Students in Research Placements as Part of Professional Degrees: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

The current emphasis of government is on research that shows engagement and impact. At the same time, there is a focus on Work Integrated Learning [WIL] in tertiary education, however, in an increasingly neoliberal climate of resource constraints, it can be difficult to provide sufficient quality placement opportunities. Student research placements are an opportunity to support the engagement and impact agenda and fill the scarcity of placements. In order to explore the viability of, challenges of, and insights about research placements a systematic literature review covering the years 2008–2017 was undertaken. Findings highlight beneficial learning outcomes for students but reporting in the identified studies scarcely considers the outcomes for organisations, supervisors and academics, or the impact of the research. The discussion highlights the need to establish student research placements systematically and to report on the outcomes.

IMPLICATIONS

• Research placements provide beneficial learning opportunities to students.

• Research placements require established relationships and collaboration and need to be organised systematically.

• Very few studies reported on the outcomes of the research and more detailed reporting of the research impact is needed.

政府目前强调研究要显示参与与影响。同时在高等教育中突出工学一体。不过在资源有限、新自由主义气氛日浓的气氛下，提供优质的安排实属不易。学生的研究实习不失为一个机会，可以支持参及影响的计划，拾遗补缺。为了探讨研究实习是否可行、会有什么挑战、关于此问题都有哪些见解，本文对2008年至2017年的文献做了系统的爬梳。我们发现了对于学生有益的学习结果，但那些文献却不大考虑对于组织、指导者及学术界的结果，即研究的影响。因此，需要系统地规划学生实习并报告其结果。

KEYWORDS:

• Research
• Engagement
• Impact
• Work Integrated Learning [WIL]
• Placement
• Field Education

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Ines Zuchowski http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1270-203X

Komla Tsey http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8576-9588