Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T02:54:07.509Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

72 - Undergraduate Research in the UK

Autonomy and Flexibility across a Millennium

from Part IV.4 - Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2022

Harald A. Mieg
Affiliation:
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Elizabeth Ambos
Affiliation:
Council on Undergraduate Research, Washington DC
Angela Brew
Affiliation:
Macquarie University, Sydney
Dominique Galli
Affiliation:
Indiana University–Purdue University, Indianapolis
Judith Lehmann
Affiliation:
Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Get access

Summary

The mission statements and teaching and learning strategies of some 150 UK universities speak of undergraduate programs fostering criticality, rationality, expert knowledge, independent thinking, professional standards, and independent learning through case studies, project, placements, and practice modules culminating in the undergraduate project or dissertation. This capstone, final-year, independently researched project enables students to demonstrate their expertise as discipline practitioners. Since 2000 there have been more opportunities for undergraduate research to be published through e-journals and research conferences. Undergraduate research practice is evolving in new disciplines and as business and industry collaborations grow. Pedagogic research into students’ appreciation and understanding of their learning from their own research, and inquiry into the effectiveness of research embedded across programs and within supervision processes, will continue.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Airey, D., & Johnson, S. (1999). The content of tourism degree courses in the UK. Tourism Management, 20(2), 229235.Google Scholar
Ashwin, P., Abbas, A., & McLean, M. (2017). How does completing a dissertation transform undergraduate students’ understandings of disciplinary knowledge? Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 42(4), 517530.Google Scholar
Baker, M., Cluett, E., Ireland, L., Reading, S., & Rourke, S. (2014). Supervising undergraduate research: A collective approach utilising group work and peer support. Nurse Education Today, 34(4), 637642.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BCUR. (2020). British Conference of Undergraduate Research. www.bcur.org/Google Scholar
Bohnacker-Bruce, S. (2019 ). Undergraduate students as partners in academic research: The Winchester Research Apprenticeship Programme. Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, 5(1). https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/920Google Scholar
British Council. (2014). Introduction to the UK higher education system (pp. 1–33). www.britishcouncil.in/sites/default/files/higher_education_system_of_uk.pdfGoogle Scholar
Burlingame, K. (2019). Where are the storytellers? A quest to (re)enchant geography through writing as method. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 43(1), 5670.Google Scholar
Busby, G., & Fiedel, D. (2001). A contemporary review of tourism degrees in the UK. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 53(4), 501522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Committee on Higher Education. (1963). Higher education: Report of the committee appointed by the prime minister under the chairmanship of Lord Robbins. HMSO. www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/robbins/robbins1963.htmlGoogle Scholar
Cottrell, S. (2014). Dissertations and project reports: A step by step guide. Macmillan Study Skills.Google Scholar
Dawson, C. (2009). Introduction to research methods: A practical guide for anyone undertaking a research project (4th ed.). How To Books.Google Scholar
Ferry, G. (2010). The making of an exceptional scientist. Nature, 464, 12681270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fidgeon, P. R. (2010). Tourism education and curriculum design: A time for consolidation and review? Progress in Tourism Management, 31(6), 699723.Google Scholar
Fish, J. (2015). Investigating approaches to the teaching of research on undergraduate social work programmes: A research note. The British Journal of Social Work, 45(3), 10601067.Google Scholar
The General Medical Council. (2009). Tomorrow’s doctors – Outcomes and standards for undergraduate medical education. www.ub.edu/medicina_unitateducaciomedica/documentos/TomorrowsDoctors_2009.pdfGoogle Scholar
Geoverse. (2020). Geoverse: e-journal of undergraduate research in geography. http://geoverse.brookes.ac.uk/Google Scholar
Gladys, S., Nicholas, Z., & Crispen, B. (2012). Undergraduate students’ views on their learning of research methods and statistics (RMS) programme: Challenges and alternative strategies. International Journal of Social Science Tomorrow, 1(3), 19.Google Scholar
Harland, T. (2016). Teaching to enhance research. Higher Education Research and Development, 35(3), 461472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, M. E., & Whalley, W. B. (2008). Undertaking a dissertation from start to finish: The process and product. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 32(3), 401418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2014). Students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. Higher Education Academy.Google Scholar
Healey, M., Lannin, L., Derounian, J., & Stibbe, A. (2013). Developing and enhancing undergraduate final-year projects and dissertations. Higher Education Academy.Google Scholar
Higher Education Statistics Agency. (2020). Who’s studying in HE? www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/whos-in-heGoogle Scholar
Hill, J., Walkington, H., & Kneale, P. (2019). Borderland spaces: Moving towards self-authorship. In Bilham, T., Hamshire, C., Hartog, M., & Doolan, M. (Eds.), Reframing space for learning: Empowering excellence and innovation in university teaching and learning (pp. 115). UCL/IoE Press.Google Scholar
Hill, J., West, H., & Kneale, P. E. (2017). Preparing for multidisciplinary undergraduate research conferences. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 42(1), 148156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, J., Kneale, P., Nicholson, D., Waddington, S., & Ray, W. (2011). Re-framing the geography dissertation: A consideration of alternative, innovative and creative approaches. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 35(3), 331349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hockings, C., Thomas, L., Ottaway, J., & Jones, R. (2018). Independent learning – what we do when you’re not there. Teaching in Higher Education, 23(2), 145161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holton, M. (2017). “It was amazing to see our projects come to life!” Developing affective learning during geography fieldwork through tropophilia. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 41(2), 198212.Google Scholar
Houghton, L. J., Williams, E. L., Jones, H. S., Page, R. M., & Bostock, J. (2017). To align or not to align? Research methods and its relationship with dissertation marks across sport undergraduate degree programmes within a UK-based HE institution. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, 20, 101109.Google Scholar
Hunt, A., & Bradshaw, N.-A. (2016 ). Rethinking the final year project report: Cutting out the waffle. MSOR Connections, 15(1), 2832.Google Scholar
Kneale, P. E. (1996). Organising student-centred group fieldwork and presentations. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 20(1), 6574.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kneale, P. E. (2019). Exploring pedagogic tensions in final year program design. In Walkington, H., Hill, J., & Dyer, S. (Eds.), Handbook for teaching and learning in geography (pp. 458473). Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
Kneale, P. E., Edwards-Jones, A., Walkington, H., & Hill, J. (2016). Evaluating undergraduate research conferences as vehicles for novice researcher development. International Journal for Researcher Development, 7(2), 159177.Google Scholar
Kumar, S., & Johnson, M. (2019). Online mentoring of dissertations: The role of structure and support. Studies in Higher Education, 44(1), 5971.Google Scholar
MacIntyre, G., & Paul, S. (2013). Teaching research in social work: Capacity and challenge. British Journal of Social Work, 43(4), 685702.Google Scholar
Mahalingam, J., Khatri, C., & Fitzgerald, E. (2018). Pressure of academic publishing for medical students: A student’s perspective. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 94, 367368.Google Scholar
Menendez-Alonso, E. (2019). The institutional repository as a publishing platform for undergraduate research. The Plymouth Student Scientist, 12(1), 13.Google Scholar
Office for Students (OfS). (2020). About the TEF (Teaching excellence and student outcomes framework). www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/teaching/what-is-the-tef/Google Scholar
Peters, K. (2017). Your human geography dissertation. Sage Publications.Google Scholar
QAA. (2011). Graduates for the 21st century: Integrating the enhancement themes outcomes and achievements. QAA 416 11/11. Quality Assurance Agency for Scotland. www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/enhancement-themes/completed-enhancement-themes/graduates-forthe-21st-centuryGoogle Scholar
QAA. (2018). The UK quality code for higher education. www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-codeGoogle Scholar
Roberts, L. D., & Seaman, K. (2018). Good undergraduate dissertation supervision: Perspectives of supervisors and dissertation coordinators. International Journal for Academic Development, 23(1), 2840.Google Scholar
Scholefield, D., & Cox, G. (2016). Evaluation of a model of dissertation supervision for 3rd year B.Sc. undergraduate nursing students. Nurse Education in Practice, 17, 7885.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharp, E. W., Curlewis, K., & Clarke, T. H. S. (2019). Stop paying through the nose: Student and trainee medical conferences offer better value for money than professional alternatives. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 95, 577582.Google Scholar
Simm, D., & Marvell, A. (2015). Gaining a “sense of place”: Students’ affective experiences of place leading to transformative learning on international fieldwork. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 39(4), 595616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sloan, D., Porter, E., Robins, K., & McCourt, K. (2014). Using e-learning to support international students’ dissertation preparation. Education and Training, 56(2), 122140.Google Scholar
Thomas, K., Wong, K., & Li, Y. (2014). The capstone experience: Student and academic perspectives. Higher Education Research and Development, 33(3), 580594.Google Scholar
Thomas, L., Jones, R., & Ottoway, J. (2015). Effective practice in the design of directed independent learning opportunities. Higher Education Academy.Google Scholar
Timmons, S., & Park, J. (2008). A qualitative study of the factors influencing the submission for publication of research undertaken by students. Nurse Education Today, 28(6), 744750.Google Scholar
UK Research and Innovation. (2020). Research excellence framework. www.ref.ac.uk/Google Scholar
University of Birmingham. (2020). Arts and law: Undergraduate research scholarships. https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/arts-law/student-experience/research-opportunities/ugrs.aspxGoogle Scholar
University of Brighton. (2020). The Undergraduate research scheme (URS) – global challenges. www.brighton.ac.uk/santander/undergraduate-research-scheme/index.aspxGoogle Scholar
University of Plymouth. (2020). The Plymouth Student Scientist. Journal details. University of Plymouth Press. https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/12776Google Scholar
University of Warwick. (2020). Reinvention: A journal of undergraduate research. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/iatl/reinvention/Google Scholar
Van Loon, A. F. (2019). Learning by doing: Enhancing hydrology lectures with individual fieldwork projects, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 43(2), 155180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walkington, H., Hill, J., & Kneale, P. E. (2016). Reciprocal elucidation: A student-led pedagogy in multidisciplinary undergraduate research conferences. Higher Education Research and Development, 36(2), 416429.Google Scholar
Welikala, T., & Atkin, C. (2014). Student co-inquirers: The challenges and benefits of inclusive research. International Journal of Research and Method in Education, 37(4), 390406.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×