Academic Development Strategies for Undergraduate Students - Thesis Proposal Example

School: Topic: ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE Lecturer: Contents 0 Introduction3 1.1 Problem of the study 3 1.2 Aim and objectives 4 1.3 Motivation and significance of the study 5 1.4 Research questions 6 2.0 Background Literature 7 2.1 Best practices in academic research 8 2.2 Theoretical framework 9 3.0 Methodology 12 3.1 Research approach 12 3.2 Research strategy 13 3.3 Population and sample 13 3.4 Research instrument 14 3.5 Data collection procedure 15 3.6 Ethical consideration 15 3.7 Data analysis plan 16 References 17 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Problem of the study The academic development of students at all levels of learning, particularly the undergraduate level can be said to be multivariate responsibility involving several inputs of skills and abilities adaptation. In the light of this, it is often challenging for educators and trainers at the undergraduate level to have a single modality or strategy by which they would develop the academic competence of students (McKenzie & Schweitzer, 2001). The problem of the study therefore looks at challenge of finding the most effective and efficient way to achieving academic development. Meanwhile, studies have showed the importance of academic development programmes and activities towards the overall development of students for both academic and non-academic career orientations after graduation (Klassen, Krawchuk & Rajani, 2008). In the light of this, the need to keep researching into ways by which some of the most applicable and effective strategies can be incorporated in single schemes for academic development can be said to be necessary. When mention is made of incorporating strategies and abilities for academic development, there are some common theories, concepts and frameworks that commonly come to mind. These include collaborative learning, constructivism, and connectivism. This is because whether used individually or together, each of these three main concepts help in bringing together different strategies of learning aimed at developing students academically to have abilities necessary for both academic and non-academic careers after graduation (Robinson, Lloyd & Rowe, 2008). At the same time Hattie (2009), posited that using academic research is one of the most powerful means by which components of collaborative learning, constructivism, and connectivism can be achieved under a common umbrella. 1.2 Aim and objectives Based on the identified problem and the background given to the problem above, the study will be conducted with the aim of using academic research as an interventional strategy for academic development among undergraduate students. In order to achieve this overall aim, the following specific objectives will be pursued by the researcher: 1. To identify ways by which academic research conducted in student area of choice can be used as a means developing them academically 2. To find best practices that should be involved in the use of academic research as a strategy for academic development 3. To understand how academic research combines the concepts of collaborative learning, constructivism, and connectivism in making undergraduates more independent and useful after graduation 1.3 Motivation and significance of the study Before pursuing the proposed study, the researcher came to the realisation that there are other existing researches that have focused on academic development strategies for undergraduates. However, most of these existing studies were limited to academic performance enhancement whiles undertaking graduate courses (Hoog, J., Johansson & Olofsson, 2005; Elliot & McGregor, 2001). The weakness with such studies is that since each course at the undergraduate level has its own requirements for academic performance enhancement, it was very difficult to suggest a single learning or teaching strategy that could be used universally to achieve the aim of such studies. This gap in literature served as a motivation for the current study, which aims not to only look at academic performance in isolation but academic development in general. What this means is that instead of focusing on what the student can do in the classroom alone, the study will be focusing on the overall development of the undergraduate student under the larger university curriculum. The advantage with this approach to the study is that it transcends all areas and courses of learning as academic development is a more holistic approach to a student’s academic life (Hall, Hladkyj, Perry & Ruthig, 2004). With the study successfully completed, it is expected that students and educators will be exposed to how academic research can be used as a strategy for academic development and not just be seen as a requirement to fulfil as part of the undergraduate university curriculum. Again, by achieving academic development among undergraduates, they will be better prepared for the larger job market and independent living after school (Deci et al., 2011). 1.4 Research questions In order to effectively pursue the aim for the study, the researcher will use various data collection procedures to address the objectives set. In doing so, there are some specific questions that the data will be collected to answer. By answering the questions, the objectives can be said to be achieved due to the relation between the objectives and the questions. The research questions are thus given as follows: 1. How can research conducted in student area of choice be used as a strategy for academic development? 2. What best practices should be followed when using academic research as a strategy for academic development? 3. How does academic research fulfil the requirements collaborative learning, constructivism, and connectivism in making undergraduates more independent and useful after graduation? 2.0 Background Literature There are several works of literature that have attempted to address some of the key issues raised in the study by way of research questions and specific objectives. Below, a concise presentation is made on some available recommendations for best practices in using academic research as strategy for academic development, as well as a brief theoretical framework to cover the concepts of collaborative learning, constructivism, and connectivism. 2.1 Best practices in academic research Miller et al. (1996) observed that using academic research as a strategy for academic development is different from ordinary research tasks given to students. This is because when used as a strategy for academic development, educators become concerned with the larger academic and non-academic world of the student (Komarraju & Karau, 2005). This means that the research will not merely entail giving the student a study to look into under the course or programme of study but that build the study up as a major academic product in several areas of learning. In order to achieve this, a number of researchers and studies have outlined best practices to use. Glaze, Pervin and Maika (2007) admonished educators on the use of writing topical articles that seek to broaden and widen students’ area of thinking beyond the immediate classroom setting. McKenzie and Schweitzer (2001) on the other hand endorsed the use of seminars, conferences and forums where research articles written by students can be brainstormed and critiqued at a peer-review level. What is more, Wigfield, Hoa and Lutz (2008) elaborated on the use of technologies for learning and teaching, emphasising that globalisation has made technology based learning a drive for academic competence building. Because the larger academic and non-academic world embraces human interactions that are expected to be undertaken in the most productive environment, Tracey and Robbins (2006) recommended the use of critical discourse analysis on selected subjects. The rationale here is that this practice gives students the ability to understand and appreciate the modern global communicative discourse. what is more, the need for educators to facilitate the research learning process by correcting and guiding students with their assignments and project activities have been recommended by Halverson, Grigg, Prichett & Thomas (2005) as a useful practice. With all these best practices, the validation behind their use in building academic development is that they are able to expose students to some of the core theories and principles of holistic academic nurturing. The theories and principles are further discussed below. 2.2 Theoretical framework Three major theories and principles are considered for the proposed study, all of which are said to have foundation in academic research. The first of this is collaborative learning. Dillenbourg (1999) explained that collaborative learning takes place when two or more people learn together. Based on this explanation, it will be expected that any use of academic research for the purpose of academic development must bring together two or more people either as a pair, small group, class, community, or even a society. Again, academic research ought to be conducted with the aim of achieving the learning of a specific concept that is found useful for equipping the student not just for a course of study but the larger academic and non-academic world (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2003). In the light of this, Dillenbourg (1999) posited that learning something could follow a course, be to perform learning activities, solve problems, or learn from lifelong work practice and experience. Finally, an effective academic research done on the principle of collaborative learning is expected to be done together. To do this, educators may use either face-to-face or computer-mediated methods to ensure that parties involved in the research can always interact in an effective manner. Constructivism is another theory that has been found to be ideal for building effective academic research for academic development (Bell & Winn, 2000). Mattar (2010) explained that constructivism is used as philosophy of education when educators make time to understand and differentiate between the real and actual interests of learners, based on which they incorporate learning activities that have real relevance for each learner. In effect, constructivism is used by equating the outcomes of learning to each learner’s unique learning needs (Conole, Dyke, Oliver & Seale, 2004). When academic research is used as an intervention for academic development, the responsibility of educators in understanding the real and actual interest of learners can be achieved in real-time. This is because of diversity of activities and programmes in which the students are involved in. whiles exposed to the different activities and programmes, the real identities of the students begin to unfold as per the provisions of the constructivism theory. In most cases, connectivism is treated as a component of constructivism theories as researchers like Kerr (2007) and Kop & Hill (2008) believe it should not be seen as a new theory. For its real use however, connectivism has been explained to be preferred theory for the digital age as it embraces the use of information outside one’s primary knowledge to take action without personal learning (Matter, 2010). This means that connectivism extends the reach of information for personal learning beyond the immediate environment of the student in such a manner that in the absence of information search, there is no way a gap of learning concept can be filled. When this idea is related to the use of academic research, one gives the understanding that academic research presents an opportunity for students to be exploratory in their learning rather than passive recipients of concepts and ideas from teachers (Hattie, 2009). But more to this, it is important and appropriate that information technology (IT) will be made the centre of the research processes if indeed the provisions of connectivism can be achieved. 3.0 Methodology 3.1 Research approach As part of the proposed aim of the study, the researcher shall inductive research approach, which follows data to construct theory or knowledge (Smith, 2011). That is, the researcher shall emphasise on the collection of as many data from different sources as possible, based on the outcome of which the conclusion on the effectiveness and efficiency of the use academic research for academic development will be drawn. O’Leary (2006) found the inductive research approach to oppose the deductive approach in which the researcher is limited to the development of a hypothesis, which is later tested and examined to construct a theory. Without pinning the researcher down to any hypotheses, the inductive research approach will come with the advantage of expanding the scope and open-endedness of the study. 3.2 Research strategy Ridley (2012) identified several research strategies which tell the exact modalities used by the researcher in collecting data to test the study’s objectives. Among the lot, the researcher shall make use of action research strategy. This is a research strategy in which the researcher identifies a peculiar problem within a research setting and collaborates with people affected by the problem to solve it (Riley et al., 2010). Solving the problem often requires the use of an intervention, in which case will be the use of academic research. The intervention will be used to solve the problem of poor progression with student academic development. Action research is selected with the rational that it relates directly with the principles and provisions of academic research, which require collaborative learning. 3.3 Population and sample The action research will be staged in a selected university in Saudi Arabia. The focus of the study will be the undergraduate students, a population of which is expected to produce 100s of potential participants. In the light of this, a sample size will be used to limit the study to only one class. It is expected that the average class size will comprise 40 undergraduate students. This will be done so that the researcher can have enough personal interaction and encounter with all respondents. Once the class has been selected, a random sampling technique will be used to divide the sample into two groups of 20 students. One group will be labelled as the experimental group and the other as the test group. As part of the provisions of the actions, the researcher will later administer the intervention on the experimental group and test its effect on the test group (Sapsford & Jupp, 2006). 3.4 Research instrument The research instrument will be the tool to be used by the researcher in collecting data for the study (Yin, 2009). Based on the provisions of the study, two major instruments will be used at two major stages of the study. The first will be the academic research toolkit, which will largely comprise focused group research activities involving topical article writing, seminars, forums, critical discourse analysis conferences, and feedback session. All these research activities will be conducted based on a research subject area that is of interest to participants. The academic research toolkit will be used at the intervention stage. After the intervention has been implemented, the researcher will develop a questionnaire based on different academic development outcomes in some of the studies reviewed in literature. With the questionnaire, it will be possible to measure the academic development achievement attained in the experimental group as against those who did not receive the intervention. 3.5 Data collection procedure Fisher (2010) posited that for the best results in an action research, it is ideal to camp participants when applying the intervention. This ensures that the researcher can monitor the effective delivery and implementation of the intervention. In this instance however, camping the students will be difficult and so a similar procedure that involve a lot of monitoring will be used. Once the activities within the toolkit has been made known to the participants, two days within the week will be set for 12 consecutive weeks, on which each day will see the performance of a specific activity. Because of the need to promote collaborative learning, each of sessions will take place in a group form among the participants in a large auditorium where they will be seen interacting and engaging each other in the named activities under the supervision of the researcher. Where field projects will be involved, participants will be grouped and made to collect data together. 3.6 Ethical consideration The major ethical considerations to be made when performing the study will include the need to seek official permission, guarantee confidentiality of data, and promote anonymity of findings. First, the researcher shall present an introductory letter signed by authorities of the awarding university to the targeted university. After permission has been granted, the researcher will then prepare a consent form to be presented to the participants of the study. In the consent form, the researcher will guarantee that participants will be identified only by codes which focus on whether they are members of the experimental group of test group. This will be done to ensure anonymity of information collected. What is more, respondents will not have to identify themselves with any personal details when filling the questionnaire. The researcher shall also ensure that participation in the study is strictly voluntary and that participants can exit the study at any point they find convenient. 3.7 Data analysis plan Once the intervention has been implemented, questionnaires will be analysed based on outcomes with academic development variables between members of the two groups. Some of the variables will include group working skills, independent working skills, communication skills, leadership skills, team spirit, cognitive acquisition competence, behavioural skills, job market readiness, and management skills. 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Yin, R. K. (2009). Case Study Research Design and Methods, London: SAGE. Read More