Creating great student experiences in biomedical education research

Abstract

Over recent years, we have often been asked about the logistics of having science students undertaking education research projects within our disciplines. Questions have ranged from how we design teaching and learning projects for them, to how we convince our Honours/Research committees to let us. However, the most important part of having science students undertake education research is what the students gain from it. In the ACSME 2019 BEAN discipline day we will present a workshop on this topic: how and why we have research students undertaking education projects within our science disciplines, how we design projects with appropriate scope for an undergraduate research, Honours or a PhD project. This will include a panel discussion by former students describing their stories of the student experience - why they chose to do it, what they got from it and where they went afterward. We will bring together academics supervising such students and their former students to discuss the logistics of project design, the joys and pitfalls of scientists and science students doing education research, and the experiences of former students both during and after their projects.