RSD in University Coursework and HDR Supervision
This page for University Learning addresses the use of the Research Skill Development and other models of the MELT that were developed in the Higher Education Context.
History of RSD
The Research Skill Development (RSD) framework was devised by Kerry O'Regan and John Willison in 2004, with the earliest version called the Information Literacy Continuum first presented in 2005, and the journal article introducing the RSD in 2007.
The lion's share of research has taken place in the context of university learning, undergraduate, masters and PhD study.
Resources for higher education
See resources developed in the higher education context including:
- Work Skill Development (WSD) framework
- Optimising Problem Solving (OPS) pentagon
- Digital Skill Development (DSD) framework
- i-Talitali model that uses an analogy with weaving a Pacific Island mat, and presentation.
Higher Degree by Research and supervision is powerfully informed by the extended Researcher Skill Development (RSD7) framework.
Find out more
Research Skill Development (RSD) for Masters focuses on concrete examples of how students’ research skills and problem-solving skills have been explicitly taught, developed and assessed in Masters coursework contexts. Watch our introductory video to RSD for Masters below.
This handbook demonstrates how academics have developed and assessed students’ research skills in content-rich courses from First Year undergraduate to Masters level.
The courses listed in the handbook represent a selection of the 28 courses that trialled and evaluated RSD approaches as part of an ALTC-funded project. The results showed substantial positive benefits to the explicit development of student research skills across 10 diverse courses.
In 2009, the RSD was elaborated into the unequivocal Researcher Skill Development framework, with two additional levels of autonomy, and so RSD7 for short.
The article PhD prepared addresses the use of the RSD and RSD7 across a Medical Science Degree.