Evidence
There has been extensive studies of some of the MELT, especially the Research Skill Development (RSD) and the Work Skill Development (WSD) frameworks.
RSD implementation was the subject of two OLT grants and two National Teaching fellowships, which together involved 15 Australian Universities and 10 overseas universities, and a total government funding of over $700,000. Here, publications that emerged from these studies, including journal articles, conference papers and the MELT book, provide evidence of MELT effectiveness and outcomes. Others’ articles too are provided here, some of which critique the MELT.
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Research Skill Development funded studies
A $215,000 study funded by the Australian Learning an Teaching Council involved 29 courses across five universities. The study resulted in one paper that consolidated the use of the RSD to inform semester-length learning, teaching and assessment and determined outcomes throughout the semester and one year afterwards:
Willison, J. W. (2012). When academics integrate research skill development in the curriculum. Higher Education Research & Development, 31(6), 905-919.
That study inspired a whole-degree look at the outcomes of research skill development in the next $150,000 Australian Learning an Teaching Council study, which focused on interviewing working graduates and 4th year (honours) students after multiple-semesters of explicit research skill development.
Multiple open-access articles capture the rich data, showing substantial advantages for students and graduates.
Graduates’ affective transfer of research skills and evidence based practice from university to employment in clinics. Willison, J., Zhu, X., Xie, B., Yu, X., Chen, J., Zhang, D., ... & Sabir, F. (2020). BMC Medical Education, 20, 1-18.Research skills that men and women developed at university and then used in workplaces. Ain, C. T., Sabir, F., & Willison, J. (2019).. Studies in Higher Education, 44(12), 2346-2358. Set in Media Degree context.Shifting dimensions of autonomy in students’ research and employment. Willison, J., Sabir, F., & Thomas, J. (2017). Higher Education Research & Development, 36(2), 430-443. Set in Masters in Business context.PhD prepared: research skill development across the undergraduate years. Willison, J., & Buisman-Pijlman, F. (2016). International Journal for Researcher Development. Set in a Medical Science degree.Graduates’ attitudes to research skill development in undergraduate media education. Wilmore, M., & Willison, J. (2016). Asia Pacific Media Educator, 26(1), 113-128.
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Empirical studies of Research Skill Development
- Journal articles.
- Conference papers, posters and published reports.
- A history of gathering evidence of the effectiveness of RSD use.
Journal articles
Bugarcic, A., Zimbardi, K., Macaranas, J., & Thorn, P. (2012). An inquiry-based practical for a large, foundation-level undergraduate laboratory that enhances student understanding of basic cellular concepts and scientific experimental design. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 40(3), 174-180. (Undergraduate; biomedical science). The final publication is available from Wiley.
Feldon, D., Maher, M., Hurst, M., & Timmerman, B. (2015). Faculty mentors’, graduate students’, and performance-based assessments of students’ research skill development. American Educational Research Journal, 52(2), 334–370. (Undergraduate and graduate; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). The final publication is available from Sage.
Gyuris, E. (2018). Evaluating the effectiveness of postgraduate research skills training and its alignment with the Research Skill Development framework. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 15(4). (Postgraduate; natural sciences). The final publication is available from JUTLP.
Jacobsen, M., McDermott, M., Brown, B., Eaton, S., & Simmons, M. (2018). Graduate students' research-based learning experiences in an online Master of Education program. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 15(4). (Master's; education). The final publication is available from JUTLP.
Loveys, B., Kaiser, B., McDonald, G., Kravchuk, O., Gilliham, M., Tyerman, S., & Able, A. (2014). The development of student research skills in second year plant biology. International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 22(3), 15-25. (Undergraduate; agricultural sciences, viticulture & oenology).
Missingham, D., Shah, S., & Sabir, F. (2018). Student engineers optimising problem solving and research skills. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 15(4). (First year; engineering). The final publication is available from JUTLP.
Pretorius, L., Bailey, C., & Miles, M. (2013). Constructive alignment and the Research Skills Development Framework: Using theory to practically align graduate attributes, learning experiences, and assessment tasks in undergraduate midwifery. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 25(3), 378-387. (Undergraduate; midwifery). The final publication is available from EBSCOhost.
Torres, L. (2018). Research skills in the first-year biology practical - Are they there? Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 15(4). (First year; biology). The final publication is available from JUTLP.
Wilkin, C. (2014). Enhancing the AIS curriculum: Integration of a research-led, problem-based learning task. Journal of Accounting Education, 32(2), 185–199. (Postgraduate; accounting information systems). The final publication is available from Elsevier.
Willison, J. (2012). When academics integrate research skill development in the curriculum. Higher Education Research & Development, 31(6), 905-919. (First year to master's; multidisciplinary). The final publication is available from Taylor & Francis.
Willison, J., & Buisman-Pijlman, F. (2016). PhD prepared: Research skill development across the undergraduate years. (Undergraduate; health science). The fully open access version is available from Emerald Insight.
Willison, J., Sabir, F., & Thomas, J. (2016). Shifting dimensions of autonomy in students’ research and employment. Higher Education Research & Development. (Master's; business). The fully open access version is available from Taylor & Francis.
Wilmore, M., & Willison, J. (2016). Graduates’ attitudes to research skill development in undergraduate media education. Asia Pacific Media Educator, 26(1), 1-16, doi: 10.1177/1326365X16640348. (Undergraduate; media). The final publication is available from Sage.
Yoshida, A. (2015). Facilitating learning and research engagement of 4th year undergraduate students: The outcomes of student self-assessment survey. Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries (QQML), 4, 871-881. (Undergraduate; nutrition). The final publication is available from QQML.
Conference papers, posters and published reports
Kempster, C. (2017). Creating a 'thinking routine' by explicitly embedding the Research Skill Development framework into coursework. Poster presented at Australian & New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators Conference 2017, Adelaide Convention Centre, 11-14 July 2017. (First year; oral health).
Livingston, C. (2015). Explicit research skill development in pre-service teaching modules in a Bachelor of Education degree. Poster presented at the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa Conference 2017, Durban, 21-24 November 2017. (Undergraduate; education).
Munns, S., & Chilton, L. (2014). Demand evidence and think critically: Building research excellence in tomorrow's scientists. Proceedings of the Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education, 134-139. (Undergraduate; biomedical science). The final publication is available from Sydney Open Journals Online.
Peirce, E., Ricci, M., Lee, I., & Willison, J. (2009). First year Human Biology students in the ivory tower. Paper presented at 2009 National UniServe Science Annual Conference, University of Sydney, 30 September-2 October 2009. Download the PowerPoint slides from this presentation. (Undergraduate; science).
Willison, J. (2014). Outcomes and uptake of explicit research skill development across degree programs. Prepared for the Office of Learning and Teaching. (Undergraduate; multidisciplinary).
Willison, J., Peirce, E., & Ricci, M. (2009). Towards student autonomy in literature and field research, in The Student Experience, Proceedings of the 32nd HERDSA Annual Conference, Darwin, 6-9 July 2009: pp 483-491. (First year; human biology).
Willison, J., Schapper, J., & Teo, E. (2009). Multiple measures of the improvement of research skills in business ethics and business law. Paper presented at QATLHEBEC conference, University of Melbourne, on 6 February 2009. (Master's; business law and business ethics).
Willison, J., Lievre, K., & Lee, I. (2010). Making research skill development explicit in coursework. Prepared for the Australian Learning & Teaching Council. (Undergraduate to postgraduate; multidisciplinary). -
A history of gathering evidence of the effectiveness of RSD use
Kerry O'Regan and I began working on the embryonic versions of the Research Skill Development framework back in 2004. It is no exaggeration to say that we went through 150 iterations before the October 2006 version was published on this RSD website, and then subsequently in Higher Education Research and Development journal. During that timeframe, we were road-testing the RSD with Eleanor Peirce and Mario Ricci of the School of Medical Science, University of Adelaide. The earlier versions were clunky, and caused us some grief when applied to learning and especially assessment, but thanks to great fortitude by Mario and Eleanor, a more finely-tuned product emerged. When Said Al-Sarawi and Brian Ng from Electrical and Electronic Engineering came to see us to discuss their International Master's students' writing problems, they saw that they could readily adapt and apply the RSD to their context.
Since that time, there have been about 30 disciplines in eight Australian Universities, and in universities in Canada, the South Pacific and the USA, that have adopted the RSD. This, we feel, is not a substantial indication of effectiveness in itself, as there is a tendency internationally to follow the leader until an idea becomes unfashionable. It may be that some popular ideas ultimately lack substance, so sustainment over long time-periods may be a better indication of effectiveness than current popularity.
We have been able to carry out substantial evaluations of the implementation of RSD in a variety of contexts. Our first grant of $26K was from the University of Adelaide to look at RSD spanning two faculties. This helped the emerging RSD team to obtain what was then the Carrick Institute for Higher Education Grant of $216K, for implementing and Evaluating RSD across 5 universities: University of Adelaide, Macquarie University, University of South Australia, University of Melbourne and Monash University. The detailed report and the resulting article reveal some surprise outcomes of explicit research skill development in a semester-length course:
- Students showed educationally and statistically significant improvements in perceptions of research skills associated with question posing, information finding and determining credibility of sources.
- Interviews with students one year later revealed that the research skills explicitly developed in one semester-length course were pertinent not only in subsequent study, but especially in work environments.
- Interviews with academics showed that the use of the RSD not only helped them to reframe learning tasks and assessment, but also challenged them to think about their own discipline research in fresh ways.
If you have questions about the evaluation of RSD implementation, please email John Willison.
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Sources that describe or draw on the RSD framework
Journal articles
Bandaranaike, S. (2018). From Research Skill Development to Work Skill Development. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 15(4). (Undergraduate and postgraduate; multidisciplinary). The final publication is available from JUTLP.
Burkill, S. (2009). Involving students in researching learning and teaching approaches: An additional focus for undergraduate student publications? The Plymouth Student Scientist, 2(2), 1-3. (Commentary).
Crossley, J. (2014). Addressing learner disorientation: Give them a roadmap. Medical Teacher, 36(8), 685-691. (Undergraduate; medicine). The final publication is available from NCBI.
Gray, S., Coates, L., Fraser, A., & Pierce, P. (2015). Developing research skills across the undergraduate curriculum. New Directions for Higher Education, 169, 85-94. (Undergraduate; liberal arts). The final publication is available from Wiley.
Klebansky, A., & Fraser, S. (2013). A strategic approach to curriculum design for information literacy in teacher education – Implementing an information literacy conceptual framework. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38(11), 103-125. (Undergraduate; teacher education). The final publication is available from the Australian Journal of Teacher Education.
Paterson, G., Rachfall, T., & Reid, C. (2013). Building a culture of research: Using undergraduate research to advance the TR profession, build research capacity, and foster collaborative relationships. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 47(4), 259-275. (Undergraduate; therapeutic recreation). The final publication is available from Sagamore Publishing.
Matas, C. (2012). Doctoral education and skills development: An international perspective. Revista de Docencia Universitaria, 10(2), 163-191. (PhD; multidisciplinary). The final publication is available from Griffith University.
McGowan, U (2018). Integrated academic literacy development: Learner-teacher autonomy for MELTing the barriers. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 15(4). (Undergraduate; multidisciplinary). The final publication is available from JUTLP.
Miller, J. (2014). Building academic literacy and research skills by contributing to Wikipedia: A case study at an Australian university. Journal of Academic Language & Learning, 8(2), A72-86. (Preparatory school students). The final publication is available from the Journal of Academic Language and Learning.
Smith, L. (2011). Monash University Library and Learning: A new paradigm for a new age. Australian Academic & Research Libraries, 42(3), 246-263. (Library-based learning skills program). The final publication is available from Taylor & Francis.
Speake, J. (2015). Navigating our way through the research-teaching nexus. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 39(1), 131-142. (Undergraduate; geography). The final publication is available from Taylor & Francis.
Velautham, L., & Picard, M. (2009). Collaborating equals: Engaging faculties through teaching-led research. Journal of Academic Language & Learning, 3(2). (Postgraduate; multidisciplinary). The final publication is available from the Journal of Academic Language and Learning.
Venkat, H., Osman, R., & Booth, S. (2009). Diversity in pre-service teachers’ understandings of research. Education As Change, 13(2), 245-261. (First year; education). The final publication is available from Taylor & Francis.
Venning, J., & Buisman-Pijlman, F. (2011). The development of an assessment matrix to promote student learning in postgraduate multidisciplinary research projects. The Journal of the Education Research Group of Adelaide, 2(2), 37-44. (Postgraduate; multidisciplinary). The final publication is available from Open Journal Systems.
Venning, J., & Buisman-Pijlman. (2013). Integrating assessment matrices in feedback loops to promote research skill development in postgraduate research projects. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 38(5), 567-579. (Postgraduate; multidisciplinary). The final publication is available from Taylor & Francis.
Walkington, H., Griffin, A., Keys-Mathews, L., Metoyer, S., Miller, W., Baker, R., & France, D. (2011). Embedding research-based learning early in the undergraduate geography curriculum. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 35(3), 315-330. (Undergraduate; geography). The final publication is available from Taylor & Francis.
Watson, P., & Papas, C. (2009). Mapping and embedding sustainable graduate capabilities in law. Journal of the Australasian Law Teachers Association, 2(1&2), 217-229. (Undergraduate and postgraduate; law).
Willison, J. (2009). Multiple contexts, multiple outcomes, one conceptual framework for Research Skill Development in the undergraduate curriculum. CUR Quarterly, 29(3), 10-14. (Undergraduate; multidisciplinary).
Willison, J. (2010). Development of all students' research skill becomes a knowledge society. AISHE-J: The All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2(1). (Undergraduate and postgraduate; multidisciplinary).
Willison, J. (2018). Research skill development spanning higher education: Critiques, curricula and connections. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 15(4). (Undergraduate and postgraduate; multidisciplinary). The final publication is available from JUTLP.
Willison, J., & 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. (Undergraduate; multidisciplinary). The final publication is available from Taylor & Francis.
Wisker, G. (2018). Frameworks and freedoms: Supervising research learning and the undergraduate dissertation. (Undergraduate; literature). Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 15(4). The final publication is available from JUTLP.
Posters, presentations and published reports
Anderson, G. (2015). JIBC Student Research Skills Development Framework. Prepared for the Justice Institute of British Columbia. The final publication is available from JIBC. (Undergraduate; law).
Bandaranaike, S., & Willison, J. (2010). Work Skill Development Framework: An innovative assessment for Work Integrated Learning. Proceedings of the Australian Collaborative Education Network National Conference, Perth, 2010. (Graduate and undergraduate; business). The final publication is available from ACEN (pages 1-19).
Bandaranaike, S., & Willison, J. (2014). Boosting graduate employability: Bridging the cognitive and affective domains. Proceedings of the Australian Collaborative Education Network National Conference, Gold Coast, 2014. (Undergraduate to postgraduate; multidisciplinary).
Bandaranaike, S., Snelling, C., Karanicolas, S., & Willison, J. (2012). Opening minds and mouths wider: Developing a model for student reflective practice within clinical placements. Paper presented to the 9th International Conference on Cooperative & Work-Integrated Education, Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey June 20-22, 2012. (Undergraduate; oral health).
Brooke, M. (2015). Working with Multiple Objectives: Using a Webquest to Teach Research Skills, Critical Thinking and Academic Writing Skills Simultaneously. Paper presented at the International Conference on Language, Education, Humanities and Innovation, 21-22 March 2015. The final publication is available from The Interdisciplinary Circle of Science, Arts and Innovation. (Undergraduate and postgraduate; academic writing skills).
Simmons, N., & Lee, J. (2010). Seeking integration: Co-op work terms and the development of undergraduate research skills. Poster presented at a seminar on undergraduate research and inquiry, Liverpool, October 2010. (Undergraduate; co-op programs, multidisciplinary).
Snelling, C., & Karanicolas, S. (2008). Why Wikis Work: Assessing group work in an on-line environment. Paper presented at ATN assessment conference, University of South Australia, 20-21 November 2008. (Undergraduate (first year); oral health). The final publication is available from Open Journal Systems.
Torres, L., & Willison, J. (2011). The Research Skill Development framework: Librarians, academics & student support staff on the same page. Presented for Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL), 15 September 2011. The final publication is available from CAUL. (Library).
Torres, L. (2015). Keeping the library in sight: refocusing the research skills curriculum through the lens of the RSD. Paper presented at Visible Libraries, Abbotsleigh Teacher Librarians' Conference, Abbotsleigh, 13 August 2015. The final publication is available from Abbotsleigh. (Library).
Torres, L., & McCann, L. (2014). Transforming the library's impact in the curriculum: Reconceptualising the library's contribution to students' research skill development. Paper presented at the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) National Conference, Melbourne, 15-19 September 2014. The final publication is available from ALIA. (Library).
Walkington, H. (2016). Engaging students in research. Prepared for Higher Education Academy. The final publication is available from Higher Education Academy. (Undergraduate and postgraduate; multidisciplinary).
Willison, J., & O'Regan, K. (2005). 2020 Vision: An Information Literacy Continuum for students from primary school to post graduation. Proceedings from the HERDSA conference, 3-6 July, 2005, Sydney. (Primary school to postgraduate; multidisciplinary).
Woods, C. (2009). Becoming a writer researcher: Exploring the poetic, rhetorical and referential. Margins and Mainstreams: Refereed conference papers of the 14th Annual AAWP Conference. (Undergraduate and postgraduate; creative and professional writing). The final publication is available from the Australasian Association of Writing Programs.
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Papers relevant to explicitly developing student research skills
Chanock, K. (2004). Introducing students to the culture of enquiry in an Arts degree. Sydney: Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia. (Undergraduate; arts).
Chaplin, S. (2003). Guided development of independent inquiry in an anatomy/physiology laboratory. Advances in Physiology Education 27(1-4), 230-40. (Undergraduate; anatomy and physiology). The final publication is available from NCBI.
Hathaway, R., Nagda, B., & Gregerman, S. (2002). The relationship of undergraduate research participation to graduate and professional education pursuit: an empirical study. Journal of College Student Development, 43(5), 614-631. (Undergraduate to graduate; multidisciplinary). The final publication is available from ResearchGate.
Ishiyama, J. (2002). Does early participation in undergraduate research benefit social science and humanities students? College Student Journal, 36(3), 380-386. (Undergraduate; social science and humanities). The final publication is available from EBSCOhost.
Lopatto, D. (2004). Survey of undergraduate research experiences (SURE): first findings. Cell Biology Education, 3(4), 270-277. (Undergraduate; sciences). The final publication is available from Life Sciences Education.
Luckie, D., Maleszewski, J., Loznak, S., & Krha, M. (2004). Infusion of collaborative inquiry throughout a biology curriculum increases student learning: a four-year study of ‘Teams and Streams. Advances in Physiology Education, 28(4), 199-209. (Undergraduate; biology). The final publication is available from NCBI.
Seymour, E., Hunter, A., Laursen, S., & Deantoni, T. (2004). Establishing the benefits of research experiences for undergraduates in the sciences: first findings from a three-year study. Science Education, 88(4), 493-534. (Undergraduate; sciences). The final publication is available from Wiley.
The Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University (1998). Reinventing undergraduate education: a blueprint for America's research universities. New York: Stony Brook. (Undergraduate; education).
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Papers that critique the RSD
Allin, L. (2014). Collaboration between staff and students in the scholarship of teaching and learning: The potential and the problems. Teaching and Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal, 2(1), 95-102. (Commentary). The final publication is available from JSTOR.
Brew, A. (2013). Understanding the scope of undergraduate research: a framework for curricular and pedagogical decision-making. Higher Education, 66, 603-618. (Undergraduate; multidisciplinary). The final publication is available from Springer.
Cumming, J. (2010). Contextualised performance: reframing the skills debate in research education. Studies in Higher Education, 35(4), 405-419. (Commentary/review). The final publication is available from Taylor & Francis.
Hughes, P., Tucker, K., & Knaggs, C. (2011). Sitting on the same bench: Complementing law learning outcomes. Journal of Academic Language and Learning, 5(2), A50-59. (Undergraduate and postgraduate; law). The final publication is available from the Journal of Academic Language and Learning.
Spronken-Smith, R., Brodeur, J., Kajaks, T., Luck, M., Myatt, P., Verburgh, A., Walkington, H., & Wuetherick, B. (2013). Completing the research cycle: A framework for promoting dissemination of undergraduate research and inquiry. Teaching and Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal, 1(2), 105-118. (Undergraduate; multidisciplinary).
Venkat, H., & Osman, R., & Booth, S. (2009). Diversity in pre-service teachers’ understandings of research. Education As Change, 13(2), 245-261. (Undergraduate (first year); education). The final publication is available from Taylor & Francis.
Venning, J. & Buisman-Pijlman, F. (2011). The development of an assessment matrix to promote student learning in postgraduate multidisciplinary research projects. The Journal of the Education Research Group of Adelaide, 2(2), 37-44. (Postgraduate; multidisciplinary). The final publication is available from Open Journal Systems.
Woods (2009). Becoming a writer researcher: Exploring the poetic, rhetorical and referential. Margins and Mainstreams: Refereed conference papers of the 14th Annual AAWP Conference. (Undergraduate and postgraduate; creative and professional writing). The final presentation is available from the University of South Australia.
We encourage people to critique the RSD framework and its implementation. This is the best way to improve.
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Academics' and students' comments
Academics' Comments
Using RSD in Introduction to Tourism at Monash University
"I am currently using Research Skills Development (RSD) marking rubrics for the Introduction to Tourism unit at Monash University. I trialled the RSD rubric on one of the course assignments in 2008, and the benefits, structure and consistency it provided made the decisions to use it on all three assignments in 2009 an easy one.
Feedback from my students suggests that they have gained a lot from using the RSD rubrics. They get a clearer indication of requirements for their assessment development, proof-reading and self-assessment prior to submission. Students also see clear indications of where they need further improvement, and this is reflected in their later assignments.
The initial benefits I saw from using the RSD rubric were in marking: it took less time, as there were quite specific and clear indicators of what was most important, and meant that markers had to write fewer comments. The rubric increased consistency between markers, and provided very good, structured feedback for students. Sessional tutors also stated that the rubric made the process of marking and responding to student queries easier for them.
Broader benefits have also become evident in that my expectations for assignments, previously often implicit, are now made explicit, and this makes them easier for students to achieve."
Glen Croy
Introduction to Tourism, Monash University
Creativity and the RSD
"Boden (1990), in a book on creativity, talks of H-creativity and P-creativity. The ‘P’ refers to ideas that are new to the person involved (but that may have been thought of by many others in the past). The ‘H’ refers to human history, that is something that is new to everyone. This fits in nicely with your classification of research.
Richard Feynman talks in his books of the development of new ideas and how important P-creativity is (although he does not use that term). He defends the re-invention of old ideas by a person, since the work involved in coming up with the idea is just as valid as it was for the first person who discovered it. He notes his own progress of ‘discovering’ something that he later found out had been discovered 400 years ago (don’t quote me on these numbers). Later he discovered something that had been previously discovered only 60 years ago and finally he came up with ideas that no-one had discovered (the H-creativity idea). Once again, this ties in nicely with the message you are putting across of students gradually developing as researchers.
The one thing that bothers me slightly is in the definition and use of the word research. Using colloquial language, I was researching flight times for a plane to Melbourne a few weeks ago. I knew the information was somewhere and the task was to find it. However, if I was talking to students I would be very wary of using the word research in that context. I think it gives the wrong impression about research and not only devalues what we do but sets a dangerous precedent on what is considered research.
In a university environment the fundamental property of research must be the aim of trying to discover or develop something that is H-new. It may be that a first year undergraduate will never attain that, but for them the important thing is to be introduced to the process by which research is done. It involves a critical review of the literature or existing knowledge (a dangerous word, ‘beliefs’ might be better rather than assuming a set-in-concrete-never-to-be-changed-fact) with the aim of understanding it well enough to see which bits of it are poorly supported or which bits might be built onto (or perhaps the whole thing has to go).
A key problem with literature reviews (student and otherwise) is the tendency for them to be a catalogue of current knowledge. If only they could be written (and thought of) as a catalogue of current beliefs then the critical aspect might be tackled better from the start."
Dr David Walker
Associate Professor
Postgraduate Coordinator
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering Editor "ergo"Students' Comments
“I have used the Research Development Framework for guidance as I proceed through my Ph.D. I realised early in my program that I needed to progress from Level II to Level V research, i.e. from closed inquiry research with some structure and guidance to open inquiry research within self-determined guidelines.
A fellow student was concerned and upset that she was receiving less guidance from her supervisors than earlier in her Ph.D. and by showing her the RSD Framework I was able to explain to her that she was being trusted with a greater level of autonomy, an explanation with which she was happy.”
Len Crocombe
Ph.D. student, Dentistry“I think to have access to something like this shows you where you can go; maybe it gives you a little bit of an understanding of where you're at already in your research skills and the further steps you that can take as well...
Students might have a fantastic grasp of material, but flounder through university... and not necessarily understand why it is that they can't really excel in the studying that they have a great passion for. Things like this sort of show that there are--things like passion necessarily isn't all there is; there are different steps that can be taken. Students can be shown that there are different avenues to take.”
Andrew Steadman
Undergraduate student, Hollywood or Bust“I remember receiving a rubric and really badly wanting to be in the last column. It really is something to work towards...
It reminds you of the different things that you need to know in terms of research... that you need to be talking about a question and that you need to be finding the right stuff and using it correctly, and there's all the different elements of working out your research in there. That helps you to work out what you're looking for, essentially, and how you plan to use it.
It's good knowing where the teachers are coming from in terms of what they want their students to become.”
Lisa Noll
Undergraduate student, Hollywood or Bust“Self-assessment is the best learning tool you can teach someone, really, especially in a university environment where you have to self-assess all the time.”
Genevieve Williamson
Undergraduate student, Hollywood or Bust