Ethical Expectations of Academic Research by College Undergraduate Students

Abstract

The development of research skills is a gradual process that assumedly should start at the undergraduate level. This article aims to explore what research-related skills professional bachelor (undergraduate) students are expected to acquire in Lithuanian colleges. Using a conventional approach of content analysis, the authors analysed twenty-nine descriptors of study fields applied to colleges and sixteen codes of ethics of Lithuanian colleges to identify research-related learning outcomes (learning skills) and ethics norms. Their findings suggest that undergraduate students are not recognized as a contributing part of the research community, although they are expected to be involved in research. Some study fields are more research-oriented than others; however, compliance with research ethics is implied only in eight study fields. Student research activity is even less addressed in the codes of ethics than in the descriptors of study fields.