Featuring: Dr. Mick Healey, Higher Education Consultant and Researcher, UK

Mick Healey is an HE Consultant and Researcher and Professor Emeritus at the University of Gloucestershire, UK. Until 2010 he was Director of the Centre for Active Learning, a nationally funded Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. He has held an Honorary Professorship at the University of Queensland, an adjunct Professorship at Macquarie University and Visiting Professorships at Edinburgh Napier University and the University of South Wales and an International Teaching Fellowship at University College Cork. He was one of the first people in the UK to be awarded a National Teaching Fellowship and to be made a Principal Fellow of the HE Academy. He recently received a SEDA@20 Legacy Award for Disciplinary Development. Mick is an experienced presenter and since 1995 he has given over 500 educational presentations in 18 different countries. He has written and edited over 150 papers, chapters, books and guides on various aspects of teaching and learning in HE. He was co-editor of the International Journal for Academic Development (2010-13) and is currently co-editor of the International Desk of the Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly. He is often asked to act as an advisor to projects, universities and governments on aspects of teaching and learning. For example, in 2006 he advised the Canadian Federal Government on Research, Teaching and Learning in post-Secondary Education. He has given invited presentations at 15 Canadian Universities.

“For the students who are the professionals of the future, developing the ability to investigate problems, make judgments on the basis of sound evidence, take decisions on a rational basis, and understand what they are doing and why it is vital. Research and inquiry is not just for those who choose to pursue an academic career. It is central to professional life in the twenty-first century.”
Brew (2007, 7)

The argument of this interactive session can be simply stated: all undergraduate students in all higher education institutions should experience learning through and about research. My interest in developing students as producers of knowledge originated through explorations over the last few years into ways to enhance the linkage between teaching and discipline-based research. The conclusion to arise from that work is that one of the most effective ways to do this is to engage our students in research and inquiry; in other words, to see them as producers not just consumers of knowledge. This applies to engaging students in research and inquiry into their discipline and into teaching and learning (ie SoTL). Here it is suggested that the key to mainstreaming research and inquiry at undergraduate level is to integrate it into the curriculum. The workshop will explore the variety of ways in which research and inquiry based learning are undertaken in undergraduate programmes using numerous mini-case studies from different disciplines, departments and institutions in North America, Europe, and Australasia.

Mick is also presenting workshops for Mount Royal’s Academic Development Centre on 21 May on Designing Inquiry-Based Learning Activities (9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.) and International Perspectives on Capstone and Final Year Projects (1:30 p.m. -4:30 p.m.).

For additional information please contact the Institute for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Mount Royal University: sotlinstitute@mtroyal.ca or 403.440.5503.