Want to know more about what we do? Explore what's on the horizon for our research activity.
The research landscape is changing constantly, and at BEL+T we have many research projects on the drawing board. Our projects range from small, single-subject studies to large collaborative projects with international partners. We have collected some of our emerging research topics below.
We'd love to hear from you if you are interested in collaborating on research in these areas. Please feel free to contact us at abp-belt@unimelb.edu.au.
Generative AI in Teaching + Learning:
GenAI has been a recent and disruptive influence in learning as well as work contexts. The outputs produced by such tools as ChatGPT or MidJourney may closely resemble human-generated content and can include text, images, videos, sounds and 3D models. This resemblance has raised concerns about academic integrity as well as important questions about originality and creativity, and authorship.
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What is BEL+T investigating in this area?
How might GenAI impact the design of assessment and other learning activities in BE disciplines? How is the introduction of these new capacities changing expectations of and for graduates? How might new contributing 'authors' impact notions of originality in BE disciplines, and the work of design education?
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Related Scholarship & News
Natale, S., & Henrickson, L. (2022). The Lovelace effect: Perceptions of creativity in machines. New Media & Society, 0(0).
Bill Cope, B., Kalantzis, M., & Searsmith D (2021). Artificial intelligence for education: Knowledge and its assessment in AI-enabled learning ecologies, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 53:12,1229-1245.
Transition to Built Environments Study at University
The transition to university can be a challenging and disorientating experience for many students, especially if the pedagogical approaches are unfamiliar to them. Research on how best to support students during this transitional period emphasises the importance of embedding support within the curriculum and disciplinary practices.
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What is BEL+T investigating in this area?
BEL+T is currently investigating how teachers of first-year subjects conceptualise student-hood and how they adapt their teaching practices when their perceptions change. This can help to identify more inclusive teaching practices for an increasingly diverse cohort of students. With a focus on the first-year experience, this builds on our ongoing work that promotes a "whole of student" and curriculum-wide approach to teaching that extends across student journeys.
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Related Scholarship and News
Mahoney, B., Kumar, J., & Sabsabi, M. (2022). Strategies for Student Belonging: The Nexus of Policy and Practice in Higher Education. Student Success Journal 13(3), 54- 62.
Thompson, James. (2023) Reconsidering Becoming an Architect Through an Integration of Learning Lens. Charrette 9(1), 51-63.
Spatialities of Campus
How do students and staff experience the university campus in its physical and virtual forms? What significance do they attach to campus as a whole, and to particular parts of campus? Have these perceptions changed as a result of being restricted from accessing campus during the pandemic? And how do our perceptions of campus contribute to our everyday experiences of them and the degree to which we feel "at home" on campus? What are the physical and digital 'edges' of the contemporary campus, and what does this mean for the involvement of university communities in the broader civic context?
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What is BEL+T investigating in this area?
Along with colleagues at the University of Melbourne and the University of Manchester, BEL+T members have established a research collaborative to explore these topics. We are currently writing up the results of several cross-campus studies and reviews of the latest research on campus.
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Related Scholarship and News
Goodyear, Peter. (2022) Realising the Good University: Social Innovation, Care, Design Justice and Educational Infrastructure. Postdigital Science and Education 4, 33-56.
Mahat, M. (2023). Purpose, process, place, pedagogical affordance and product (5Ps) of student learning in higher education: Beyond Beckers. Facilities, 41(1/2), 140-156.
Ylikoski, T. & Kivelä, S. (2017) Spatiality in higher education: a case study in integrating pedagogy, community engagement, and regional development. International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 21:3, 348–363.
Saniga, A. & Freestone, R. (eds) (2023). Campus: Building Modern Australian Universities. UWA Publishing, Crawley, Western Australia.
Inclusive Teaching Practices in Built Environments Education
To best meet the needs of a diversifying student cohort requires the foregrounding of inclusive teaching practices. What does this mean? How do we know when we're being inclusive (or if we have more to do)? What might we change to ensure that all students have the capacity to successfully engage with learning opportunities in built environment disciplines?
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What is BEL+T investigating in this area?
BELT has offered workshops (for example Teaching for Inclusive Learning and Culturally Inclusive Learning and Teaching) and has been involved in developing guidance around inclusive teaching. We are currently exploring the implications of Universal Design for Learning in terms of subject design, and of Digital Accessibility for multimedia content. In the future, we are looking to evaluate the impact of specific strategic initiatives on how students experience their education.
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Related Scholarship and News
CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2.
Hickey & Riddle (2022) Relational pedagogy and the role of informality in renegotiating learning and teaching encounters, Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 30:5, 787-799.
Graham, L. (Ed.). (2024). Inclusive Education for the 21st Century: Theory, Policy and Practice (2nd ed.).
Tai, J., Ajjawi, R., Bearman, M., Boud, D., Dawson, P., & Jorre de St Jorre, T. (2023). Assessment for inclusion: Rethinking contemporary strategies in assessment design. Higher Education Research & Development, 42(2), 483–497.