Inquiring in the

1
Inquiring in the real world Linking
consultancy and teaching

• Carolyn Roberts
• Centre for Active Learning
• University of Gloucestershire, UK
• International Society for Scholarship of Teaching
  and Learning Conference, Edmonton, Canada,
  October 2008

2
Curriculum design and the research-teaching nexus
Research-tutored
Research-based
Research-oriented
Research-led
Griffiths or Healey
3
Responding to the Challenge
To watch the video clip click this link
4
Example Working for the police

• I have been asked by the Metropolitan Police
  (Serious Crime Group) to investigate the likely
  movement of water through the Grand Union Canal
  at Camden Lock, London, in the period leading up
  to 11am on Sunday 8th October 2000, when a male
  body was discovered in the waterAt the time I
  undertook my investigation it was unclear how
  long the body had been in the water..

5
Understanding the task Instructions

• I refer to our telephone conversation yesterday
  lunchtime and forward the local map of the Camden
  Lock area.The position of the body is indicated
  by an asterisk.
• The body was found in the water at about 11am on
  Sunday 8th October 2000 approximately 2 feet from
  the canal bank and was effectively in an upright
  position with the crown of the head just
  protruding through the water surface. It is
  believed the depth of the water at this point is
  about 6 foot. It is unclear at this stage as to
  how long the body had been in the water and
  enquiries are still being made surrounding that
  aspect of the case.
• I believe this was all the information you
  sought and I look forward to meeting you on
  Friday 15th December 2000

6
Assembling the evidence
7
Preparing the case
Preparing the case
8
Drawing conclusions
9
Drawing conclusions

• A more likely scenario is an earlier release
  time, the body travelling upstream beyond the
  recovery site and back downstream, lodging direct
  on the muddy river bed shortly before 01.50
  B.S.T. I would estimate the likely time of
  release from Tarworks Road as 30-40 minutes
  before the recorded high water at Three Mile
  House, the body following an upstream track
  similar to that followed on 7th September 2002.
  The total travel time including the downstream
  element for these experimental conditions would
  be approximately three hours. The release time
  from Tarworks Road would hence be between
  approximately 22.40 and 22.50 B.S.T. on 27th
  April 2002.

10
Presenting the case
11
Research can be

• Finding out something and making it public
• The means of generating, testing and validating
  knowledge
• A systematic process of investigation, the
  general purpose of which is to contribute to the
  body of knowledge that shapes and guides academic
  and/or practice disciplines
• About advancing knowledge and understanding
• (Brew, 2001)

12
Consultancy versus Research

• What are the main differences between
  consultancy, knowledge transfer or
  knowledge exchange and more conventionally-defin
  ed research?

13
Consultancy versus Research

• For environmental/geographical projects,
  typically
• Clients want clear and unambiguous answers,
  sometimes to their ill-defined questions, and
  often with a preconception of the outcome
• Projects tend to be smaller in scale than
  research programmes (but not always)
• Projects will need to start quickly, and be
  completed to a relatively short, fixed deadline
• Value for money will be crucial
• The investigator may experience aggressive
  questioning or hostility from various
  stakeholders
• Credentials are important

14
Intended Learning Outcomes

• EL362 Managing Water
• Knowledge and Understanding
• ...familiar with the main organisational
  responsibilities
• Understand that water must be managed in an
  integrated way
• Skills
• ...able to distinguish fact from opinion, and
  present an effective case for particular styles
  of water resource management
• ...have developed a personal positionif
  necessary, challenging prevailing paradigms
• ...able to work effectively within a small group

15
What do students do?

• Traditional lecture plus student-presented
  seminar format, on water management issues
• Additional group tasks with varying timescales
  (30 minutes to 2 hours) often within class
  contact time, based on consultancy case studies.
  Material available afterwards for extended study
• Students present results, increasingly formally
  through the module
• Later seminars are presented as role plays and
  assessed

16
Understanding the task

• Instructions can
• Be given at short notice and require a rapid
  response
• Be unclear
• Require a very rapid grasp of the hydrological
  and political context and the key issues
• Require decisions to be taken in the light of
  uncertainty
• Necessitate working within limited resources

17
Assembling the evidence

• Witness Statements
• as I got approximately 1/3 of the way across
  the main river, I noticed what I first took to be
  a log floating in the river upstream of my
  positionAs I watched, I saw some air bubbles
  come up around it, which aroused my curiosity
• I am a full time member of the Thames Valley
  Police Underwater Search Team.There is a lot of
  debris on the bottom of both banks for a distance
  of 8 metres from the bank, ie scaffolding poles,
  car parts, old fridges, shopping trolleys etc
• I am the resident lock keeper at Boveney
  LockOn Wednesday 19th September 2001 I set the
  gates to 10 feet crest, which is where the water
  was passing over the top of the gates. Eight of
  the gates were set at one foot below the surface,
  andThe gates remained in this position until
  Saturday 29th September 2001....

18
Evidence of different types
19
Report for Thames Valley Police concerning
potential movement of a body recovered from the
Thames at Windsor on 29th September 2001

• As a consequence of the low discharge
  conditions, water velocities in the Thames in the
  week running up to 28th September 2001 will be
  relatively low, and water depths similarly small.
  By comparison, during the time of my inspection
  on 1st November, the discharge at Windsor was
  approximately three times as much., at
  approximately 65 m3s-1. It has therefore been
  necessary to calculate water depths through the
  reach indirectly
• there is no detectable gradient in the reach at
  these low flows, although downstream flow is
  nevertheless occurring. Water depths at Romney
  Head were about 0.23m above Romney Standard Head
  Water Level throughout the period of interest
• In my opinion, the body of Mr XXX is unlikely to
  have passed over Boveney Lock at any time in the
  week preceding 28th September 2001.I believe it
  entered the Thames somewhere between this lock
  and the Windsor Road bridge .as soon as it was
  released it would have continued to float
  downstream at a rate of about 0.1 to 0.2 ms-1
  The reason for the eventual release of the body
  from the trap may well relate to a small increase
  in the discharge, which is noted on 28th
  September 2001

20
Private client litigation Flooding at Yew Tree
House, Verwood
Understanding the task
21
Yew Tree House, Verwood
Assembling the evidence
22

• The Developers Case
• It is your clients contention that our site is
  causing this flooding, but no one has said howit
  is indeed ironic that on most developments we are
  criticised by the Environment Agency for doing
  exactly the opposite.it is therefore, arguable
  that if our development were not there, the
  flooding could be greater
• evidenced by the demonstrable increase in
  rainfall levels over the last few years and the
  inevitable resultant increase in the level of
  water tables
• Your letter again takes the stance that it has
  been proven that our works have caused Mr
  Philogenes problem and this is clearly not the
  caseYour experts report only came up with two
  ways in which we could physically have been the
  causeyou have reverted to picking out of the
  report that the flooding is consistent with
  etc. As previously pointed out in
  correspondencethis means a possible cause, not
  probable.We still feel that until someone can
  tell us exactly what we did that caused Mr
  Philogenes problem, we cannot accept liability

23
Presenting the case in law

• it is rarely possible to determine the causes
  of flooding definitivelyIn this instance I can
  see no other possible cause than the development
  works, for the onset of such high frequency flood
  events. All other possible causes have been
  eliminated as unfeasible.Clearly it is not
  possible to go back and track water entering the
  property after a flood event.
• My report offered two linked possibilities,
  namely increased localised input upstream...from
  houses, roads and drives, and reduced groundwater
  flow downstream either from blockage by
  foundations or piling, or compaction of the
  subsoil. The truth may well be some combination
  of the two. The timing of the onset of the
  problem is certainly consistent with the onset
  and progress of the development.

24
The consultants sequence

• Understanding the task
• Responding to the challenge
• Assembling the evidence
• Preparing the case
• Drawing conclusions
• Presenting the case
• Satisfying the client

25
Public Inquiry Straight Mile Hazardous Waste site
Understanding the task and assembling the
evidence
26
Straight Mile Hazardous Waste Site
Preparing the case
27
Presenting the case Clear and unambiguous
answers?

• the implications for flows of clear water in
  the receiving streams are described. These are
  minimal..and will improve the quality of the
  receiving waters in Anston Brook
• The system as describedwill adequately cover
  extreme events without the need for additional
  storage facilities
• ..there will be no significant risk to the water
  environment as a result of this development
• A number of policy statements from the National
  Rivers Authority are reviewed, and it is
  concluded that the development at Straight Mile
  will not breach any of them

28
Private client Two Lakes Fishery, Hampshire
29
Two Lakes Fishery Water quantity and quality
issues
Understanding the task I have been instructed to
examine the hydrological settingin order better
to understand the influences on low lake levels
that are experienced in summer months. In
particular I have been asked to comment upon the
likely impact of pumping from a catchpit and the
use of a water recycling scheme in an adjacent
property
30
Assembling the evidence
31
Two Lakes Fishery, Hampshire Presenting a case

• In my opinion, the operation of on the
  flanks of the valley has had a significant effect
  on the water available to Two Lakes Fishery in
  two ways since the mid-1990s. Firstly, and most
  significantly, the summer pumping of water from
  an on-stream catchpit since 1995 appears strongly
  linked to the experience of lake levels in the
  Fishery. The volumes of water involved, and the
  timing of their abstraction, are consistent with
  enhancement of seepage through the beds of the
  lakes, particularly in those lower lakes closer
  to the catchpit
• Secondly, the introduction of the surface water
  harvesting and recycling system at s has
  affected the rates of recharge into the
  groundwater locally

32
Gulf Oil Quantity, quality and impact
33
Gulf Oil Assembling the evidence
34
Gulf Oil evidence

• Site investigation, including borehole
  installation, monitoring and testing
• Monitoring (quantity, quality), statistical and
  laboratory analysis
• Historic map and aerial photograph analysis
• Assembling data from other agencies
• Ground and surface water modelling

35
Gulf Oil

• Preparing and presenting a case

36
Gulf Oil Drawing conclusions
37
Gulf Oils UK operation was purchased by Shell in
1997/8, and the hydrological findings were
subject to publication restrictions
38
Satisfying the client?

• On 14th October 2003 Filomeno Antonio LOPEZ was
  found guilty by a majority of 10 to 1 of an
  indictment of Murder and was sentenced to Life
  Imprisonment.Thank you for your assistance
• Norfolk Constabulary, Criminal Justice Unit

39
Learning is the process whereby knowledge is
created through the transformation of experience
(Kolb, 1984)

• Is experience transformed?
• Is it thought demanding (Blythe et al, 1998
  Elton, 2005)?
• Are learning and consultancy synergistic?
• Is it the scholarship of application? (Boyer)
• Is it deep learning?
• Does it build research capacity?
• Is it active learning?

40
What do students say?

• I have finally found an area I want to work in
  (PG)
• I really like the structures of the classes and
  the different styles used make classes more
  interactive and funnier (UG)
• Skills were increased through the module due to
  direction and encouragement. Confidence greatly
  increased (PG)
• Group discussion and debate, opportunity to talk
  excellent (PG)
• Exciting, interesting, informative but also
  frustrating because of the problem of
  sustainability (PG)
• The lectures let the people participate (UG)
• I achieved a more confident approach to
  communicating the facts and critical evaluations
  through both presentations and written
  assessments (UG)
• An excellent way of being directly involved in a
  professional-like circumstance, but also
  stimulated open discussion (UG)

41
Unprompted reflections on reality and
ownership

• The chance to look at real situations where we
  could apply our knowledge and try to suggest
  solutions to problems its a good problem
  solving activity
• Being able to see how our knowledge can be
  applied to real situations
• By using real situations it has shown me how I
  will be able to apply the knowledge that Im
  building up
• The application of our knowledge of water
  resources to work place situations was a really
  excellent part of the module, something that I
  hadnt previously been shown, and has been really
  helpful
• The tutors enthusiasm made the course more
  interesting, by learning from their experiences
  of applying their knowledge
• Looking at case studies and the lecturers own
  experiences really made the module interesting. I
  developed a good knowledge of the different
  aspects of water resources and how they are
  applied in real situations

42
Unprompted reflections on arguments

• There was an opportunity within the class to
  develop skills in presenting an argument
• Argument construction was very helpful
• I have learnt now to take part in structured
  discussions within class and it has improved my
  ability to conduct a presentation
• I have learnt to listen to other people more when
  discussing issues, and take into consideration
  their opinions
• ..helped to hone presentation skills
• Seminars aided in arguing over something I didnt
  necessarily agree with
• ..the lecturer insisting on the importance of
  statistics to support evidence. If there is no
  statistics to support evidence then fact cannot
  be separated from opinion (sic)
• Judge bloke session (sic) was very useful

43
Advantages of consultancy

• Powerfully engages students interests in both
  theory and application
• Confidence in own abilities, self efficacy
• Assists them to develop skill in making rapid
  judgements in the light of uncertainty
• Highlights the fact that information is
  contextualised and partial
• Enables them to understand that application will
  involve compromises
• Assists in development of negotiation and
  communication skills, verbally and in writing
• Conveys importance of precise language
• Promotes reflection?

44
Potential Disadvantages

• IBL simulation, not reality?
• Suggests that there may be right answers?
• Implies that only a superficial understanding of
  the context and the scientific theory is
  necessary?
• Not a cutting edge inquiry?
• Implies that economic considerations will
  overwhelm other arguments?
• Suggests that legal remedies to solving disputes
  are inevitable?
• Raises some data protection and confidentiality
  issues

45
Curriculum design and the research-teaching nexus
Research-tutored
Research-based
Research-oriented
Research-led
46
The new world?

• The main business of higher education is to
  teach students and to create new knowledge
  through research. However, if this knowledge and
  learning is to be useful it has to be applied to
  the areas of life where it can make a
  difference.
• Knowledge transfer has been at the core of
  university activity since their establishment
  from disseminating new research findings around
  the world to getting graduates with skills into
  occupations where they can use them. There is
  increasing recognition that this aspect of higher
  education is enormously important and
  universities are being encouraged to do even
  more..
• Universities Scotland, 2006