Hi! There is a nice thinking that as a researcher produces new knowledge, she/he also is very suitable to teach at higher levels, as being very knowledgeable and also critical and nuanced when discussing in hers/his field. Knowing the philosophy and methods of knowledge production is a clear advantage. This is also well in harmony with a university’s ambition to recruit bright students to research.
However, there are some problems as well, when transferring this to everyday education in society:
1) A researcher can see teaching duty as a disturbance in the research process, which endangers the quality in another way; not enough preparation, not enough time to feedback to students, etc. Teaching becomes a cost to pay for being able to do research if this does not harmonize.
2) Researchers are almost always quite specialized, and more and more so In a global scientific society in competition for publications in the best ranked journals. On the other hand, most universities have broad educations for their region and nations, with teaching on many areas where no one on the university can be said to be an expert, even at big universities. The solution becomes that researchers. especially fresh PhDs, are forced to teach far away from their research expertise, a PhD exam is here counted as a ”generic” knowledge.
3) Most university undergraduate educations prepare students for work in specific professions, and even if a researcher/teacher has once worked in this professional field for some time, his/her orientation about contemporary professional life is often, although not always, obsolete.
There are possible solutions to these problems, as for example to cooperate between universities for finding right specialised competence, to make teaching merits count better for academic careers and to ensure that teachers/researchers in professional education do periods in or closer to this profession now and then.
Hi! There is a nice thinking that as a researcher produces new knowledge, she/he also is very suitable to teach at higher levels, as being very knowledgeable and also critical and nuanced when discussing in hers/his field. Knowing the philosophy and methods of knowledge production is a clear advantage. This is also well in harmony with a university’s ambition to recruit bright students to research.
However, there are some problems as well, when transferring this to everyday education in society:
1) A researcher can see teaching duty as a disturbance in the research process, which endangers the quality in another way; not enough preparation, not enough time to feedback to students, etc. Teaching becomes a cost to pay for being able to do research if this does not harmonize.
2) Researchers are almost always quite specialized, and more and more so In a global scientific society in competition for publications in the best ranked journals. On the other hand, most universities have broad educations for their region and nations, with teaching on many areas where no one on the university can be said to be an expert, even at big universities. The solution becomes that researchers. especially fresh PhDs, are forced to teach far away from their research expertise, a PhD exam is here counted as a ”generic” knowledge.
3) Most university undergraduate educations prepare students for work in specific professions, and even if a researcher/teacher has once worked in this professional field for some time, his/her orientation about contemporary professional life is often, although not always, obsolete.
There are possible solutions to these problems, as for example to cooperate between universities for finding right specialised competence, to make teaching merits count better for academic careers and to ensure that teachers/researchers in professional education do periods in or closer to this profession now and then.
Doing a prestigious and respected work for the humanity. Serving the world nation for future. Adding values and acquiring knowledge for the self development.
Thank you so much Noor Dia Jaffer, Dr Dwajani S, Slavoljub Hilčenko, Liqaa Habeb, Yasser Jaamour, Md Zafar Alam Bhuiyan, Anders Norberg. I appreciate all your insightful contributions.
Well, there is a very close relationship between teaching and research. Most of the lecturers who are more involved in research obtain better results in their teaching evaluations, suggesting the quality of their teaching. The teaching quality of lecturers doing research show large improvement than those in lower levels of research intensity.
Linking teaching and research helps in understanding latest concepts as well as in depth learning for students. It may also help in improving in research work contents and quality.
In response to Abdullah Noori. Unfortunately, it is not the case that better researchers are also better teachers. In 1996 Hattie and Marsh did a meta-analysis resulting in the following sobering conclusion: "A meta-analysis of 58 studies demonstrates that the relationship is zero." Nonetheless they encouraged researchers to keep looking for strategies to link research and teaching. So, the belief among academics and students remains high that it is important to link.
Let me add some advantages that students reported in various studies (next to disadvantages mainly related to availability and misplaced priorities) to the discussion:
- Research-active teachers enthusiasm for their subject enhances student motivation;
- Classes by research-active teachers are perceived as more intellectually stimulating and challenging;
- Improvement of understanding and research skills when taught by research-active teachers;
- They attach higher credibility to researchers;
- Researchers employ a 'critical questioning approach' which enhances students' academic disposition.
In one of my own studies, the main benefits for teaching were considered to be: contributing to the development of students’ academic disposition, making the concept of research known to students, training students to become researchers and sharing academic knowledge. The benefits for research mentioned were incorporating the input of students, stimulating reflection and broadening your research scope.
I would highly recommend anyone interested in the relationship between research and teaching to read up on the literature regarding the 'research-teaching nexus'. You are of course free to check out my own work :) but I would also highly recommend the work by Jan Elen and colleagues who strongly focus on critical thinking and the importance of research in teaching students that knowledge is constructed.
Other relevant authors (among many more!) include: Ruth Neumann (mainly her earlier work), Angela Brew, and Mick Healey. For those in teaching-intensive environments, the work of Didi Griffioen would be especially interesting. More recently, our German colleagues started to develop their own frameworks, see for example the work of Wolfgang Deicke and team.
The benefits are very many, in the investigation, almost always find the practices and learn to associate knowledge, is definitely the best relationship that may have
Thank you so much Dr. Gerda J. Visser-Wijnveen. Your contribution is laudable. I am glad to know that your research area is purely Education with a focus on "research-teaching nexus". The information you shared is very useful.
The benefits are great since the researcher in this case will be always alerted about the new trends in the area of research in order to improve the quality of teaching. In the same time the interaction with the students open several points of discussion which can help in selecting a proper direction of research .
Dear @Okwu, I do believe there are tangible benefits to linking teaching and research, as in my perception, research is the process by which taught or acquired notions and conceptions are through a logical chain of arguments applied to verify, or say enquire on particular things. This very process, may sometimes compel us to re-evaluate the validity criteria and range of even most familiar notions and concepts. From this single aspect alone, one may apprehend new dimensions, analogies, and new shades of meanings, which may arise thereof, thus enlightening or even revealing new methods and approaches to teach new associated meanings or reaches of even very familiar concepts.
Thank you for your valuable comments - Hamid Reza Samadifard, Slavoljub Hilčenko, Ivan David Lozada Martinez, Anurag Saxena, Mohammed Sabrin and Ahmet Sow.
In my mind, the biggest benefit between linking teaching and research is that it ensure that research remains relevant to everyday life. Too often academic researchers can find themselves removed from the 'coalface' of reality and their work can be idealistic rather than realistically applicable. Teaching also provides an outlet for disseminating research to interested parties.
The impeccable benefits of linking teaching and research are quite obvious.To be brief: A ) Teaching of course requires up-to-date knowledge in part of the teacher which can be earned from the recent research led knowledge and theories. B) Research work by a teacher-researcher can contribute in catering students with tailor-made information on the basis of their needs.
It is vital to link teaching and research. Research help to improve the teacher's teaching strategies. It keeps the teacher informed about the current learning challenges. A teacher should use the research findings to innovate his or her teaching strategies.
Nomfundo Nondalana, you raise an important additional aspect: the need to be well-informed about the latest educational research as that will provide new insight and strategies as to how to teach your subject matter in a way that leads to student learning. So, both disciplinary research is needed to understand the source of the 'knowledge' you teach (and to be able to share with the students how knowledge is constructed in your discipline) as well as educational research - both the general HE research and discipline-specific studies (among other things to be aware of the threshold concepts in your discipline (see the work of J.H.F. (Jan) Meyer and Ray Land)).
If you don't share your research with your students you are robbing them of an opportunity to learn from the original source rather than just reading about what someone else has done. They come to the university to learn from their professors. Teach them.
We are living in an increasingly dynamic world. In the past teaching was seen as being very static but with the increasing use of varying collaborative tools this allows teachers to interact and learn from one another. Research makes teaching relevant to what is happening now and increases problem solving capabilities.
I n my opinion, research is something that makes us to have divergent thinking. it makes gaining new knowledge. Teachers are getting updated with new trends and techniques of teaching which is the result of research. it keeps teacher to find innovative way. ultimately when link research and teaching, teacher becomes efficient.
Thank you Joseph Paulraj of Department of Education and Lystra Dass of Faculty of Humanities and Education. Your comments are very useful. Thank you so much.
Many of my students are able to link the basic knowledge with current research. Even they can challenge some used approached and knowledge. That would drive many of them to actively formulate their research questions and learn more about research techniques that are needed to investigate their proposed theory. One take is they would accept each piece of research information without verifying it validity and reliability.
I think one has to separate the two. Teaching should be based on the result of research. One can do one and then the other, but rarely both at the same time. I deliberately stop my class routing when engaging in research. The students know this is not normal teaching (which is fine with my field of research).
One cannot concentrate on both at the same time. The only way I can see it being done is if the research is completely unobtrusive and in the background (i.e. online tests etc.)
Linking research and teaching provides a continual circle of professional development as well as contributing to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. If we don't evaluate what we do we perpetuate instruction instead of meaningful learning for both student and teacher. We also have the responsibility to add to the knowledge of higher education
Linking teaching and research is great for continuity of care. Research builds on evidence from before and this used for teaching helps to facilitate learning.
If you are asking about studying teaching, that is linking (pedagogical) research and teaching, I recommend it highly. Nothing motivates a researcher more than doing research, so it brings much energy to the planning, delivery, and assessment of the researcher's teaching--which benefits learners.
Research allows the individual to contextualise their actions and environment. In the case of teaching, (e.g teachers in education) research (in T&L, assessment, child psychology, use of digital media etc) empowers the individual/institution as it allows us to map ourselves in the world; what am i doing, what exists in the world, what do i want to do, how do i get there. Research is also a form of collaboration and the sharing of ideas. This allows us to move past purely local political movements and think globally. Research though, like anything else must be allocated specific time in your workflow/tasks. If it is not given the appropriate time, it will not be treated as a priority. Too many institutions praise research but expect it to be done on a voluntary basis on your own time. This undermines the entire process.
In the world of academia teaching and research are the two sides of one coin as teachers/lecturers have to gain fundamental and conceptual knowledge, use innovative tools to make it understand to their students also in other side, for getting awareness they also have to contribute their knowledge and visibility in terms of their applicability of work through their research.
So research increases reliability, visibility and applicability of project based learning but teaching without research can be replaced by machines E-learning sources.
So teacher must contribute in the society in the form of their research too for making teaching more relevant and effective.
Would you mind explaining why you think that the best connection is made in the fields of pedagogy and (educational) psychology?
Is that in reference to the possibility of using the outcomes/insights of research not only to inform or introduce the students to research in the fields of pedagogy and psychology but directly use it to change the way you are teaching; or were you thinking about something else?
In general, I think it is helpful to distinguish between connecting 'disciplinary research' and teaching (which can be done in any discipline in many different ways) and between using the results of educational research to inform your way of teaching. So, in the fields of pedagogy and educational psychology (specifically if the studies are carried out in higher education) these two might overlap.
Ron Griffiths (2004) called the latter 'research-informed' while distinguishing various forms of linking disciplinary research and teaching (on which @Mick Healey built in his well-known model).
It has great benefits for both students and staff members. Better engagement and satisfaction with the course, Increased confidence as learners and independent thinkers, developed capacity to conduct research and inquiry, opportunity to work with PhD students and faculty on an area of interest and make informed decisions about graduate studies.
Teaching and research are two different approaches. A person who is good at teaching can focus on research whereas a person who is good at research cannot focus that much on teaching. If the link is established between teaching and research as concentrating now in academic institutions, one can establish basic background towards research. Ideas can be created, generated, motivated and made possible by students and scholars with the help of technical staff. Doubts can be clarified with the discussion of group of people and can develop contacts with industry and make good piece of work.
It is very important to link teaching and research. It is advantageous to both students and faculties. It is all about sharing and gaining knowledge. So I think it must be linked.
On the other side it also depends on teaching skill and research skill. It may happen that those who are researcher can not teach well and those who are teachers may not do research well.
Teaching is primary and research is secondary for a teacher. Fundamentals, grip on subject and principles of application can only be got by teaching then research follows. A good teacher can perform or do a good amount of research.
هناك العديد من المنافع والفوائد التي يمكن تحقيقها من خلال البحوث فاغلب الدول المتقدمة تركز بشكل كبير على البحث العلمي وما يحققه من نتائج في تطوير وتحسين الاقتصاد والتنمية البشرية وكافة القطاعات بشكل عام
There is great benefit. Research is the intellectual food of the researcher and increases his knowledge and practical skills in the case of applied research as well as writing on new topics .. With my appreciation
Introduce students to inquiry-based learning through the use of a Socratic, "questioning style" of lecturing and lab assignments that require students to formulate and answer their own research questions.
I think it will be very helpful in teaching if it is linked with research. Researcher (faculty) will be able to apply many different kind of teaching methods such as problem based or reasoning based.
if research is added in studies for student then it will help students in knowledge gaining and will able to learn new concepts and develop innovative technology.
It is the best way to stay current in your field. You read the articles of others and learn from their research. You also, as my doctoral professor's impressed upon me, fulfill your obligation to "make a contribution to the literature."
Teaching is puerly academic and research can be of academic, industrial or of consultancy. Linking teaching to research helps to solve more real problems with sense and of proof.
Being a teacher and researcher at the same time can be benificial to both sides.
In the classroom, you can give up to date info about the field from your research knowledge and get a good feedback and questions that can inspire you for new directions to your research. And in research, you can take the state of the art a step further to solve a problem mentioned or you found in textbooks or asked about by students. So, i see that the teaching and doing research is a great closed loop system that can have mutual benefit for both ends.