Undergraduate Student Researchers

1. Caroline Gibson, Susan Brock and Danny Wilding Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning, University of Warwick c.a.l.gibson@warwick.ac.uk Undergraduate Research Opportunities at the University of Warwick The Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATL) has been newly established to support the University of Warwick’s clear commitment to teaching and the development of innovative programmes and modes of delivery, which have a real impact on student experience. The Institute will provide academic leadership for teaching and learning innovation and will be proactive in capturing enthusiasm and new ideas amongst the academic community; encouraging and supporting colleagues to explore and apply innovative teaching practices and methodologies; generating new ideas within strategic themes to help shape teaching and learning across the University; and disseminating, embedding and raising the profile of new approaches and successful innovations. IATL has been created by a merger of Warwick's two CETLs, the CAPITAL and Reinvention Centres. Reinvention: a Journal of Undergraduate Research Reinvention: a Journal of Undergraduate Research is a unique international journal edited by undergraduate students for undergraduate students; it was founded by the University of Warwick and Oxford Brookes University. The publication provides an innovative approach to academic writing, training students in academic publishing from the points of view of the author, the reviewer and the editor, and producing a high-quality publication. Submissions are accepted in any subject, from any undergraduate student around the world. Around 25 students are involved in the editorial team, with over 40 undergraduate papers having been published since the journal’s launch in 2007. Involvement with the journal is extra-curricular and all student editors volunteer their time, though the main editorial team receive a small bursary in acknowledgement of their work. The journal is currently funded through the IATL at the University of Warwick. The journal team are currently seeking on-going funding for the publication and would like to hear from any other institutions who might be interested in collaborating on the publication. Their students could become involved in the editorial team, and training in writing for publication and peer review could be offered at their institution. “The feedback was brilliant, it was far more detailed than I had experienced with assessed / class work and I had not predicted such a detailed response. To date it has been the single most helpful process with regard to my writing skills.” (Reinvention author) Undergraduate Student Researchers The contribution of undergraduate researchers is invaluable to the work of the IATL and the previous work of the two CETLs. Undergraduates have been employed in part-time research roles on a variety of projects related to the core aims and areas of interest of the Institute and the CETLs. While in the past a number of research roles were voluntary, increasingly undergraduates are paid either a bursary or an hourly wage, with between two and five researchers employed on each project. The undergraduates are selected for these roles through a process of formal application and interview, and once selected they are supported both formally and informally by the core team via research methods training and a collegial environment. Importantly, undergraduates are treated as integral members of our research teams; they are viewed as full members of the teams, and we strive to make sure undergraduates are fully engaged in the entire research process from inception to publication. Undergraduate Research Scholarship Scheme The Undergraduate Research Scholarship Scheme (URSS) gives students at Warwick the chance to become directly involved in the research work of the University, experience what it's like to be a member of a research team and take part in cutting-edge research. The scheme is designed to enable students to develop transferable skills that benefit them in their studies and beyond, to gain an invaluable insight into the nature of academic research, to make a contribution to the development of new knowledge, and to work as a member of a research team in a world-class university. Bursaries of up to £1000 are available to students who approach, or are approached by, a member of staff to work on a collaborative project. Applications for bursaries are accepted from staff on behalf of their collaboration, and around 100 projects are funded each year. “As part of Warwick’s commitment to enriching the learning experience of all students, the URSS scheme enables academics and students to work together in the advancement of knowledge.” (Professor Nigel Thrift, Vice Chancellor, University of Warwick) Open-space Learning Open-space Learning (OSL) bridges formal academic study with the practical, professional applications of theory in practice. At a theoretical level OSL is informed by – but is not limited to – methods such as enactive, embodied andkinaesthetic learning. Influenced by the work in neuroscience which seeks to re-connect mind, body and world, we have incorporated social theory and the ideas connected to “third space”, in which teaching and learning are conducted in ways, and in spaces, that bring together knowledge and skills from students, academic subject experts, and professional practitioners, in the creation of understanding. Practically, the workshop is the basic unit in pedagogic interaction between facilitator and participant in OSL, defined as a teaching and learning session that takes place in an environment in which participants can engage actively with the learning materials that are that session’s focus.