Strategies for Developing a Research
Active Curriculum
Mick Healey
www.mickhealey.co.uk
“We need to encourage universities and colleges to
explore new models of curriculum. … There are several
models that we might explore. They should all: …
Incorporate research-based study for undergraduates”
(Paul Ramsden, 2008)
Brief biography
• HE Consultant and Researcher; Emeritus Professor University of Gloucestershire (UoG),
UK; Visiting Professor University College London, UK; The Humboldt Distinguished
Scholar in Research-Based Learning McMaster University, Canada; Adjunct Professor
Macquarie University, Australia; International Teaching Fellow, University College Cork,
Ireland; Visiting Fellow University of Queensland, Australia
• National Teaching Fellow and Principal Fellow HE Academy
• International co-editor Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly
• Economic geographer and previously Director Centre for Active Learning UoG
• Ex-VP for Europe International Society for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• Advisor to Canadian Federal Government ‘Roundtable on Research, Teaching and
Learning in post-Secondary Education’ (2006)
• Advisor to Australian Learning and Teaching Council / Office of Learning and Teaching
Projects on the ‘Teaching-research nexus’ (2006-08), ‘Undergraduate research’ (2009-10);
‘Teaching research’ (2011-13 ); and ‘Capstone curriculum across disciplines’ (2013-15)
• Advisor to League of European Research Universities (2009)
• Advisor to EU Bologna and HE Reform Experts on research-based education (2012)
• Research interests: linking research and teaching; scholarship of teaching; active
learning; developing an inclusive curriculum; students as change agents and as partners
Embedding research and inquiry in
the curriculum
One minute each way
In pairs you each have ONE minute to
tell your partner about one way in which
you have experience or would like to see
research and inquiry embedded in the
curriculum.
The job of your partner is to listen
enthusiastically but NOT interrupt.
Our argument: a ‘research
active curriculum’
“All undergraduate students in all higher
education institutions should experience
learning through, and about, research and
inquiry. … We argue, as does much recent US
experience, that such curricular experience
should and can be mainstreamed for all or
many students through a research-active
curriculum. We argue that this can be
achieved through structured interventions at
course team, departmental, institutional and
national levels” (Healey and Jenkins, 2009, 3).
Engaging students in research and
inquiry
“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)
Engaging students in research and
inquiry
“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)
Embedding research and inquiry
1. Different ways of engaging students
2. Strategies for engaging students at the
beginning of their course
3. Strategies for engaging students at the
end of their course – capstones and
dissertations
4. Going beyond traditional boundaries of
undergraduate research
STUDENTS ARE PARTICIPANTS
Research-tutored
EMPHASIS ON
RESEARCH
CONTENT
Research-based
Engaging in
research
discussions
Undertaking
research and
inquiry
Learning
about current
research in the
discipline
Developing
research and
inquiry skills and
techniques
Research-led
EMPHASIS
ON
RESEARCH
PROCESSES
AND
PROBLEMS
Research-oriented
STUDENTS FREQUENTLY ARE AN AUDIENCE
Curriculum design and the research-teaching nexus
(based on Healey, 2005, 70)
STUDENT-LED
Pursuing
(information-active)
Authoring
(discovery-active)
PARTICIPATING
IN BUILDING
KNOWLEDGE
EXPLORING AND
ACQUIRING EXISTING
KNOWLEDGE
Identifying
(information-responsive)
Producing
(discovery-responsive)
STAFF-LED
Inquiry-based learning: a conceptual
framework
(Based on Levy, 2009)
Strategies for engaging students at
the beginning of their courses
In pairs, each skim read at least ONE
different year one case study (1.1 – 1.17
pp 4-9).
Discuss whether and how any of the
ideas may be amended for application in
your contexts.
5 minutes
Strategies for engaging students in final
year and capstone courses
In a different pair, each skim read at least
ONE different final year and capstone
case study (2.1 – 2.11 pp 9-13).
Discuss whether and how any of the
ideas may be amended for application in
your contexts.
5 minutes
The developmental journey of the
student
University curricula need to support student and
citizen development from
“absolute knowing [where] students view knowledge
as certain; their role is to obtain it from authorities …
(to) contextual knowing [where] students believe that
knowledge is constructed in a context based on
judgement of evidence; their role is to exchange and
compare perspectives, think through problems, and
integrate and apply knowledge” (Baxter Magolda,
1992, 75).
The developmental journey of the
student
Developmental Level
Student traits
Reliance on external
references
[Foundations]
Knowledge viewed as certain
Reliance on authorities as source of
knowledge
Externally defined value system and identity
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)
Modes of IBL
• Importance of scaffolding provided by lecturer and
development of independence in learner
• Structured – where lecturers provide an issue or problem
and an outline for addressing it
• Guided – where lecturers provide questions to stimulate
inquiry but students are self-directed in terms of exploring
these questions
• Open – where students formulate the questions
themselves as well as going through the full inquiry cycle
(after Staver and Bay, 1987)
Pursuing
Identifying
Authoring
Producing
Information-oriented:
products of research
Discovery-oriented:
process of research
Conceptual model
Darker shading = strengthening of teaching-research links AND enhanced
learning outcomes
(Spronken-Smith and Walker, 2009; Spronken-Smith et al., 2009)
Scaffolding inquiry throughout a degree
3rd year
1st year
2nd year
2nd year
1st year
3rd year
Definitions of UGR
Undergraduate research (UGR) is:
“An inquiry or investigation conducted
by an undergraduate student that makes
an original intellectual or creative
contribution to the discipline.”
(Council on Undergraduate Research, undated)
Ten ways of diversifying UGR
1. Going beyond research – e.g. inquiry-based learning
2. Going beyond selectivity – e.g. embedding in
curriculum; course-based UGR journals
3. Going beyond individual students – e.g. group work
projects
4. Going beyond conference presentations, posters
and UGR journals – e.g. videos, performances,
exhibitions, websites, products
5. Going beyond universities – e.g. UGR in Collegebased HE
Aim - To review the
contribution of CBHE in
the development of
research-based
learning
Collected - Over 50
mini-case studies from
UK, Australia, Canada,
Ireland, Netherlands,
New Zealand and United
States
Ten ways of diversifying UGR
6. Going beyond institutions I – e.g. scholarship of
engagement; community-based research and inquiry
7. Going beyond institutions II – e.g. consultancy
projects; work-based research and inquiry
8. Going beyond disciplines – e.g. integrated science
programmes; addressing grand challenges
9. Going beyond subject-based research – e.g. UG
SoTL projects; students as change agents’ projects
10. Going beyond place-based conferences – e.g.
International CUR
Students
as
partners
in
learning
Source:
Healey,
Flint and
and(2014,
Harrington
25)
teaching
in higher
education
Source: Healey,
Flint and Harrington
(2014, 25)
© 2014, The Higher
Education Academy.
All rights reserved
Ten ways of diversifying UGR
6. Going beyond institutions I – e.g. scholarship of
engagement; community-based research and inquiry
7. Going beyond institutions II – e.g. consultancy
projects; work-based research and inquiry
8. Going beyond disciplines – e.g. integrated science
programmes; addressing grand challenges
9. Going beyond subject-based research – e.g. UG
SoTL projects; students as change agents’ projects
10. Going beyond place-based conferences – e.g.
International CUR
International Conference on
Undergraduate Research (ICUR)
• A virtual international UR conference
• 2012 - Established by Warwick-Monash alliance in ICUR
• 2014 held concurrently in 21/22 September in Australia,
Singapore, the United Kingdom and the States
• Partner institutions - Baruch College; City University of New
York; Monash University; Nanyang Technological University;
Singapore Management University; The University of
Warwick; The University of Washington; The University of
Western Australia
http://www.icurportal.com/
Different views on undergraduate
research
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
Outcome, product centred
Faculty initiated
All students
Co-curricular fellowships
Individual
Original to the discipline
Discipline based
Professional audience
Starting year one
Focussed
(Source: Adapted from Beckham and Hensel, 2007)
Oklahoma University definition
of UGR
“mentored intellectual engagement using
established scholarly processes to make a
meaningful contribution to a project, question,
or problem, where the outcomes are presented
or performed publicly with review, critique or
judgment, and both the process and product
are based upon disciplinary standards. The
work will be at least partially novel, but may result
in a preliminary product, a partial solution, or
additional questions for future investigation.”
(Walden, 2014, 2)
UGR: Challenging the boundaries
In small groups discuss what
implications do these and other ways of
‘going beyond’ have for the
development of UGR?
3 mins
Mainstreaming research and inquiry
Turn to your neighbour and tell them ONE thing
you intend to do in the next academic year to
develop an active research curriculum
2 minutes
Mainstreaming undergraduate
research and inquiry: conclusions
If undergraduate research is to be truly integrated
into HE then the nature of higher education itself will
need to be reconceptualised.
“universities need to move towards creating
inclusive scholarly knowledge-building
communities. … The notion of inclusive scholarly
knowledge-building communities invites us to
consider new ideas about who the scholars are in
universities and how they might work in
partnership.” (Brew, 2007, 4)