Developing undergraduate research and inquiry

Developing undergraduate research and inquiry
Mick Healey and Alan Jenkins: June 2009

Extract: "The Academy (http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/) is very pleased to present this piece of work, commissioned as part of the series looking at the relationship between teaching and research. Mick Healey and Alan Jenkins build on their already substantial contribution in this area by focusing on undergraduates’ engagement in research and inquiry... They suggest here a fundamental conceptual shift from the notion of students as a passive audience for the research output of individual academics, to the idea of students as active stakeholders in a research community in which their experience of research within the core curriculum mirrors that of their lecturers...

In particular, the paper stems from the United States undergraduate research movement, which started by providing research opportunities for selected students in selected institutions. We argue, as does much recent US experience, that such curricular experience should and can be mainstreamed for all or many students through a research-active curriculum. We argue that this can be achieved through structured interventions at course team, departmental, institutional and national levels. The argument is complemented by a large selection of mini case studies, drawn particularly from the UK, North America and Australasia."

Geary Summer Internships

I will be available to supervise a small number of summer internship positions in the Geary Institute this summer, from late June onwards.

Candidates will receive 200 euro weekly stipend for the internship, which will last approximately 8 weeks, and will participate fully in the research activity of the Institute. The Institute has housed many talented students and researchers over the last decade and this is a good opportunity to gain valuable paid experience in a busy research environment. Successful candidates will be fully trained in key research areas and will be given wide scope to develop their own research interests through interaction with Institute staff. Candidates must be registered for a full or part-time recognised academic programme. Due to current restrictions on the issuing of work permits for Ireland, and the associated costs, available positions are only available to candidates legally entitled to take up paid employment in Ireland

Candidates ideally will be undergraduate or Masters students working in psychology, economics or cognate areas. We will give strong preference to candidates (i) with very high grades (ii) strong quantitative skills (iii) strong intrinsic interest in research (iv) strong desire to gain relevant research experience (v) specific interests in behavioural economics. Candidates should send a CV and cover letter outlining how you might benefit from being here to Emma.Barron@ucd.ie before March 31st 2011. Candidates who have already submitted a CV and cover letter to the general intern programme will be considered but you should feel free to resubmit your CV if it has been updated. We will let people know in the first week of April. We regret that limited funding means we cannot help in any way with relocation or accommodation costs.

Projects will include, but are not limited to: helping to design experiments to test the effect of the automatic enrollment provision in the new pension framework on overall participation; assisting in the building of a historical health database to pinpoint key drivers of 20th century Irish mortality rates (see key paper here); designing surveys to examine the economic determinants of well-being (see example of this work here); designing experiments to ascertain how people interpret economic quantities (see example of this work here).

The University

University College Dublin is a large and diverse university whose origin dates back to 1854. There are over 20,000 students based in five colleges. The University strives to achieve the highest standards in the advancement of knowledge through research and scholarly publications. It communicates that knowledge to successive generations of students through excellence in teaching. The University also makes an active contribution to the interests and development of the wider community - regional, national and international. The university is situated on a large modern campus about 4km to the south of the centre of Dublin. Further information on the University is available at www.ucd.ie .

The Geary Institute

The Geary Institute (formerly the Institute for the Study of Social Change) was established at University College Dublin in 1999 as a centre for political, economic and sociological research. The activity of the Institute is organised around research programmes involving researchers from the Schools of Economics, Politics and International Relations, Law, Public Health and Population Science from throughout the University, from other research groups in Ireland, and key strategic partnerships throughout Europe and the US. The Irish Social Science Data Archive (ISSDA) is also part of the Institute, an invaluable resource for the social science community in Ireland. The Institute is housed within a new building on the Belfield campus which provides up to date facilities for graduate students, staff and research visitors, as well as a seminar room, library, boardroom and common room. The Institute is directed by Professor Colm Harmon and the Institute Manager is Susan Butler. See www.ucd.ie/geary for more information.

Otak Otak: placing students in high-quality internships

I can tell you from personal experience that getting a good internship in Malaysia is hard. There is no easy way to discern the good from the bad, and very few companies even have actual internship programmes. Those few that do tend to offer mixed results, with interns often feeling they are an afterthought and an adjunct to the organisation's work. (When I talk with friends who intern at local banks, they often have more stories to tell about running the photocopiers and buying kuih than they do about actual finance-related work.)

Of course, where there's a problem, there's an opportunity. Some friends have set up Otak Otak, a project to match qualified interns with good companies, and provide structure to the internship programmes. They are currently looking for companies interested in hiring competent interns for a month or two, as well as interested students looking for internship opportunities in Malaysia. The website is otak2.com; more details after the jump.

Otak-Otak : An Elite Internship Program for Future Malaysian Leaders

What is it : Otak-Otak is a highly selective leadership program for interns to be held during the June - July 2011 period. We are looking to accept 50 top students and place them in leading organisations across 4 sectors in Malaysia - the corporate sector, small businesses, goverment, and the non profit realm. All interns will have access to events most evenings after work (networking, site visits, training from corporates), and also share common accomodation - with regular sharing and development sessions planned.

Why it's important : This is a unique oppurtunity for students to participate in a highly selective program of its kind and share experiences with other students who are going through the same program. It will be the first year (of many to come) for a very innovative program that will allow young Malaysians to work at top companies across KL and at the same time be part of a larger group.

How to Apply : Application details and more program information can be found at www.otak2.com