Harald A. Mieg

Dominique Galli

Angela Brew

Elizabeth Ambos

Judith Lehmann

Undergraduate Research (UR) can be defined as an investigation into a specific topic within a discipline by an undergraduate student that makes an original contribution to the field. It has become a major consideration among research universities around the world, in order to advance both academic teaching and research productivity. Edited by an international team of world authorities in UR, this Handbook is the first truly comprehensive and systematic account of undergraduate research, which brings together different international approaches, with attention to both theory and practice. It is split into sections covering different countries, disciplines, and methodologies. It also provides an overview of current research and theoretical perspectives on undergraduate research as well as future developmental prospects of UR. Written in an engaging style, yet wide-ranging in its scope, it is essential reading for anyone wishing to broaden their understanding of how undergraduate research is implemented worldwide.

The Cambridge Handbook of Undergraduate Research

Increasingly, new academics are entering higher education without conventional research training and without a clear idea of what research actually involves. This is particularly true of academics who enter from having spent time in a profession including many in the newer disciplines. In addition, institutions of higher education which do not have a tradition of research are increasingly competing for research funding. The Nature of Research looks at this background and discusses what is wrong with academic research and discusses what is wrong with academic research today, what needs to change for it to survive, how to allow new kinds of research to flourish, directions for future action and how academic research can teach us to live in today's complex and uncertain society. The aim of the book, then, is to provide a stimulus to thinking about the nature and role of research with a view to considering what might be appropriate in the next century. Since research is so central to university life, looking at research will tell us much about what the university of the future might be like.

Inquiry in Academic Contexts

The Nature of Research

Judyth Sachs

This unique collection shows what happens when one university takes on the challenge of developing the scholarship of teaching and learning with a view to enhancing students' learning experiences. Authors from the sciences, engineering, humanities and social sciences, and from the health sciences, demonstrate the research they have done to investigate their students' learning. The editors, Angela Brew and Judyth Sachs, have captured the intricacies of teaching and learning in different academic domains in this rich and varied collection. The book explores students' responses to contemporary art, to multicultural music and to architecture for the poor and dispossessed. It explores students' ability to transfer mathematical knowledge from one subject to another; how students learn to talk like a pharmacist, or understand basic concepts in physics; how students are prepared for university study in first year classes or in the operating theatre; how they learn to write like a scientist; how they learn in online discussions and how they understand group work and group assessment. Each chapter is grounded in rigorous research and scholarship and indicates actions that have been taken to improve teaching and students' learning. This book is a remarkable demonstration of scholarly teaching practice from a single institution. It should be read by all teachers and managers in higher and tertiary education institutions interested in developing teaching and learning.

Angela Brew

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