According to Healey and Jenkins (Healey M. & Jenkins A.: Developing Undergraduate Research and Inquiry, 2009), research-based education can take place in four different ways, all of which complement each other. The first sees the student as a more or less passive recipient who learns about current research in the discipline. In the second the student is more actively involved and engages in the research discussions. With the third way the student is again a more passive recipient learning how to engage in research and enquiry. The fourth way sees the student as an active participant undertaking their own enquiries and research. 

Björklund identifies three levels that contribute to research-based education (Björklund: «Forskningsanknytning genom disputation», 1991). They are environment, course material and attitudes. ‘Environment’ in this context means the student is surrounded by an active research environment. ‘Course material’ refers to how the learning is consistent with relevant new research. ‘Attitudes’ describes how the education emphasizes the ability of making enquiries and asking critical questions. Yet another model for research-based learning has been described by Lundmark, Sjölund and Staaf (Lundmark, Sjölund, Staaf: «Forskningsanknytning. Ett underlag för diskussion om begreppets innebörd och tillämpning», 2006). It involves three similar levels entitled ‘institutional conditions’, ‘scientific basis’ and ‘scientific attitudes’ with associated goals for each level.

According to Lundmark et al., ‘institutional conditions’ relate to the practising teachers’ balance between research and teaching. It concerns how many of the teachers on the undergraduate programmes hold doctorates and whether PhD candidates are involved in teaching at undergraduate level. ‘Scientific basis’ means that the latest research is included in the teaching and that the students engage with the research taking place at their institution. It also means that the students are actively involved in scientific trials and that they receive training in scientific method. The third level, ‘scientific attitudes’, concerns how the institution enables the students to make independent critical evaluations, to identify, delimit and resolve problems, and to adopt scientific methodology. Assessment methods should also emphasize the students’ capacity for independent, critical judgement.