VISITING SPEAKER: Professor Mick Healey

The argument of this workshop can be simply stated: all undergraduate students in all higher education institutions should experience learning through and about research. My interest in developing students as researchers originated through explorations over the last few years into ways to enhance the linkage between teaching and discipline-based research. The conclusion to arise from that work is that one of the most effective ways to do this is to engage our students in research and inquiry; in other words, to see them as producers not just consumers of knowledge. Many undergraduate research programmes are for selected students and may well be outside the formal curriculum, eg in summer enrichment programmes. However, here it is suggested that the key to mainstreaming undergraduate research and inquiry is to integrate it into the curriculum. The workshop will explore the variety of ways in which undergraduate research and inquiry based learning are undertaken using numerous mini-case studies from different disciplines, departments and institutions in Australasia, Europe and North America.