Abstract

One of the key features of the University of Lincoln is the way it encourages and supports its students to work alongside academics on research projects. This approach to teaching and learning is referred to as Student as Producer, which has attempted to embed research and research-like activities at the core of the undergraduate curriculum. Student as Producer is grounded within the intellectual history and tradition of modern university, especially the work of Wilhelm von Humboldt and the University of Berlin. Von Humboldt’s idea of the university was based on the union between teaching and research and the advancement of knowledge through critical investigation within which teachers and students should participate in creating a community of scholars. Inspired by this, and as part of an attempt to embed research and research-like activities into the undergraduate curriculum, the University of Lincoln commissioned the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Scheme (UROS), which supports students to work alongside academics as scholars on real research projects. More recently, the University of Lincoln, along with at least 40 others higher education institutions, have signed up to the Civic University Commission’s Civic University Agreement, which aims to reaffirm universities’ roles within the local community. The aim of the Civic University Agreement is to encourage universities to work with partners in their local communities, such schools, further education colleges, local authorities, charities, the NHS, civil society and businesses large and small to work collaboratively on the problems they face and ensure that the localities that universities are situated thrive. This presentation will critically reflect upon the experiences (academic and student) of a UROS project based in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Lincoln. The project supported and evaluated a student-mentoring scheme for boys in receipt of pupil premium at the local secondary school. Currently in its second iteration, the student-mentoring scheme proved to be of benefit to the students it engaged both in the way they perceive education, but also by addressing the way they behave in the school environment. Specifically, the presentation will address the ways in which the concept of Student as Producer can be extended beyond the confines of the university and involve students in scholarly activities that benefit the local community.