Enhancing quality learning through experiences of research-based learning: implications for academic development

Research into undergraduate research and inquiry in Australian universities was conducted during an Australian Learning and Teaching Council National Teaching Fellowship. In this paper we share experiences of this project as a student and an academic, reflecting on key challenges, including undergraduate research as an immersion experience for students; negotiating changing staff–student relationships; funding implications; and institutional challenges. We argue that academic developers have a key role in informing institutional policy concerning the integration of research and inquiry and interpreting the spirit of this for the academic community, bridging the divide between research staff and teaching staff, making links between research and teaching committees, changing academics' attitudes about the value and implications of undergraduate research, working with research staff on teaching and learning issues, and making available to staff resources to facilitate undergraduate research implementation. Keywords: undergraduate researchorganisational changestudent engagement Acknowledgements We wish to acknowledge the support of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council who funded the National Teaching Fellowship that provided the basis of the work discussed in this paper. An earlier version of the article was presented at the 2010 Conference of the International Consortium for Educational Development.