Engaging Coursework Masters Students in Research: An event for Victoria & Tasmania, hosted by Monash University

Are your Coursework Masters students alienated by substantial research requirements of the program because they do not yet have the skills and knowledge required?
Do they think that research belongs on another planet?
Are you facing problems with enabling Masters students to engage rigorously with research experiences?

Then register for Engaging Coursework Masters Students in Research (Victoria & Tasmania), Wednesday 26 November, where we will use the research Skill Development framework (RSD) as the conceptual launchpad for discussions and for developing resources that fit your context.

Register via this link:https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7YXJXV9

The program for the day is:
Session 1 (9.00-10.00 am): Research skills relevant for Masters students
Session 2 (10.00-10.45 am): Participants’ experiences, current structures, examples
Session 3 (11.15-12.00 am): Planning an overview of your Masters program with RSD
Session 4 (12.00-1.00 pm): Planning individual courses with RSD
Session 5 (2.00-3.15 pm): Giving Masters students the vibe for engaging in research
Session 6 (3.15-4.00 pm): Planning the continuance of the Victorian cluster

See the flyer for the event Flyer_RSD_Masters_Victoria_cluster-final

The RSD website has plenty of discipline-specific applications www.rsd.edu.au

Archive Links for Webinars on RSD for Masters by Coursework

In Australia, many universities have recently included major research components or capstones in coursework Masters programs. For many disciplines, this is a very different approach compared to previous Masters coursework structures, and not always a welcome one because they are imposed by the Australian Qualifications framework (AQF) at Level 9. This level specifies that masters programs enable students to ‘plan and execute a substantial research based project, capstone experience and/or piece of scholarship’.

A ‘substantial research’ component would be more advantageous if students are prepared by masters courses in the semesters that build up to the project, capstone or scholarship. This webinar series will consider how regular (content-rich) courses may be informed by the Research Skill Development (www.rsd.edu.au) framework, so that students may develop research mindedness that complements technical research skills enabled by research methods courses.

Together research mindedness and technical research competency combine to enable students to develop the skills associated with research in the discipline, or interdisciplinary context, in ways that fit into the existing learning and assessment regime, whether face-to-face, online or blended modes, intensive or semesterised.

Friday 21 November: Assessing Research components of coursework Masters
The powerpoint may be downloaded here: Assessing coursework masters research

Friday 31 October: Research mindedness vs technical research skills:  https://fop-connect.adelaide.edu.au/p5plcbongqi/

Friday 24 October: Introducing Masters students to the six facets of the RSD.  https://fop-connect.adelaide.edu.au/p1sv91iu8hi/ Only second half!

UWisconsin-Stout RSD Community of Practice

The University of Wisconsin-Stout Community of Practice has been evolving and developing throughout 2014. The blog for their CoP provides some amazing insights into early implementation issues at an institution, from changes in specific courses to dynamic conversations that map skills across degree programs. See a number of their posts at

http://uwstoutrsd.wordpress.com/

Why not support their developing community and comment on their work?

Eight diverse presentations on ‘Putting the RSD to Work’: 5 min videos + powerpoints

The Putting the RSD* to Work Symposium on 24 September 2014 threw out a big challenge to presenters: represent in 5 minutes and ten slides the way that they have been using the RSD over the years. This threw up a smorgasbord for the audience of 8 presentations that were crisp succinct and extremely varied: from first year University to PhD studies.

All presentation powerpoints and four of the videos are available at:

http://www.adelaide.edu.au/rsd/examples/

The topics are:
Framing Assessment and Feedback with the RSD
Scaffolding research skill development and assessment across the honours year
From Little Things to Big Things Grow: Using small groups and the RSD to grow big ideas
Masters student engagement with the research requirements of AQF Level 9
Approaches to Mapping Research Skills with the RSD
Making the RSD framework ‘speak engineering’: A problem solving framework generated by student-tutors
RSD and the PhD
Using the RSD to harmonise pre- and face-to-face segments of the flipped class

We would love to hear about any way and context that you may have used the RSD- or hope to use it.

Also, if you went to the symposium, you might indicate the extent that the day helped you to do more with the RSD.

* Research Skill development framework www.rsd.edu.au