The Research-Led Pedagogy in Contemporary Planning Education

This paper aims to explore the research-led pedagogy in contemporary planning education. A case study was conducted in the Department of Urban Planning and Design, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, to show a range of teaching and learning methods which aimed to embed research into the academic experience, thereby facilitating students’ active learning. The application of these new teaching models (e.g. integrated teaching across different modules, interdisciplinary workshops, field studies, summer undergraduate research projects, games, etc.), as a move away from the lecture-based approach to a hands-on approach, provides an opportunity for students to engage with some innovative concepts (e.g. sustainability, resilience, etc.) and explore their applicability and value in practice. It was found from this study that there is an urgent need to foster a research-led learning environment which can facilitate innovative educational practices or similar. Such an ongoing process can also help students deepen their understanding of the latest requirements of China’s overall strategic development plans (e.g. the integrative development of urban and rural areas) and thereby cope with new issues arising in the urban-rural transformation. Since the host institution of this study (XJTLU) is itself a joint venture between Xi’an Jiaotong University China and the University of Liverpool UK, some findings from this case study reflect the differences of educational practices between the UK and China.