Springfield undergraduates receive kudos for peer-reviewed scholarly paper

Two USQ Springfield undergraduate students and one doctoral student presented a scholarly paper at the annual Higher Education Research and Development Association (HERDSA) conference in Darwin this month.
 
Faculty of Education students Marie Hayward and Linda Stanley recently collaborated with University of Newcastle academic Heather Sharp to produce the paper entitled: ‘Critiquing undergraduate student participation in academic research using Kincheloe and Steinbergae's eight cognitive benefits'.
 
Ms Sharp, a former USQ Springfield lecturer, said HERDSA was one of the peak organisations for teaching and learning in higher education across Australiasia.
 
'It is quite rare for undergraduate students to be involved in academic research and an achievement to have a blind peer-reviewed paper accepted in such a competitive environment,' Ms Sharp said.
 
'This is testament to the effort the students have put into co-writing the paper.'
 
The context of the students and academic collaboration initially was researching and writing a chapter in a textbook used in the Bachelor of Education program across three universities, including USQ.
 
Four undergraduate students participated in this project, with Mrs Hayward and Mrs Stanley continuing to work with Ms Sharp by detailing the experience.
 
The paper presented at HERDSA analyses the experience against eight criteria which investigate the personal and external benefits to students by participating in research projects with academics.
 
Mrs Stanley and Mrs Hayward, both fourth-year students and members of the Golden Key Honour Society, said they were shocked to discover the paper has been chosen by HERDSA.
 
'We were in complete disbelief,' Mrs Stanley said. 'We thought we were the least likely candidates.'
 
Both students are specialising in Sociology and are aiming to graduate with first-class honours.
 
'Now that we've been involved with honours research undertaking a PhD doesn't seem so daunting now,' Mrs Hayward said.
 
Media Contact:  Madeleine Tiller, USQ Media, +61 7 3470 1163 or 0406 937795