Description

The module is designed to replicate for undergraduates the typical experiences of an early career researcher, and to equip them with some of the necessary skills to be effective in such a role. Outside this narrower field the module will also offer undergraduates the chance to work as independent researchers, loosely affiliated to other researchers at Monash and Warwick, and in doing so will allow them to practice key employability skills in an environment where risk and failure are to be expected.

Students will attend 5 weekly workshops in the autumn term in which experts will share their knowledge of research at Warwick and Monash. During this period students will be expected to devise their own individual research project and prepare a formal, assessed (but dummy) submission to a funder or funders. This element of the module will be assessed. In week 6 of the autumn term students will travel to either Kyushu or Singapore to meet with Monash colleagues where they will stage a symposium or series of workshops in which they will share their experiences and discuss their projects. Students will keep a reflective journal, which will be the second element in the formal assessment of the work.

The research project itself must be problem-based as opposed to disciplinary.

The module will, therefore:

• Help students to grasp abstract and complex ideas from a range of disciplines (=multidisciplinary), and to synthesize these into thoughtful intellectual responses (=interdiciplinary), that lead students to insights that may lie beyond the scope of a single discipline (=transdisciplinary).
• Help students understand the symbiotic potential of traditionally distinct disciplines.
• Engage students fully with ‘active’ learning. It will be faithful to the notion that participation and experiential learning foster a deeper understanding of complex material.
• Enhance and consolidate students’ academic and research abilities, while also stimulating team-work and collaboration, thus creating a pool of transferable skills that students can acquire and practice.
• Make productive links between theoretical ideas and practical applications.

The module’s first session will be a 1-hour workshop on June 28th, shared with Monash students.

Structure

After the introductory sessions in June students will receive updates over the summer from their counterparts in Monash, formally, via briefings, reports, and skills sesssions that will be uploaded to shared areas. We hope, also, that students at Warwick and Monash will share informally. Contact hours in Term 1 of 2017/18 will occur in 5 two/three-hour sessions in which the convenor will be present to faciltate interactions between experts and students.

Week 1 (2 October): Research evaluation: student peer review.

Week 2 (9 October): Liese Perrin, Research Support Services: Writing Successful Grant Applications.

Week 3 (16 October): Student-led session: contributions from established student researchers.

Week 4 (23 October): Caroline Gibson and Emma Barker, IATL. Publishing and presenting undergraduate research.

Week 5 (30 October): Dr Kate Astbury, French. Success and failure in research funding in the arts and humanities.

Please follow this link to the module's research survey which is intended to allow us to place you in contact with those from Monash with similar interests: Research Survey

 

Module Convenor

Dr Nicholas Monk (IATL)
Nicholas dot Monk at warwick dot ac dot uk

When

Term 1 (autumn) 2017-18 (weeks 1-5)
Mondays, 10:00-13:00

Where

Humanities Studio

Assessment

For 15 CATS

Funding application (40%)

Reflective journal of up to 5,000 words (60%)

For 12 CATS

Funding application (40%)

Reflective journal of up to 4,000 words (60%)