SISB4 - Education as Research!

Dr Kevin Byron, Independent Consultant

In recent years there has been a rapid growth in alternative approaches to teaching and learning such as the flipped classroom, small group teaching, and problem based learning in both Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses. These novel approaches represent a shift from a more passive form of acquiring knowledge to an active one that has a lot in common with doing research.This represents an opportunity for researcher developers to broaden their remit of offerings in HE, and this session will outline -with reference to the RDF - the specific skills already in place for Ph.Ds that could be of benefit to both teachers and students at undergraduate level.  Furthermore the importance to researcher developers of an awareness of the creative historical context in research disciplines will be discussed as a remedy for issues of engagement experienced by both undergraduates and early stage researchers. This is especially important for alleviating the effects of the emotional roller-coaster experienced by many 1st year Ph.Ds and students in the sciences who experience difficulties with 'hard' concepts. The ideas discussed are also particularly relevant to the agenda for equipping students with skills and knowledge required in industry and commerce.