JCPSLP Vol 16 no 3 2014_FINAL_WEB

Research

Why should we value honours graduates? Caroline Robinson

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

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

KEYWORDS HONOURS PRACTICE KNOWLEDGE PRACTITIONER- RESEARCHER

PRACTICE– RESEARCH NEXUS UNDER- GRADUATE RESEARCH

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN PEER- REVIEWED

Caroline Robinson

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JCPSLP Volume 16, Number 3 2014

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