill Development Framework http://www.adelaide.edu.au/rsd/
The Scottish Higher Education Enhancement Committee (SHEEC) Enhancement Themes:
Research-Teaching Linkages http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/enhancementthemes/completed-enhancement-themes/research-teaching-linkages includes a sector wide
discussion, 9 subject-based reports, and an overview summary
University of Birmingham Enquiry Based Learning https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/socialsciences/college-services/elearning/Showcase/Designing-for-Enquiry-Based-Learning(DiBL).aspx
University of Central Lancashire Centre for Research Informed Teaching
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/information/services/ldu/research/research_informed_teaching.php
University of Gloucestershire:
 NTFS Project ‘Leading, promoting and supporting undergraduate research in new
universities’ http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/activities/ntf/urproject/Pages/default.aspx;
 NTFS Project ‘Rethinking dissertations and final year projects: creative honours and
capstone projects ’
http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/activities/ntf/creativehops/pages/default.aspx
University of Lincoln NTFS Project ‘Student as Producer’ http://studentasproducer.lincoln.ac.uk/
University of Sydney, Institute for Teaching and Learning, Engaged inquiry and research
enhanced learning and teaching http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/projects/relt/default.htm
Lists of references and undergraduate research journals
Linking research and teaching: a selected bibliography www.mickhealey.co.uk/resources
Rethinking, dissertations and capstone projects: a selected bibliography
www.mickhealey.co.uk/resources
Undergraduate research journals list www.unc.edu/depts/our/students/students_publish.html
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