Teaching-research nexus
Teaching-Research nexus- In a nutshell - 5 minute overview
- Introduction
- Teaching-research nexus and the Teaching and Learning framework
- Indicators of the teaching-research nexus
- Resources and references
- Further assistance
Introduction
Rowland describes the 'enquiring' university as one founded on a culture of open and critical enquiry, underpinning both teaching and research. It is therefore in the spirit of such intellectual enquiry that information and resources are shared on these pages, to start conversations and stimulate ideas. There is no unitary, uncontested view of what the teaching-research nexus looks like (see for example Hughes in Barnett, 2005). Links between teaching and research are likely to be multiple, diverse, dynamic and discipline-specific. Evidence of strong links can be found in a variety of contexts; at Institutional, Divisional/disciplinary and individual teacher-researcher levels.
Teaching-research nexus and the teaching and learning framework
Critical enquiry is an explicit feature of the teaching-research nexus, through an emphasis on enquiry based learning experiences that develop research skills and critical dispositions. More broadly though, critical enquiry is a concept linking the different aspects of the University's teaching and learning framework. It can be found in each of the the core elements of the framework.
- It is expressed in the Graduate Qualities, through the development of critical and creative thinking, problem solving skills, reflective dispositions, the ability to question knowledge, values and assumptions and to understand and apply disciplinary and professional research methods.
- It is at the core of active student engagement, through which students reflexively and actively contribute to their own learning.
- It underpins the design of flexible learning environments that enable and stimulate experiential learning.
- Discipline and profession-specific methods and principles of critical enquiry are developed in distinctive disciplinary contexts.
- Research in professional practice is encouraged through practice-based learning.
- Service learning can be understood to contain an implicit assumption that applying knowledge for the 'public good' requires a level of critical judgement informed by enquiry.
Indicators of the teaching-research nexus
Students learn through authentic enquiry
- students undertake learning activities which reflect the processes of research (e.g. student presentation of paper, student run conference, peer review each others' essays)
- assessment activities mirror research processes (e.g. students are assessed on their peer review)
- students undertake enquiry-based activities
- students undertake enquiry-based extended projects as part of the curriculum
Students learn about research
- students learn about the role of research in their discipline/professional practice
- students learn about disciplinary constructions of knowledge
- students understand the contested nature of knowledge
- curriculum incorporates cutting-edge research and knowledge/evidence-based practice
- teachers discuss their own research within the classroom environment
- students critique the role of research in society/in their discipline/their future professional practice
- students learn about the drivers of new knowledge in their professional field
Students learn to do research
- students learn about research methods as part of the curriculum
- students practise/engage in research methods and generate new knowledge (e.g. conduct interviews, undertake an experiment)
- students learn through research processes (e.g. undertake literature critique)
Resources and references
- Discussion paper (PDF 96kb - opens in a new window. Download Adobe Acrobat) about Teaching-research nexus by Peter Lee (February 2007).
- Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) - The Academic's and Policy-Maker's Guides to the Teaching-research Nexus. Includes case studies of good practice in the T-R nexus sorted different categories including discipline groupings, year levels and strategy examples (see examples of TRN practice).
- Stehlik, Tom (2008) (Word 380kb - opens in a new window) LTU/EASS Academic fellowship report: The teaching-research nexus in the Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences.
- Enhancement themes web site - This is a large Scottish project with a stream focussing on TRN. The Outcomes page offers discipline-based recommendations and reports.
- The Higher Education Academy - Linking teaching and research in departments and disciplines (PDF, 281 KB) by Alan Jenkins, Mick Healy and R Zetter (2007) and Institutional strategies to link teaching and research (PDF 465kb - opens in a new window. Download Adobe Acrobat) by Alan Jenkins and Mick Healey.
- Oxford-Brookes - 15 points from LINK - Linking Teaching with Research and Consultancy in the disciplines of Planning, Land and Property Management, and Building.
- Useful ethics documents: National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research and the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research
- Linking Teaching with Research and Consultancy in the disciplines of Planning, Land and Property Management, and Building; a project conducted by Oxford Brookes University, The University of the West of England, University of Westminster and Sheffield Hallam University, UK
Further assistance
Further assistance with Teaching-research nexus is available from your:
- Head of School
- Divisional Dean: Teaching and Learning
- Academic development staff at Learning and Teaching Unit, specifically the Academic developer - Research education
- Library - Academic librarians