Undergraduate Research and Student-Staff Partnerships: Supporting the Development of Student Scholars at a Canadian Teaching and Learning Institute

Abstract

Undergraduate research and inquiry and student-staff partnerships in teaching and learning have much in common, although their connections are not often discussed explicitly. Partnership initiatives—particularly those that engage students in collaborating with faculty/staff on disciplinary research or the scholarship of teaching and learning—share many features with undergraduate research efforts, including the potential to help students develop as active and engaged producers and scholars. Building on these connections, this article describes a unique ‘student partners program’ housed within the teaching and learning institute at McMaster University (Canada) considering its role in the development of outcomes desired by scholars and practitioners of undergraduate research and student-staff partnership. This assessment can assist in further consideration of the place of partnership within undergraduate research.