Line Richter

Abstract

Impact Labs - An experiment in adding impact to research-based teaching through a response to a public consultation process

In general, there is an increasingly high demand for research to have impact. Not least at the faculty of social sciences, UCPH, and at UCPH in general. At the same time there is a general focus on research-teaching-integration in higher education. While there is often a focus on output, including public communication, in teaching activities, there is little focus on how to engage directly with public policy.

In this project, I have aimed to combine these in co-creation labs where I invited students to participate in writing a response to a public hearing process within my field of research: migrant smuggling.  The project thus combines problem-based learning and research teaching integration, and does so while adding a concrete output and recipient for the end result.

I discuss the challenges and advantages of this model, and reflect upon how takeaways from this experiment can be transferred to other teaching situations.