Identifying Students Research Skills in a First Year Biology Practical Unit: A Study Applying the Research Skill Development (RSD) framework

Developing students’ higher order thinking skills for learning in science practicals provokes ongoing discussion in the literature. However, parallels are rarely drawn between higher-order thinking skills students require for learning in the laboratory as foundation skills for researching. This may be due to research skills being conceptualised as something a science researcher does, rather than something that an undergraduate science develops. By applying the Research Skill Development RSD framework, this study identified which research skills science students engage with in a first year practical unit and established their relationship with higher-order thinking skills for research.