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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