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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.

Introduction: The slow pace of change in respect of increasing the diversity of medical students suggests powerful actors are reproducing practices to support the status quo. Opening up medicine to embrace diversity thus requires the deconstruction of entrenched processes and practices. The first step in doing so is to understand how the actor‐network of widening participation and access to medicine (WP/WA) is constructed. Thus, here we examine how the connections among actors in WP/WA in two different networks are assembled. Methods: A comparative case study using documents (n = 7) and interviews with staff and students (n = 45) from two medical schools, one United Kingdom and one Australian, was used. We used Callon's moments of translation (problematisation, interessement/operationalisation, enrolment, mobilisation) to map the network of actors as they are assembled in relation to one another. Our main actant was institutional WP to medicine policy (actor‐as‐policy). Results: Our actor‐as‐policy introduced five other actors: the medical school, medical profession, high schools, applicants and medical school staff. In terms of problematisation, academic excellence holds firm as the obligatory passage point and focal challenge for all actors in both countries. The networks are operationalised via activities such as outreach and admissions policy (e.g., affirmative action is apparent in Australia but not the UK). High schools play (at best) a passive role, but directed by the policy, the medical schools and applicants work hard to achieve WP/WA to medicine. In both contexts, staff are key mobilisers of WP/WA, but with little guidance in how to enact policy. In Australia, policy drivers plus associated entry structures mean the medical profession exerts significant influence. Conclusions: Keeping academic excellence as the obligatory passage point to medical school shapes the whole network of WP/WA and perpetuates inequality. Only by addressing this can the network reconfigure. Treating policy as an actor in UK and Australian medical schools, Coyle et al. were enabled to conduct unique comparisons between Widening Practice networks that shine light on how staff, students and policies navigate equity and excellence in medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]