Linking teaching and research in an undergraduate course and exploring student learning experiences

ABSTRACT

In this case study, we first describe how teaching and research are linked in a master’s course on tissue engineering. A central component of the course is an authentic research project that the students carry out in smaller groups and in collaboration with faculty. We then explore how the students experience learning in this kind of discovery-oriented environment. Data were collected through a survey, reflective writing, and interviews. Using a general inductive approach for qualitative analysis, we identified three themes related to the students’ learning experiences: learning to navigate the field, learning to do real research, and learning to work with others. Overall, the students strongly valued learning in a discovery-oriented environment and three aspects of the course contributed to much of its success: taking a holistic approach to linking teaching and research, engaging students in the whole inquiry process, and situating authentic problems in an authentic physical and social context.

KEYWORDS:

• Teaching–research nexus
• undergraduate research
• inquiry-based learning
• tissue engineering

Acknowledgements

We are deeply indebted to all the students in this study for sharing their time and experiences.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Patric Wallin is a PhD candidate in Bioscience with a specialisation in Educational Science. He is working in the Division of Biological Physics at Chalmers University of Technology, and is associated with the Division of Engineering Education Research (EER). He has tutored projects in the Tissue Engineering course for several years. Patric’s research interests in the EER field are focused around UREs, communities of practice, and situated cognition. He is particularly interested in the progress and development processes students experience in these learning situations.

Tom Adawi is Professor in Engineering Education Research (EER) and is heading the Division of EER at Chalmers University of Technology. He is the Chair of the Nordic Network of Engineering Education Research (NNEER) and his research interests include students’ understanding of threshold concepts in science and engineering, the interplay between and the development of conceptual/mathematical understanding, the scholarship of teaching and learning, as well as theoretical and methodological issues in EER.

Julie Gold is Associate Professor at the Division of Biological Physics at Chalmers University of Technology and is vice head of the Department of Applied Physics responsible for graduate education. Her research is within the fields of biomaterials and tissue engineering, with particular focus on cell–material surface interactions. She created and heads the Biomaterials & Tissue engineering track of the Biotechnology Masters Program. Julie started the Tissue Engineering course in 2005, together with Paul Gatenholm, and has continued to develop, teach, and examine the course since then.

ORCID details

Patric Wallin http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6222-8543

Notes

1. The results from the quantitative part of the course evaluation are reported in Wallin, Gold, and Adawi (2013).

Additional information

Funding

We also gratefully acknowledge the financial support by Chalmers University of Technology.