Research as Learning: the Reinvention Centre for undergraduate research

Pete Smith, Department of Planning
Marion Temple, Department of Real Estate and Construction,
School of the Built Environment

Introduction

The Research as Learning CETL at Oxford Brookes is hosted within the School of the Built Environment and is a joint partnership with the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick.

The recent Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning (FDTL) project ‘Linking Research and Teaching in Planning, Property Management and Construction’ in the school served as the intellectual foundation upon which the CETL was built. This FDTL project was reflected in the inclusion of explicit links between teaching and research within the 2003/04 Undergraduate Modular Programme redesign for semesterisation. The CETL reinvigorates our student-centred focus upon research within teaching, reflecting the school’s acknowledged excellence in both teaching and research.

Second year undergraduate research focus

The CETL is centred upon second year undergraduate research activities. These are important in the light of evidence that students feel lacking in support to undertake their final year dissertation/projects, for instance evidence collected through colleagues concerned with learning support here in the University.

The CETL activities will help to engender creative and analytic skills within undergraduate students. This should help to enhance graduate employability in the information economy where research and information management are increasingly vital competencies for the professional.

The Reinvention Centre

The CETL takes its title from the American drive to reinvent undergraduate education through increased exposure to research activities. The newly refurbished Reinvention Centre will be visible on part of the second floor of the Abercrombie building at Gipsy Lane by early 2007. Meanwhile, temporary office accommodation for the centre has just opened at Lloyd 501a.

CETL activities

The CETL will be stimulating activities within the second year undergraduate curriculum in relation to research starting during 2005/06 in the School of the Built Environment and then reaching out across the wider University as the CETL matures. The outcomes of CETL activities seek to emphasise ways in which the CETL can help busy academic staff and busy students, such as a planned “50 different ways to enhance research in your module”.

The CETL aims to use undergraduate research as a vehicle for strengthening links between the University and the community.

It will be interesting to look at the differences and similarities across subjects at Brookes over the timescale of the CETL funding and fascinating to compare the Brookes experience with that at our partner institution, Warwick University. We are genuinely very excited about the CETL and look forward to sharing its progress with you in the near future.