Research-Led Teaching And Learning At VUW Discussion Paper
Case 2: Mathematics, Statistics & Computer Science (Honours)

[At the suggestion of the AVC, three VUW academics were interviewed for the purposes of collating cases of good practice in RLT for inclusion in this paper. They have not been identified.]

As noted previously, our proposed model of Research-led Learning and Teaching (RLT) incorporates three distinct (but not unrelated) approaches:

• Research-led Teaching
• Inquiry-based Learning
• Research on Teaching and Learning.

The cases of good practice we have briefly investigated on our own campus provide evidence that many academics (and importantly, students) are engaged in activities which encompass more than one of these dimensions. Core elements of those activities, as reported by academics teaching at undergraduate level, are summarised below.

• Students are engaged with research from the outset because material taught every year must take account of current research, not just that of the individual academic, but that of others leading the field
• Awareness of these developments in the research in turn informs the pedagogy adopted by teaching staff: 'I keep an eye on emerging trends in the pedagogy of the sub-discipline'
• The academic has given a paper on such pedagogical issues at the Computer Science Education conference
• During the full year Honours programme, supervising staff 'introduce students to the international research community' Ð 'we are outwards looking'
• Students are encouraged to enter international competitions and one Honours students came second in a major international competition in competition against other students at PhD level
• Students end up publishing 'fully international quality research'