Adjusting to the Australian Qualifications Framework

The Australian Qualifications Framework (AFQ) has set standards for Australian higher education qualifications, which is a good thing. But this requires some adjustments by universities. One issue is how much teaching of research methods there is for honors students. There is a "AQF specification for the Bachelor Honours Degree", however honors is a hybrid between undergraduate and postgraduate. Honors is an extra year on a Bachelor degree, "to qualify individuals who apply a body of knowledge in a specific context to undertake professional work and as a pathway for research". Amongst the difficult questions this raises is how much about research do the students need to know and how they gain these skills. With just a year there is not a lot of time for formal research methods courses and then to "... plan and execute project work and/or a piece of research and scholarship with some independence".