Exploring the potential of using undergraduates’ knowledge, skills and experience in research methods as a proxy for capturing learning gain

Abstract

Learning gain is a politicised concept within contemporary HE, and as such has been aligned with agendas of teaching excellence and learning outcomes but the extent to which it captures actual learning has yet to be clarified. Here, we report the outcomes of a learning gain study which examines how students' knowledge, skills and experiences as researchers develops throughout their studies. We examine data from a self-reporting survey administered across a university and college-based HE providers during students' second year of undergraduate study. The data highlight disciplinary differences in student engagement with research methods and the significance of perceived relevance of research methods to students' learning. These findings do have a bearing on the development of measures of learning gain as they are demonstrating the complexity of capturing student learning across disciplines. Our findings can be employed to develop a method of capturing learning gain that can be integrated into undergraduates' research methods education.

Making sense of learning gain in higher education

“…The emphasis should not be about promoting homogeneity, it should be concerned with maximising learning and teaching effectiveness in specific contexts which may or may not be generalisable to wider populations (Powell et al, 2018). As noted by Turner et al (2018) 'It is unlikely that there will be a single solution, and institutions will need to adapt and contextualise any learning gain measure that they employ'. Effective pedagogical approaches to measuring learning gain require a comprehensive understanding of local contexts, the idiosyncratic nature, composition, and needs of the student population, the core requirements of the discipline, and how best to teach and assess those requirements.…”

“…• Kuh (2008) and Kuh, O'Donnell, and Schneider (2017), and the development of student research skills (see Turner et al, 2018).…”

“…In designing potential learning gain measures, disciplinary nuances must be attended to. For example, Turner et al (2018) found 'The differential framing of research methods in disciplines shape[d] students' pedagogical engagement with research methods, . .…”

Student perspectives on learning research methods in the social sciences

“…Student insights greatly enrich studies of undergraduate research methods pedagogy (Rand 2016;Hosein and Rao 2017;Turner et al 2018) and while there is a literature on student learning at advanced levels this is limited in terms of showing 'what student learning looks like' (Earley 2014, 248). As Deem and Lucas (2006, 4) argue, compared to the focus on what to teach and even how, there has been 'rather less emphasis on how learning to do research occurs'.…”

Innovative Technologies In Legal Education Of The Students Of Non-Legal Specialties

“…The search for new teaching methods is continuously in process in the modern scientific and pedagogical community. So, innovative in higher education became the concept of "Learning gain", discussed in terms of the distance traveled by a student, became innovative in higher education (Turner, Sutton, Muneer, Gray, Schaefer, & Swain, 2018). The concept of "Learning gain" is explored in different perspectives and correlations by Schleicher (2016), McGrath, Guerin, Harte, Frearson, & Manville (2015 and others.…”