Please join us in congratulating Vanessa Lawrence who successfully defended her M.A. Thesis on September 27 of 2024.
Title:
An Exploration of How Science Faculty Construct “Scientific Research” in First Year Undergraduate Teaching
Abstract:
This thesis investigates the construction of “scientific research” in first-year undergraduate natural science courses. Building on literature examining the research-teaching nexus, this study focuses on research-oriented teaching, where the research process is the focus of instruction and students are not actively participating in research. The researcher examines how faculty explicitly and implicitly construct “scientific research” for students entering the academy, and how that construction is impacted by assumptions about teaching, research, and students. This is achieved through a multiple-case study of three courses, allowing comparison between teaching in the mainstream science curriculum and in specialized programs for first-year science students.
The study concludes that the construction of “scientific research” is highly differentiated depending upon whether teaching research is an explicit outcome or component of a course. The depiction of research faculty aim for students to hold in courses which directly address research is more complex and complete.. Teaching perspectives and practices used by faculty to construct research in first-year courses did not seem to align strongly with enculturation or induction into a community of practice, as posited in the literature. However, findings suggested that faculty teaching of research may vary across different stages or years of undergraduate study. Additionally, in these courses which explicitly teach research, faculty are able to recognize and address misconceptions of science research which students hold when entering undergraduate study. For students who do not encounter explicit teaching of research in their undergraduate studies, these misconceptions may remain unaddressed, and could possibly be reinforced if students participate in undergraduate research experiences.
University Examiners:
Dr. Cynthia Nicol (Educational Curriculum & Pedagogy (EDCP))
Supervisory Committee:
Dr. André Mazawi (Supervisor)
Dr. Marina Milner-Bolotin (Member)
