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

Curriculum design and the research-teaching nexus STUDENT-FOCUSED STUDENTS AS PARTICIPANTS Research-tutored Research-based EMPHASIS ON RESEARCH CONTENT Research-led Research-oriented EMPHASIS ON RESEARCH PROCESSES AND PROBLEMS TEACHER-FOCUSED STUDENTS AS AUDIENCE

Griffiths or Healey

Responding to the Challenge

To watch the video clip click this link

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 8 water..’ th October 2000, when a male body was discovered in the water…At the time I undertook my investigation it was unclear how long the body had been in the

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 8 th 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 15 th December 2000…’

Assembling the evidence

Hoveton Broad T.S. TG31651685 Haven Bridge TG52200750, Tidal Yare 1.5

level m

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0 1.50

4/ 20 2 4/ 9: 20 00 2 21 4/ :0 21 0 /0 2 4/ 9: 21 /0 2 21 4/ :0 0 /0 2 4/ 00 /0 2 4/ :0 23 0 /0 2 4/ 9: 23 /0 2 21 4/ :0 0 2 4/ 9: 00 2 21 4/ :0 25 0 2 4/ 9: 25 00 2 21 4/ :0 26 /0 2 4/ 26 00 /0 2 4/ :0 27 0 /0 4/ 9: 27 00 2 21 4/ 28 0 /0 2 4/ 28 00 /0 2 4/ :0 0 /0 2 4/ 00 /0 2 4/ :0 30 0 /0 2 4/ 30 00 /0 2 21 :0 5/ 0 1/ 02 9 5/ :0 1/ 0 02 2 1: 00 1.00

Figure 2. Tidal cycles in the Bure, 27th-28th April 2002 1 0.5

0 -0.5

0.50

-1

0.00

-1.5

4/20/02 0:00 4/22/02 0:00 4/24/02 0:00 4/26/02 0:00 4/28/02 0:00 4/30/02 0:00 5/2/02 0:00

-0.50

-1.00

Figure 5. Reconstructed tidal cycle at site of recovery

-1.50

4/27 /02 12:0 0 4/27 /02 13:0 0 4/27 /02 4/27 /02 14:0 0 15:0 0 4/27 /02 16:0 0 4/27 /02 17:0 0 4/27 /02 18:0 0 4/27 /02 4/27 /02 19:0 0 20:0 0 4/27 /02 21:0 0 4/27 /02 22:0 0 4/27 /02 23:0 0

1.40

4/28 4/28 /02 0:00 1:00

1.00

4/28 /02 4/28 /02 2:00 3:00 4/28 /02 4/28 /02 4:00 5:00 4/28 /02 4/28 /02 6:00 7:00 4/28 /02 8:00 4/28 /02 4/28 /02 9:00 10:0 0 4/28 /02 11:0 0 4/28 /02 12:0 0 Haven Bridge, Yare Three Mile House

0.80

Acle Bridge Hoveton

0.60

0.40

0.20

0.00

-0.20

4/27/02 22:00 4/27/02 23:00 4/28/02 0:00 4/28/02 1:00 4/28/02 2:00 4/28/02 3:00 4/28/02 4:00 4/28/02 5:00 4/28/02 6:00 4/28/02 7:00 4/28/02 8:00 4/28/02 9:00 4/28/02 10:00 4/28/02 11:00 4/28/02 12:00

Preparing the case Preparing the case

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0.00

1.00

Drawing conclusions

2.00

Figure 1. Conductivity trend, 1/5/02 rising tide

1.2

Time of peak, B.S.T.

7:12 6:00

1 09:00 09:15 09:30 09:45 10:00 10:15 10:30 10:45 11:00 0.8

09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 10:45 0.6

11:00 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 11:15 0.4

Figure 3. Time of peak high tide in River Bure, 27th-28th April 2002

0.2

11:30 11:45 12:00 3.00

4:48

4.00

5.00

6.00

Distance upstream from Vauxhall Bridge, km 3:36

0 11/06/02 09:00 11/06/02 09:30 7.00

8.00

11/06/02 10:00 11/06/02 10:30 11/06/02 11:00 Haven Bridge

y = 9E-05x 2

Three Mile House

+ 0.0019x + 37374 R 2 = 0.9999

9.00

11/06/02 11:30 11/06/02 12:00 6:00 3:30

2:24 1:12 0:00 22:48

22:56 23:15

21:36 0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

0:30

20.00

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30.00

35.00

Distance upstream from Vauxhall Bridge km 40.00

45.00

50.00

55.00

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 7 th 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 27 th April 2002.’

Presenting the case

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)

Consultancy versus Research

What are the main differences between ‘consultancy’, ‘knowledge transfer’ or ‘knowledge exchange’ and more conventionally-defined ‘research’?

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

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 position…if necessary, challenging prevailing paradigms… • ...able to work effectively within a small group…

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

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

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 position…As 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 Lock…On Wednesday 19 th 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, and…The gates remained in this position until Saturday 29 th September 2001....’

Evidence of different types

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

‘…As a consequence of the low discharge conditions, water velocities in the Thames in the week running up to 28 comparison, during the time of my inspection on 1 approximately 65 m 3 s -1 st calculate water depths through the reach indirectly… th September 2001 will be relatively low, and water depths similarly small. By November, the discharge at Windsor was approximately three times as much…., at . It has therefore been necessary to …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 0.2 ms -1 noted on 28 th , the body of Mr XXX is unlikely to have passed over Boveney Lock at any time in the week preceding 28 September 2001…’ th 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 … The reason for the eventual release of the body from the trap may well relate to a small increase in the discharge, which is

Private client litigation: Flooding at Yew Tree House, Verwood

Understanding the task

100 50 0

mm

250 200 150

Yew Tree House, Verwood

Monthly Rainfall Totals, St Leonards and Bisterne

Assembling the evidence

Depth to Groundwater mm

0 29 /1 0/ 98 05 /1 1/ 98 12 /1 1/ 98 19 /1 1/ 98 26 /1 1/ 98 03 /1 2/ 98 10 /1 2/ 98 17 /1 2/ 98 24 /1 2/ 98 31 /1 2/ 98 07 /0 1/ 99 14 /0 1/ 99 21 /0 1/ 99 28 /0 1/ 99 04 /0 2/ 99 11 /0 2/ 99 18 /0 2/ 99 25 /0 2/ 99 04 /0 3/ 99 11 /0 3/ 99 18 /0 3/ 99 25 /0 3/ 99 01 /0 4/ 99 08 /0 4/ 99 200 400 600 St Leonards Bisterne 13 per. Mov. Avg. (Bisterne) 800 1000 1200 Table: Water Chemistry, Yew Tree Cottage, Verwood, 11.10.99

1. Yew Tree Cottage well 2. 41 Pennine Way groundwater 3. Ditch to West, above outfall 4. Ditch to West, below outfall Sample pH No. 1 4 6.12

5.85

2 3 6.31

6.22

Conductivity Iron microsiemens mg/l 306 744 401 394 0.12

6.09

0.54

3.44

Ammonia Nitrate mg/l N mg/l N 1.2

2.6

0.96

0.53

0.9

3.1

0.48

0.44

Phosphate mg/l 0.75

0.24

0.28

0.32

The Developer’s Case

‘It is your client’s contention that our site is causing this flooding, but no one has said how…it 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 Philogene’s problem and this is clearly not the case…Your expert’s report only came up with two ways in which we could physically have been the cause…you have reverted to picking out of the report that “the flooding is consistent with” etc. As previously pointed out in correspondence…this means a possible cause, accept liability…’

not

probable….We still feel that until someone can tell us exactly what we did that caused Mr Philogene’s problem, we cannot

Presenting the case in law

‘…it is rarely possible to determine the causes of flooding definitively…In 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.’

The consultant’s sequence

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

Public Inquiry: Straight Mile Hazardous Waste site

Understanding the task and assembling the evidence

Preparing the case

Straight Mile Hazardous Waste Site

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 described…will 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…’

Private client: Two Lakes Fishery, Hampshire

Two Lakes Fishery: Water quantity and quality issues

Understanding the task ‘I have been instructed to examine the hydrological setting…in 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…’

Assembling the evidence

600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Hilliers pump T ot al A nnual Rai nf al l at Roms ey (Hy dr ol ogi c al Y ear s ) 1200

m m

1000 y = 0. 9664x + 817. 72 800 -600.00

400 -400.00

200 -200.00

0 1978-79 1979-80 1980-81 1981-82 1982-83 1983-84 1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 0.00

1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 200.00

400.00

600.00

800.00

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 1990’s. 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…’

Gulf Oil: Quantity, quality and impact

Gulf Oil: Assembling the evidence

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 Date 27/02/97 Time Type Ch:5 (% ) 04:57:35 Interval reading 63.45

27/02/97 27/02/97 27/02/97 27/02/97 27/02/97 27/02/97 27/02/97 27/02/97 27/02/97 04:57:50 Interval reading 57.95

04:58:05 Interval reading 55 04:58:20 Interval reading 49.45

04:58:35 Interval reading 47.95

04:58:50 Interval reading 48.45

04:59:05 Interval reading 49.45

04:59:20 Interval reading 04:59:50 Interval reading 51 04:59:35 Interval reading 52.45

54

Gulf Oil

Preparing and presenting a case

Gulf Oil: Drawing conclusions

Gulf Oil’s UK operation was purchased by Shell in 1997/8, and the hydrological findings were subject to publication restrictions

Satisfying the client?

‘On 14 th 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

‘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’?

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)

Unprompted reflections on ‘ reality ’ and ‘ ownership ’

• The chance to look at real our knowledge situations where we could apply and try to suggest solutions to problems; it’s a good problem solving activity • Being able to see how our situations knowledge can be applied to real • By using real situations it has shown me how I will be able to apply the knowledge that I’m 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 hadn’t previously been shown , and has been really helpful • The tutor’s enthusiasm made the course more interesting, by learning from their experiences of applying their knowledge • Looking at case studies and the lecturer’s 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

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 presentation take part in structured discussions within class and it has improved my ability to conduct a • I have learnt to discussing issues, and take into consideration their opinions listen to other people more when • ..helped to hone presentation skills • Seminars aided in arguing over something I didn’t 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

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?

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

Curriculum design and the research-teaching nexus STUDENT-FOCUSED STUDENTS AS PARTICIPANTS Research-tutored Research-based EMPHASIS ON RESEARCH CONTENT Research-led Research-oriented EMPHASIS ON RESEARCH PROCESSES AND PROBLEMS TEACHER-FOCUSED STUDENTS AS AUDIENCE

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