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TeachingStudentsasResearchers
TonyHarlandUniversityofOtagoNewZealand
…tellthestoryoftheevolu2onofacurriculuminwhichundergraduateslearnasresearchers:
Thisseminaraimsto:
Part1Modelsofteachingstudentsasresearchers
Part2Theecologycurriculum
Part3Thedevelopmentoftheory:PowerfulKnowledge
Therela>onshipbetweenresearchandteaching1. UniversityAudit2000
2. EcologyReview2001
3. Courseteamchallengedtoar2culatehowecologywas‘research
informed’
4. AlanJenkins’visit2005
5. EcologyProgramme2002-2017
6. Fiveecologypapers(outof20)
Part1:Modelsofteachingstudentsasresearchers
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• Strategy1:Developstudents’understandingoftheroleofresearchintheirdiscipline
• Strategy2:Developstudents’abili>estocarryoutresearch
• Strategy3:Progressivelydevelopstudents’understanding
ThreeStrategies
Jenkins,Healey&ZeXer(2007)HigherEduca2onAcademy
Strategy3(capstone)reflectsChristopherWinch’sideasaboutepistemicascent,afounda2onalconceptformostsubjectspre-masshighereduca2on,e.g.“indisciplineswithaveryhierarchical[knowledge]structure,therela8onshipbetweenteachingandresearchcanonlybeac8vatedeffec8velyatpostgraduatelevel.Atundergraduatelevelstudentslackthedisciplinaryframeworktoengageininquiry”
(inJenkins,etal2007,38)
But:LewisEltonandprimaryschool:justgetthelevelright
Epistemologicalbeliefs
Strategy1:MakingthelinksbetweenresearchandlearningexperiencesStrategy3:MakingthelinksbutendingwithacapstoneresearchprojectStrategy2:Trainingstudentsinresearch(includes1and3)
Onehierarchicalmodel?
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EcologyandStrategy2:ResearchfromDay1–threadincurriculumforthreeyear’straininginresearchUsingthetutorial,laboratoryandfieldcoursespaceThelecturesfocusonStrategies1and3andprovidefounda2onalecologicalknowledgeStudentsendupwithsomedifferencesinecologicalknowledgebutsimilarresearchskills
Part2:Theecologycurriculum
1Forcednewassessmentandcurriculumprac>ces
• Fewerassessments• Integra2onofknowledge• Systema2cinquirymadepublic• Newemphasisonpeerassessment(peerreview)
(Harland,Wald,&Randhawa2016)• Feedbackondraisofmostwork• Studentsdevelopas‘teachers’
2Academic’sresearchbenefited(Harland,2016)…..butprac2celackedrobusttheore2calexplana2on
Earlyobserva>onsofchange
-toexplainwhatweweredoing-toprovideaunifyingtheorytoguide(new)prac>ces-tocontributeourownideastoeduca>onaltheory
Theore2calphases:
• 2002-2007Agoodwayofdeveloping‘Cri2calThinking’✓
• 2008-2013TeachingALLstudentssomething‘Worthwhile’
• 2014-2017‘PowerfulKnowledge’asanoutcome
NOTE:Eachphaseincorporatespreviousideas
Part3:Thedevelopmentoftheory
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SlowContempla2ve
FastNon-Reflec2ve
Inauthen2cAbout(subject)
Authen2cTobe(subject)
a b
c d
Originalknowledgeproduc2on
Establishedknowledgeproduc2on
Knowledgewastage
Knowledgeconsump2on
PhaseB:TeachingALLstudentssomething‘worthwhile’’
‘Slow–contempla2ve’
versus
‘Fastnon-reflec2ve’
Time
“Accesstoanacademicprac8ce,likeaccesstoanyfairlysophis8catedprac8ce,isnotsomethingthatcanbeaccomplishedinaninstant;itrequirespersistentandfocusedeffortfromthelearneroverafairlyextendedperiodof8me.Furthermore,becauseacademicprac8cesareessen8allyopaque,a‘normal’learnerneedsthereliableassistanceofsomeonewhoalreadyunderstandstheprac8ce”
Morrow2009,106
Authen>city
Wald&Harland2017
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PhaseC:Powerfulknowledge
Asocio-epistemictheory• Itisdisciplinaryspecific,specialised,theore2calcontext-independent
knowledge• ItisproducedandtransmiXedbysubjectspecialistsineduca2onal
ins2tu2ons• Itisknowledgethatgoesbeyondanindividuals’everydayexperiencesThesecharacteris>csallowthosethathaveitto:• Evaluatearguments• Applyknowledgebeyondspecificcontexts• Becomeresponsibleci2zenswhocanengageinmaXersofpublic
importance(Schoolandvoca2onaleduca2on:Bernstein,Young,Muller,Wheelahan)
Epistemicaccess
PowerfulknowledgerequiresepistemicaccessToachieveahighstandardinresearchrequiresgoodsubjectandtheore2calknowledge,aswellasmethodologicalknowledgethatallowsepistemicaccesstohowknowledgeisproducedinadiscipline
“Unlessstudentshaveaccesstothegenera2veprinciplesofdisciplinaryknowledge,theyarenotabletotranscendthepar2cularcontext…whatknowledgeisrelevantforapar8cularpurpose…”
Wheelahan2007,648“Gainingaccess,thus,waslearninghowtobecomeapar2cipantinprac2ce,andsinceacademicprac2ceshavedevelopedaroundthesearchforknowledge,accesstoanacademicprac2ceentailedepistemologicalaccess”
Morrow2009,70
Epistemicaccess
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Epistemicaccessthrougha‘researchappren2ceship’• Allowsunderstandingofhowknowledgeiscreatedthrough
research• Developsnewwaysofcri2callyevalua2ngpublishedknowledge
• Istransferabletosimilarcontextsduringthedegreeandradicallychangesthestudentexperience
Epistemicaccess
1. Beingskilledinproducingone’sownknowledge
2. Beingabletoevaluateknowledgeclaims
3. Beingabletoapplytheskillsofproduc2onandevalua2onto
differentknowledgecontextsover2me
4. Beingpreparedtouseknowledgewiselyforthegoodofoneself
andothersHarland2017
Whatmakespowerfulknowledge‘powerful’?
AnAuthen>cResearch-BasedUndergraduateCurriculum Lifea\erGradua>on
POWERFUL KNOWLEDGE
Time Slowscholarship
Values Realworldcorresponding
Existen2alself Adegreeofmeaning
Knowledge&skills Subject
Methodological
Personaloutcomes Forself&others:
Care Responsibility Confidence Insight
Knowledgeoutcomes Epistemicaccess
Knowledgecrea2on Knowledgeevalua2on
POWERFULACTION
Number4?
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Knowledgeoutcomes• Cri2calthinking• Epistemicaccesstohelpcreateownknowledgeandcri2callyevaluate
knowledgeclaims
Personaloutcomes• Confidenceinownabili2es• Astrongvaluefortakingresponsibilityforothers• CaringenoughtochallengeknowledgeclaimsTheseoutcomeshavebeentransferredtoothercourses,subjectsandlearningsitua2ons(e.g.Geography,Zoology,andtutoring)
Outcomesspace
• Con2nuityandplanningacrossthreeyearsinamodularcurriculum
• Workingwithcolleagueswhomaynothavesamecommitment
• Repe22onandre-enforcementfor(new)teachingstaff
• Thattheideadidnotseemtransferrabletoteachingothersubjects
(e.g.ecologytobotany).Isthisrelatedtoleadership?
• Assessingoriginalwork
Principalchallenges(prac>cal)
Powerfulac>onandvaluesAtheoryaffordspowerwhenitallowssomeonetodosomethingnew
(JohnDeweyandhumanac2on)
- willaresearch-basededuca>onallowstudents(andteachers)todo
somethingnewthatalsoembodiesthevaluesofpowerfulknowledge?
• Evidenceforpowerfulknowledgethattranscendsdisciplinarycontext
duringuniversitystudybutnotyetforpowerfulac2onaiergradua2on
• Evidencethatteachersre-evaluatepurposesofhighereduca2on
Principalchallenges(theore>cal)
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Authen2cresearchexperienceshavethepoten2altoproducegenuinelynewscien2ficknowledgeaswellasaposi2veeffectonstudents’existen2alsenseofbeingandbelongingSeekingauthen2citysetsahighbarbutprojectownershipgivesadegreeofmeaningimportantforins2llingconfidenceandresponsibilityforselfandothersPowerfulknowledgeispartoftheprocessofauniversityeduca2on.Thereisapossibilityofpowerfulac2onaiergradua2oninworkandlife.Powerfulknowledgeisasuitable‘aim’forhighereduca2on(moresothangraduateaXributesframeworksorover-specifiedoutcomes-basededuca2on-currentresearch)
Conclusion