The Collaborative Research Model: Student Learning Teams in Undergraduate Research

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Further Information (Note: Links open in a new browser window or tab.)

“Gullible’s Travels” by Marylaine Block.

“Encouraging Engagement and Inquiry in Research Papers” in John Bean’s Engaging Ideas ( PDF File).

Roles for Researchers

These roles and their accompanying broadly stated problems for deliberation are adapted from John Bean ¹, who credits an unpublished handout by Jack Folsom, with suitability to the Collaborative Research Model in mind.

In addition to using the roles and examples to guide the ways that you develop assignments, try discussing them with students as a starting point to discover what they do and don’t know about exploring an issue. Note that the research problem that you develop with or for your students will require a bit more detail to support a successful project, and that your students' ultimate role should be that of reasoned decision-maker.

Synthesizer of current best thinking on a problem. “What genetic or environmental mechanisms enable salmon to return to their original spawning grounds?”

Problem-solving detective or critical analyst. “What was it like to be an orphan in Indiana, 1875-1920?” “To what, if any, extent has the exclusionary rule 'handcuffed' the police?”

Original field or laboratory researcher. “What is the value of a 'ropes course' experience for improving team-building behaviors in work groups?” “What is the effect of tank size on the survival, growth, and production of larval gobiosoma bosc?” “What effect has a recent TV advertising campaign for product X had on buying patterns of consumers?”

Reviewer of a controversy. “What are the issues in decision making for a single-payer health care system?” “What are the issues in decision making for creating a five-year undergraduate curriculum?” “What are the issues in taxation of gambling venues owned and operated by Native tribes?”

Advocate in a controversy. “Should the United States create a constitutional amendment to define and limit marriage?” “Should US healthcare insurance providers be required to allow for prescriptions to be filled through Canadian pharmaceutical companies?”

Analytical Thinker Positioned in a Critical Conversation. “What would be the effect on consumer credit card debt of switching from federal income taxes to federal consumption taxes?”