Research-led Education Community of Practice

The Research-led Education Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of ANU staff interested in linking research and teaching who meet to share and learn from our own teaching practices and innovations, and to build knowledge and capability at the ANU.

“The ecology of the university depends on a deep and abiding understanding that inquiry, investigation and discovery are the heart of the enterprise…... Everyone at a should be a discoverer, a learner.” The Boyer Commission Report http://www.reinventioncenter.miami.edu/TheBoyerReport.html [1]

The CoP provides opportunities for members learning, capability development and recognition through:

sharing and analysing good teaching practices;
facilitating professional development activities such as the Teaching Forum;
publishing case studies and articles on this website and in scholarly journals;
participating in teaching and research projects such as ALTC funded projects.

Current members of the community include:

Richard Baker	John Reid
Andrea Benson	Pamela Roberts
Robert Dyball	Craig Savage
Jay Hays	Peter Strazdins
Susan Howitt	Gary Tamsitt
Fuming Jiang	Barbara Van Leeuwen
Daniel Martin	Anna Wilson
James Meek

If you are interested in what we do, or getting involved please contact Pam Roberts on 6125 0060 or by email: pam.roberts@anu.edu.au [2]

Why link research and teaching?

Although teaching and research are regarded as core activities of universities and academics, research is often invisible to undergraduate students.

Engaging undergraduate students in research is seen to be central to the purpose of a university and as an effective way to develop graduates with the skills required for contributing to the knowledge economy and dealing with a changing contexts and challenges.

Discovery is the driver of students’ educational experience. ANU students learn through discovery of knowledge, skills and ways of thinking that are new to them. Since all ANU teachers are researchers, they challenge conventional modes of teaching and explore new means of opening up their disciplines. Students benefit from diverse ways of approaching facts and flexible modes of learning. ANU to 2010 http://info.anu.edu.au/OVC/Executive/_Files/ANU_by_2010.pdf [3]

How do I link my research and teaching?

Some models and frameworks for linking research and teaching [4] from the literature.

What we are doing at the ANU?

Inquiry Learning has been central to the development of practice linking teaching and research at the ANU, since the 1998 Boyer Commission Report in which the ANU aimed to create a disctinctive approach to undergraduate education by building on its strengths as a research university.

Inquiry learning involves students doing research or research-like activities, that include directing their own learning by formulating questions, framing problems and solutions and investigating issues relevant to their future roles as researchers and professionals.

Examples of inquiry learning courses and activities [5] developed at the ANU.

Undergraduate Research Experiences

The Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours), or PhB (Hons) is a research-focused degree at the ANU which is available in the Science, Arts and Social Sciences, Asian Studies and a similar program operates in Engineering.

Research-based learning replaces 25% of the traditional curriculum with practical or theoretical research projects, usually with a one-on-one supervision arrangement. In the science program, students may be expected to participate in research within the group of their chosen supervisor, or to undertake extension activities related to existing coursework. In the arts program the focus is more on personal creativity than on contribution to an active research program.