nexus: journal of undergraduate science engineering and technology

Abstract

Graduate destination survey data from the University of Tasmania (UTas 2005a) underscore the reality that a large proportion — at one extreme 79.4% from the Bachelor of Science in 2003 — of students undertaking undergraduate degrees in the sciences do not enter the workforce upon graduation. Science degrees lead to further study at Honours, Masters, and PhD level. Thus undergraduate degrees in science are a foundation for research careers and should contain a greater proportion of research-oriented knowledge and practice than most other undergraduate degrees. At the University of Tasmania, a project was initiated in 2004 to emphasise this reliance upon research skills in the undergraduate curricula and to highlight the nexus that exists between teaching and research that is so critical to scientific scholarship and student development. The project is the first such project undertaken within Australia. This paper describes the project, which, because of its successful introduction is now an annual undertaking. The aims of the project are to provide a model and a means of consolidating, integrating, and promoting the teaching research nexus within the undergraduate science curriculum at the University of Tasmania. The project seeks to develop a model that encourages academics to incorporate learning outcomes related to information literacy, research methodology, and the effective communication of scientific research into their undergraduate units, and, to establish a journal (entitled nexus) that showcases the research undertaken by our undergraduate students. In the paper we present the methodology developed for the embedding of the journal’s requirements within the undergraduate curricula, the novel use of mentors to aid the students in their writing, the infrastructure developed to sustain the project into the future, and insights into pitfalls and their avoidance. We highlight the success of the project, describe the learning outcomes engendered directly and indirectly by the project, and indicate critical factors for ongoing success. Finally, we present preliminary results of an evaluation of the project from the three perspectives of Editorial Committee, academic staff, and students.