The Research Project Study: Design and Methodology - School of ...

Undergraduate Learning in Science Project Working Paper 2The Research Project Study: Design andMethodologyAbstractThe Undergraduate Learning In Science Project (ULISP) started at theUniversity of Leeds in September 1994. Project members include educationalresearchers, lecturing staff within various science departments and others withinterests in teaching and learning at the undergraduate level. The aim of theProject is to inform understanding of science teaching and learning at theundergraduate level, through a variety of research activities.The Research Project Study was a two year ULISP research investigation intofinal year undergraduates experiences during project work. The results of thisresearch study are reported in ULISP working papers 2 to 8.This paper describes the design and methodology of the research project study.A case is made for the action research design of the study, and the collection ofdata in the particular context of final year research projects. The methodologicalstrengths and limitations of the study are discussed. Finally, the interviewschedules used for data collection with both students and supervisors arepresented and justified.AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to thank all of the many science lecturers and sciencestudents who have contributed to the work of the Undergraduate Learning inScience Project.Groups in departments were coordinated by:Prof. Joe CannDr. Alan RadfordProf. Steve ScottDr. Ed WoodDepartment of Earth SciencesDepartment of GeneticsDepartment of ChemistryDepartment of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology