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This paper introduces a novel focus of undergraduate research of which there have been few similar reports. Examples of staff-student research partnerships in teaching and learning are starting to appear in the literature but pedagogic research conducted entirely by undergraduate students is exceptional. The Undergraduate Learning and Teaching Research Internship Scheme (ULTRIS) was conceived at The University of Western Australia (UWA) to introduce undergraduate students to authentic research outside their chosen discipline. By focusing their research on a teaching and learning issue of identified priority for the University, students were able to make significant contributions to the understanding of the problem and provide insights to inform future changes in policy and practice. Beyond the benefits to the institution and the individual students, the model of undergraduate research described in this paper heralds an opportunity for research into teaching and learning to gain acceptance and interest amongst a new and previously uninvolved cohort of investigators. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

To determine the logistics, benefits, and challenges of developing and implementing an international undergraduate research network, the authors analyzed the Matariki Undergraduate Research Network (MURN). MURN attempted to connect undergraduate students from four countries across two years, with 21 and 23 students respectively. Using mixed methods, the authors explored faculty and student experiences of MURN. Although MURN worked well at the local level, it had limited success at a global level. Teaching across time zones and academic-year differences posed the biggest challenges. Students and faculty reported a range of benefits typical of engagement with undergraduate research but noted weak international connections. A credit-bearing program with partners in similar time zones and academic-year systems, as well as a requirement for collaborative projects across institutions, are recommended.

Recognising that regional differences in mentored undergraduate research and inquiry (URI) practices shape how academic developers might adapt international practices and resources to their local contexts, guest editor Jessie L. Moore invited four scholars to discuss the key terms, concepts, and initiatives for mentored URI in their countries. Spelling has been standardized throughout the conversation but have maintained regional differences in terms used to describe aspects of mentored URI. Susan Larson is a professor of psychology at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. She is a Councilor with the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) and served as the 2016-2017 president of the US-based organization. Lee Partridge is an academic developer and an adjunct faculty member at The University of Western Australia and Notre Dame University Australia. She is a senior consultant with Higher Education Evaluation and Development (HEED) Consulting and serves as an executive member of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA); she is also the founding director of University to Community Inc. in Perth Western Australia. Helen Walkington is a professor of higher education in the Department of Social Sciences at Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, UK. She is a National Teaching Fellow and has been a steering group member of the British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) since its inception in 2010. Brad Wuetherick is Executive Director, Learning and Teaching in the Office of the Provost and Vice President Academic and the Centre for Learning and Teaching at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He previously served as a Canadian Vice President on the Board of Directors for the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL). Jessie L. Moore is Director of the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University, which sponsored a 2014-2016 multi-institutional and international research seminar on excellence in mentoring undergraduate research. She currently serves as a US Vice President for ISSOTL.

The results of a large online student survey (n?=?15,304), on academic integrity at six Australian universities, indicate that a majority of respondents reported a good awareness of academic integrity and knowledge of academic integrity policy at their university and were satisfied with the information and support they receive. Response varied across cohorts, with international students expressing a lower awareness of academic integrity and academic integrity policy, and lower confidence in how to avoid academic integrity breaches. Postgraduate research student respondents were the least satisfied with the information they had received about how to avoid an academic integrity breach. The results from this survey provide an opportunity to explore the student perspective and inform the higher education sector in relation to communicating with and educating students about academic integrity. The students have indicated that Australian universities need to move beyond the mere provision of information to ensure a holistic approach that engages students about academic integrity.

In many fields and in education in particular, researchers, such as teachers, are inclined to believe that because they are enmeshed in the field or have good relationships with students, issues of politics, power and status will exert minimal influence and that access to the field will be smooth and unproblematic. In this paper, three doctoral students with varying degrees of insider status, working in the Australian context, reflect on the rocky journeys they experienced obtaining and maintaining access to field sites. The authors argue that despite a body of literature addressing this issue, many of the commonly used texts devoted to educational research do not adequately tackle the subject. The novice researcher often remains unsuspecting and under prepared for the range and depth of difficulties encountered in the process of gaining access. The question is posed, what might be the role of the academy in preparing researchers?

The article presents two case studies on the significance of undergraduate research in the academic institutions in Australia and Great Britain. The first case explores the outcome of the implementation of the Undergraduate Learning and Teaching Internship Scheme (ULTRIS) at the University of Western Australia in 2008 for students and the institution. Another one discusses the Students as Change Agents initiative at the University of Exeter.