Undergraduate Research

In a recent paper, [Undergraduate student as action-researcher: work-focused learning. Available from http://digitalcommons.bolton.ac.uk/iec conference/9] we analysed the data from final year undergraduate major project reports to identify the characteristics of the projects undertaken by BA LTR students with the aim of uncovering 'who they have become'.

From this analysis 4 key aspects of their work were identified:

1. Application of action research methodology and research methods - students were able to design and apply a rigorous approach to their inquiries.
2. Improvement to personal practice - students demonstrated critical awareness and ability to improve their working practices.
3. Significant contribution to relevant professional knowledge - contributing to the overall understanding of the business of the enterprise as a learning organisation.
4. Wider impact across the work-place - organisations recognise and value the growing capability of students to provoke others in the workplace to improve their practice.

In a nutshell we saw rigorous approaches to inquiry, we saw significant contribution to personal development and to professional knowledge in the workplace and, for some students, well beyond the workplace. We saw that workplaces recognise the value of the contributions undergraduates make. Further informal research on the BA LTR an BA LTT pathways since this paper was published has identified  that workplaces also respond to student's discoveries by implementing significant changes. Teaching Assistants studying at level 1, 2 and 3 have reported schools rewriting aspects of policy as a direct result of new knowledge gained through study. New initiatives have been introduced by management as a result of the work done by students working in universities and in small businesses. Increased responsibility in the workplace has been regularly reported and for some students promotion or new careers opportunities arise during rather than after their studies. 

The combination of rigorous approaches to applying research methodologies and methods coupled with the uncovering of new and significant local knowledge and the dissemination of this knowledge to create impact at organisational level would seem worthy of the label 'Research'.  That our undergraduate students are being recognised by workplaces as contributing significant new knowledge on a local scale indicates to me there can be considerable value in undergraduate research. What an undergraduate student is unlikely to achieve is a complete review of literature in their field; undergraduate study does not provide the time-frame needed to ensure all knowledge in the field is examined. Personally I feel it is likely that this is only rarely achieved at Masters or PhD level either. To expect undergraduate students to make a unique contribution to knowledge on a global scale as a result of studying modules lasting 12 - 18 weeks is not feasible. We live in a vastly complicated world and although our students are studying in one of the worlds most commonly used languages there is a vast amount of formally and informally published work in many languages. 

Replication of research in a social context is inevitable and desirable. I do not see a unified solution to learning or to organisational success, for example; every class in a school presents educators with a unique mix of learners and, although at the organisational level we can strive to provide a baseline that is likely to work for most of the pupils in most of the classes, the detail of what works best for this teacher, in this year with this class is likely to be different to what works well for this teacher with the next class. Our pathway aims to develop a lifetime habit of applying research strategies to continually evaluate practice and adapt strategies to suit changing populations and changes in workplace aspirations and requirements. Deploying the tools of reflective practice and action inquiry as ongoing strategies for assessing and responding to workplace needs ensures members of a workforce can maintain effectiveness in the light of changing circumstances. 

That methodologies are implemented in a systematic, unbiased and rigorous way and that they lead to significant new local knowledge is key to deserving the label 'Research'.  As to the question "Can Undergraduate students do research ?" I have no hesitation in responding; yes many of them can if the course is designed to develop research skills.  

I would like to hear more from the horse's mouth as it were - are you a student, an educator, are you in a workplace where undergraduates explore their practice; what are your views on the undergraduate student as researcher issue; what evidence do you have to support your views?