1. Dr Diana Pritchard (Centre for Learning Excellence) Steve Kendall (Academic Partnerships Office) Faith Manthenga (2 nd Yr Department of Management and Business Systems) University of Bedfordshire

2.  UoB an Access Institution  Students with limited experience of professional workplaces  Employability: priority for students and UoB  Limited understanding of impact of UG research on student employability  Surge of interest in HE sector to engage students as learning partners What ways might UG research (be understood to) enhance student employability in a WP context? =Pilot (summer) Student Researchship Started June 2014

3.  academics  students  Centre for Learning Excellence (CLE)  Academic Partnerships Office With a sustainability focus…around research and teaching interests of academics (who volunteered)

4.  how sustainability is relevant to disciplines, student interest and employability  elements for curriculum design  ways that UG research may enhance student employability and career perspectives  approaches and support mechanisms to foment research culture in the UG curriculum  develop cross-disciplinary exchanges and academic-student collaboration  the feasibility of replication of this model

5.  Recognition of sustainability skills within the academic research environment (Dept Management & Business Systems)  Employability skills for sustainable constructio n (Dept Construction & Science Technologies)  Molecular sampling techniques on aquatic communities relevant to biodiversity and environmental change theory (Dept Life Sciences) Selection criteria: 1 through competitive process; 2 targeted (1 for prior interest in sustainability, 1 for potential) Selected: 3 women, 2 mature, all with caring responsibilities Paid at the living wage of £7.65 per hour <£2,000,

6.  Different learning approaches (scheduled, guided and independent learning; peer assisted; participatory and co-created ; learning across disciplines)  Data collection: laboratory work; reading; designing and implementing questionnaires, workshops, focus groups; conducting interviews  Analysis and evaluation: with mentors, in group meetings and discussions to review progress and evaluate experience; during informal exchanges with other students  Dissemination via written and oral presentations to fellow students and institution-wide, and ‘bridging back’ to ‘feeder colleges’  Critical reflection on research learning via entries and responses to blog * This combination renders the pilot distinct from UG dissertations

7. Focus groups with fellow students

8. Dealing with some challenging questions

10.  Sustainability*involves common understandings, but different skills and is best achieved through participatory approaches, direct practices, and visits  UG research appears to enhance student employability/career perspectives: Rosie: “This pilot gave me the confidence to give up my menial jobs and start thinking proactively about working on projects that are at the core of my personal interest…. so this has been an invaluable focuser.” Esra: “This..has opened my eyes to many job and career options. I know now I don’t want to work in a laboratory but am already preparing to put through some applications for companies recruiting”. * It is less relevant to expand on this aspect for this presentation

11.  UG research appears to enhance student employability/career perspectives: subject knowledge, technical and research skills acquired reinforced and expanding learning direct academic benefits and fuels aspirations soft skills acquired and developed AND transformed self-esteem and social confidence boosted ambitions  “Oh no, not critical reflection”: we all developed skill to monitor and evaluate effectiveness, a valuable tool in personal and professional process (Schön, 1983)  Forged further institutional experience of academic- students collaboration

12.  Gained students access to quality interactions with professionals  Activities enhanced confidence and developed sense of agency  Increased student appreciation of the value their life skills  Raised career aspirations  Suggests ways to develop our WP practice : Access to research, not just teaching  Students as co-creators implies shifting notion of learning “from an acquisition model to one of participation.. and active engagement” (Dawson et al 2014): Particularly beneficial in WP contexts?  Enhanced student experience Ref: M. Dawson, F. Cook, A. Lambton (2014), Active Engagement Strategies: Students as Co-Creators of Knowledge, 6 th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies, 7-9 July.

13.  Particular value for summer period Yr 2/3  Appropriate selection process to recruit student  Funding and time resource intense  Support by academics deflects from their own research endeavours  Enthusiasm is key for UG research: “No formulaic combination of activities optimizes the research outcome, nor should providers structure their programs differently for unique racial/ethnic minorities or women. Rather, it seems that the inculcation of enthusiasm is the key” (Russell et al, 2007).  Alternatively, what elements can be delivered for broader benefits? Ref: Susan H. Russell, Mary P. Hancock, James McCullough (2007) Benefits of Undergraduate Research Experiences. Education Forum. Science, 27 April. Vol 316.