HIGHLIGHT #1 | 111
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH (UR): CONTEXT, BENEFITS AND UR IN ACTION
by a number of means such as the Research Excellence Framework
(REF), conference presentations and citations to name a few.
It is desirable, therefore, that similar opportunities are made available
to undergraduate students. The authors recommend a range of
strategies to enable students to complete the research cycle, many
of which depend on adjustments to course assessment strategies
(Mabrouk, 2009; Walkington & Jenkins, 2008). However, some of
their key strategies in enacting undergraduate research do look at
offering multiple opportunities, across different media platforms,
using new and emergent technologies, all the while asserting the
employability benefits to learners.
Discussions about student research often cite the dissertation
or extended essay as an example of independent undergraduate
research. One could also include any substantive final year project
into these discussions. However, definitions such as this fail to
acknowledge that these assignment types are not independent
research. They are focussed around the assessment criteria of the
course and are only seen by a handful of people (McGuinness & Simm,
2003). Furthermore, they are created for a summative purpose.
While dissemination within this ‘closed circle’ within summative
assessment guidelines is often encouraged (Spronken-Smith et al,
2013), the growth of UR conferences and journals demonstrates
that some students do wish to pursue research interests that remain
separate from assessments.
Undergraduate research conferences have been found to impact
upon students’ ability to articulate ideas to other undergraduates.
Willison and O’Regan (2007) note that learners will articulate ideas
in discipline-specific language with increased autonomy. However,
Spronken-Smith et al (2013) note that in order to communicate this
increased complexity of ideas to a broad audience, language must
be made more accessible and its ‘discipline-ness’ must be somewhat
masked. This ability to communicate complex ideas to different
audiences is highly sought in terms of graduate employment (Archer
& Davidson, 2008). It also corresponds to the drive for university
graduates to be able to discuss and demonstrate their graduate
attributes, much like in the Distinctive Keele Curriculum (Keele
University, 2016) with its focus on the articulation of ‘graduate-ness’.
Benefits of UR
Enabling UG students to enact the complete research cycle and
to pursue opportunities to disseminate research findings has been
found to have significant benefits for the students and staff that