Sowing the seeds of collaborative curiosity : fostering academic research skills in pre-bachelor creative arts students

Abstract

Conducting and presenting academic research is an acquired craft. Most students who enter higher education have no previous experience in the research domain, and many spend the first semester (or more) of their bachelor degree grappling with the nature and scope of this new challenge. Much of the course content in students’ first semester is lost in the shuffle of coming to grips with tertiary study itself.

To address this, efforts are underway to arm students with fundamental research skills before they begin their degree. In a pre-bachelor certificate programme at Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland, New Zealand, creative arts students have been given a simple system to learn how to engage in and present academic research. Using a suite of online tools, the students collaborate to develop a team research question, perform the research, and present their findings and conclusions.

The research process is demystified for them and they are empowered with new skills and knowledge around how to channel their natural curiosity into an academic framework. Along the way, they also develop presentation skills as well as becoming familiar with using tools for remote collaboration. This paper will discuss the students’ journey through the course and will share insight into the value to students of beginning a bachelor degree pre-armed with basic research skills.