Research
JCPSLP
Volume 16, Number 3 2014
117
KEYWORDS
HONOURS
PRACTICE
KNOWLEDGE
PRACTITIONER-
RESEARCHER
PRACTICE–
RESEARCH
NEXUS
UNDER-
GRADUATE
RESEARCH
THIS ARTICLE
HAS BEEN
PEER-
REVIEWED
Caroline
Robinson
knowledge (Everingham & Irwin, 2001), intuitive knowledge
and self-knowledge (Fish & Coles, 2005). By theorising
about their practice, tacit knowledge is made explicit and
new knowledge is created by allied health professionals
(Bartunek, Trullen, Bonet, & Sauquet, 2003; Higgs, Fish, &
Rothwell, 2004).
Inquiry into practice from within practice enables
practitioners to refine new knowledge, and to identify
gaps in professional knowledge. Research about practice
entails an exploration of professional knowledge, and the
generation of new knowledge contributes to the knowledge
base of the allied health profession (Higgs et al., 2004,
p. 104). “Insider practitioner research” suggests that
practitioners will come to understand their practice more
deeply through researching practice (Fish & Coles, 2005,
p. 162).
Inquiry in a profession begins in the field and a
key purpose of such inquiry is to be translated into
research that is useable (Tierney & Holley, 2008, p. 296).
Honours research is an important mechanism to enable
undergraduate students to research practice and to make a
contribution to professional knowledge. This undergraduate
research experience not only enables a deeper
understanding of practice, but also changes the being
of the allied health student. The challenging experience
of honours precipitates self-actualisation – the realisation
of their potential – as a novice practitioner-researcher.
Honours programs therefore should be considered as much
more than a pathway to gain research knowledge and skills.
Honours graduates have the potential to be practitioner-
researchers who will drive the development of professional
knowledge and ensure a contemporary and sustainable
evidence base for the allied health professions.
Previous honours research has addressed a broad range
of disciplines, but allied health students have not been the
focus of attention. The purpose of this paper is to illuminate
the value of honours in developing critical allied health
practitioners, capable of challenging the evidence base and
contributing to professional knowledge. Ethics approval for
this study was granted by the Human Research and Ethics
Committee, Charles Sturt University (CSU).
Method
Research design
A hermeneutic phenomenological methodology was
chosen for this study. The aim of phenomenological inquiry
is to gain a deep understanding of an individual’s
experience and the meaning of this experience, so it is
Honours programs are a mechanism to
enable undergraduate students to undertake
research. The intimate relationship between
practice and research is an important feature
of embedded honours programs in allied
health. This study used a phenomenological
methodology to explore the experience of
honours, for ten allied health students. Three
interviews conducted at the early, mid and
late stages of the honours journey illuminated
the development of these students as novice
practitioner-researchers. The nine key themes
which emerged can be used to provide a
deeper insight into the value of honours, in
developing allied health practitioners capable
of informing professional knowledge:
“challenging self”; “a different way of being”;
“coping”; “communities of practice”; “self-
actualisation”; “becoming a practitioner-
researcher”; “new perspectives”; “practice–
research nexus”; and “career
decision-making”.
Background
Honours programs in Australia generally take one of two
forms. An “end-on year” or “add-on” honours program
comprises one year of full-time study following on from a
Bachelor degree. An “embedded” or “integrated” honours
program is an integral part of a Bachelor degree and
enables a student to undertake honours without extending
the duration of study (Kiley, Boud, Cantwell, & Manathunga,
2008). Embedded honours programs are often
incorporated into undergraduate allied health courses and
provide students with the opportunity to plan and conduct
a research study in tandem with other subjects and
workplace learning. This intimate relationship between
practice and research enables students to grapple with the
practice–research nexus. The deeply engaging experience
of honours research compels undergraduate students to
reflect on their knowledge and challenge the evidence base,
in order to develop new perspectives on practice and
extend their professional knowledge. This knowledge is
composite and complex as it comprises propositional
knowledge, professional craft knowledge, personal
Why should we value
honours graduates?
Caroline Robinson
