Title: Students as researchers: towards redefining undergraduate projects

Authors: Suki Honey; Asiya Khan; Richard Pemberton; Priska Schoenborn; Andrew Edward-Jones

Addresses: University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK ' School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, University of Plymouth, Room 101 Reynolds, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK ' School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, University of Plymouth, Room 009 Reynolds, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK ' Teaching and Learning Support, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK ' Doctoral College, University of Plymouth, Level 3, Link Block, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to collect evidence of success and identify areas of good practice that can enable the process of re-defining undergraduate projects and lead to peer-review publications through student-staff collaborations. A pilot study was conducted with ten participants from STEM and non-STEM backgrounds. Based on the response and feedback, the questionnaire was revised and sent to a number of internal and external peers mainly in STEM. Twenty eight responses were received. Finally, four focus groups were hosted - two with five internal members of staff and two with nine undergraduate students studying civil and mechanical engineering at the University of Plymouth. The findings show that the majority of undergraduate student projects resulting in publications were jointly chosen by tutors and students and positively impacted on student learning. The emphasis was on good quality data collection by the students. The biggest barrier identified was the time commitment required by staff to convert student reports to publishable papers.

Keywords: student projects; engineering; undergraduate research; peer-reviewed publications.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCEELL.2022.124948

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, 2022 Vol.32 No.4, pp.506 - 538

Received: 14 Aug 2019
Accepted: 09 Jun 2020

Published online: 18 Aug 2022 *

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