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Linking Teaching and Research in the Disciplines.

"Linking teaching and research is a topic of international interest, as recent studies in Australia (Zubrick et al., 2001), the UK (Southampton Institute, 2000), and the United States (Boyer Commission, 1998, 2001) indicate. For many people a key characteristic of a university is where teaching and research are brought together. However, a great deal of the discussion about the links between teaching and research is over-simplified and based on anecdotal evidence. Whereas there is much research showing that there is little if any relationship between research productivity and teaching excellence (see reviews in: Hattie and Marsh, 1996; Marsh and Hattie, 2002), there is a growing amount of evidence to show that students may benefit from research activity, but for this to be maximised the linkage has to be constructed and planned for explicitly (Jenkins et al., 2003)." (Extract from an essay on 'Linking Teaching and Research in Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences'.)

In 2002-2003 the GEES Subject Centre was involved in a multi-disciplinary, UK-wide project to explore the linkages between teaching and research including the idenfication of case studies in the disciplines. Since then, the Centre has built on this work, continues to gather more examples of practice and includes linking teaching and research as a major topic in its departmental workshops programme and other key activities.

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About the Project

Linking Teaching and Research project: Key Actions and Deliverables from the 5 initial Subject Centres

GEES Project Plan

Aim: To identify, record and disseminate case studies of the way individuals, course teams and departments within geography, earth and environmental sciences enhance the learning of their students by developing the links with their research and to promote ways in which individuals and departments in our subject communities can maximise the benefits for students of these linkages.

Method: The GEES Subject Centre will use its department contacts, its Senior Advisers' networks, subject-based listserves, and swap shops to identify 20-30 case studies. These will be put on the Subject Centre Web site. A dedicated set of Web pages will be developed on linking teaching and research in the GEES area, including a review essay on the nature of links between research and teaching in GEES disciplines along with an annotated bibliography of key articles and Web sites and links to the case studies. A national conference on the topic will be held during the academic year 2002-03, the outcomes of which will be published in Planet. Ways of developing teaching-research links along with the case studies will be promoted over the next three years through running department-based workshops on the topic and contributing to conferences and meetings (e.g. discipline-based annual conferences; HoDs' meetings; educational conferences).

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Essay: 'Linking teaching and research in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences'

'Linking teaching and research in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences' RTF 100kb (open in MS Word)

Please feel free to comment on the essay and contribute to the debate. Please send any comments to Mick Healey at MHealey@glos.ac.uk

Contributions to the discussion of the essay:

The name of the sender and the institution have, with permission, been removed:

I like your distinctions between research-led, research-orientated, research-based and research-informed. Have you also considered research-driven? I also note an implicit dichotomy between an information transfer model of the nexus and a constructivist model. Being rather naughty and guessing one or two things that will probably emerge in discussions here in .... , I guess that one could also introduce power relations. I could see two manifestations of power: "Research is so important that only I, the great researcher, should be allowed to talk about it" So third year options contain material that is more realistically in the post-doc seminar! "Research is so important that I do it and tell my junior staff to tell the students about what I do" The anithesis here at ..... would be to view research as being about the construction of knowledge and that students should be empowered as knowledge producers and constructors, which in some people's eyes would be a dangerous reversal of power and so should not be countenanced. When I talk to some colleagues about beefing up our research methods teaching, they view me with scepticism, not only because I don't research "real geography" but also, I suspect as they do not really accept the knowledge construction argument. So there are some thoughts based on a very quick reading of your paper over my afternoon tea.

Response from Ron Johnston, University of Bristol:

Not sure really who it is aimed at, but it was an easy read. My main point is as follows.

The purpose of a university education (especially outside the professional schools, all of which should be postgraduate) is to develop the students' faculty to 'think critically'. Science is organised scepticism - all knowledge is treated as provisional and is continually being put to the test.

Research is the way in which we do this: we are socialised into a discipline which involves us: (a) appreciating what is currently 'known' (i.e. the prevailing received wisdom); and (b) learning how we answer questions - put that wisdom to the test.

Thus, everything in a degree is research: it can only be taught by those who are currently involved in it - who are au fait with what is currently 'known' and what methods are used to address questions, and with the evolution of both. We exist to instil organised scepticism: there are no right and wrong answers - though some are righter than others!

If you accept that argument then the issue of research vs teaching dissipates; the two use the same skills - albeit perhaps at different levels of sophistication.

Further, because 'knowledge' is moving very fast, what we learn/teach is relatively unimportant - it will be obsolete within years (within weeks if you are doing computing or electronic engineering!). We use our discipline to inculcate the basic approaches to learning - because that is the context we are working in, and students come to us because they are interested in that discipline too. And we synthesis different research streams in our moves forward

This basic point doesn't come through in what you have written (three authors but in the first-person singular!) For example, the examples in table 3 suggest research is about methods - that is just part of it; even more so is thinking and asking questions (as the recent Hoggart et al book argues).

I don't see any bigger issues!

On a few minor points: I don't like to see disciplines (or parts thereof) called 'soft': implies easiness, which is untrue!

And has anybody tested whether fewer textbooks are being published now than 20 years ago, let alone whether this is due to the RAE?!??!

Hope this hurried response helps.

The following is my (Mick Healey) response to the thoughtful comments, which Ron Johnston makes about the essay.
  1. Johnston says he is not clear who the intended reader is. The essay is aimed at helping other geographers, earth and environmental scientists a) to appreciate the complexity and contested nature of the teaching-research nexus, and b) to devise ways of better helping their students to benefit from research activity.
  2. I accept that I should have made more about the importance of developing students to think critically and ask questions. I also agree that this can be the common theme between teaching and research. In slightly different words this is what Elton and others are getting at when they talk about learning and scholarship being the intervening variable linking research and teaching. Peter Scott makes a related point when he argues that separating teaching and research is like separating the inseparable. For him, with the shift to a Mode 2 knowledge intensive society, all students need to be researchers and all researchers need to be teachers. So yes, the same skills may be used in teaching and research.
  3. I also accept that I could have made more of the provisional nature of knowledge and the evolution of knowledge and the methods used to address questions within a discipline.
  4. I would still argue, however, that the method used to link teaching and research is important. Some teaching methods are more likely to inculcate critical thinking and the asking of questions than others. One of the main themes in the paper is that student centred learning, particularly where it takes the form of e.g. enquiry-based learning and problem based learning, is one of the most effective ways of teaching and at the same time developing the teaching-research nexus. But yes, it is more than just a question of teaching methods; it's also how universities and the system at large operate. In particular the organisation of research funding and the functioning of the recognition and reward system influence the opportunities and barriers and incentives and disincentives for academic staff to develop the linkages between teaching and research in ways which benefit student learning.
  5. Where we part company is Johnston's view that "everything in a degree is research: it can only be taught by those who are currently involved in it" (italics added). This appears to me to be an overly idealistic view, which has not held true in British universities for some time, is less true in universities in many other countries, and will be less the case in the UK following implementation of the government's White Paper. Moreover, even for individual research active teachers, much (most?) of what they teach is outside what they are currently researching.
  6. As for Johnston's 'minor points'. I see what he is getting at, but I'm quoting terms 'soft' and 'hard' from Biglan (1973), and these are commonly referred to in the literature. Similarly I would agree it would be helpful if someone undertook a quantitative analysis on textbook production (in relation to student numbers and potential authors), though I don't think the argument is about whether there has been a change in the number of textbooks. What I was citing was the view of publishers, admittedly in the mid-1990s, that they were finding it more difficult to persuade academics to write textbooks, and the reason often given to them was that the potential authors were too busy producing refereed articles for the RAE.

I am very grateful to Ron Johnston for his thoughtful contribution to the debate on this critical topic.

Mick Healey

Response from Paul Wright, Southampton Institute:

An interesting paper. The following is probably more to gaod people into a response than to create a balanced critique, but here goes....

The essay highlights some of the main arguments this community of practice has been having over the last year or so. I suppose my main issues are not so much a criticism of the detail contained therein, but a cynicism over the original question and its seeming legitimisation of a variety of practices which are counter to my view of a student focused HE sector.

Firstly, I wonder if the focus of the issue is wrong. Promoting a link between T & R is all very well, but all Universities have been doing this for years. This is why the "research-led"? curricula can claim the link. I welcome, however, the expression of this link in other forms. However, for me the issue of a T & R link is ultimately focussed on us as academics. This often has little relevance to the learning that students actually do, and this is the issue. If researchers make good teachers because they are actively learning too, why is there little evidence to suggest that students' leaning is much better in all research active departments? In my view, it is because the two processes are very much unlinked by classroom practice. Whilst the researcher actively constructs their worldview by research, students are usually fed that worldview by transmission, a passive experience that often, it is argued, does not promote learning. Unless research active departments start to realise there is no de facto link between staff research and student learning, there will continue to be student incomprehension about staff research interests and research as a process. As a cynic, I worry that this paper will just allow present teacher focussed practice to continue, as it does not address this fundamental issue.

Thinking more about this, and looking at some of the comments on this site, it struck me how fragile the "if you don't research it, you can't teach it" link is. Actually, the suggestion is blatant nonsense and shows a fundamental disregard for students and their learning. Did those of us not active in subject research suddenly forget how to read? Or did we just become stupid overnight and stop thinking critically and be given to huge misunderstandings about the work at the cutting edge? RAE scores are partly governed by dissemination of results in academic journals. Engaging with this work is part of every academics' scholarly responsibility. Secondly, did the "state-of-the-art" move on so quickly that those of us who wait for these papers fall two years behind current thinking? What happened to our attendance at conferences? And if active researchers are so "current", why do so few academics never really touch those lecture notes? Sorry, folks, I just don't believe you, and I take the implication that I cannot better student learning because I am not involved in research to be an insult. Moreover, it is an insult that is grounded in prejudice, ignorance and academic elitism. My own view is that research led curricula that only engage students in a notion of "advanced content"? do not always address the issue of "advanced learning".

Secondly, although you make comment about it, you do not show the impact of educational research as a link between teaching and research. Many GEES members are now using classroom activities to start to study in more detail the process of how students learn, which has led to further engagement with the body of literature surrounding the scholarship of practice. Therefore, more GEES members are building curricula, assessment strategies, and learning sessions around what educational research tells us. Those who choose to ignore this work show an unreflective nature, and it is probable that their practice will not only disadvantage some students, but also never fundamentally change. Furthermore, this link actually functions in both directions, as practice borne from engagement with theory often translates into experiences which, on reflection, feedback into at the least further practice, and at best into educational research literature.

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QAA Benchmarking

Excerpts from Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences & Environmental Studies Benchmarking Statement

From Knowledge and graduate key skills - para 3.3.4

Intellectual skills

From Learning, teaching and assessment - para 4.2

Learning, teaching and assessment should be interlinked as part of the curriculum design process and should be appropriately chosen to develop the knowledge and skills identified in section 3 and in the programme specification for the student's degree programme. Research and scholarship inform curriculum design of all ES3 programmes. Research-led programmes may develop specific subject-based knowledge and skills.

From Learning, teaching and assessment - para 4.3

The Panel believes that it is impossible for students to develop a satisfactory understanding of ES3 without a significant exposure to field based learning and teaching, and the related assessment. Much of the advancement in knowledge and understanding in our subject areas is founded on accurate observation and recording in the field. Developing field-related practical and research skills is, therefore, essential for students wishing to pursue careers in ES3.

Excerpts from the Geography Benchmarking Statement

From Introduction - para 1.3

"A close nexus of links between teaching and the vigorous research sector, in addition to Geography's high international standing, enhance the attraction of most programmes"

From Aims of an honours geography programme - para 2.3

Through a diversity of provision in degree programmes, students acquire a range of cognitive, generic and transferable skills (Section 4). Geography graduates have learned to interpret and analyse (intellectual skills), and to tackle geographical issues through the deployment of skills specific to the geographer and professional researcher, including the use of appropriate information technologies (Section 5). They are well placed to contribute to the development of interdisciplinary aspects of knowledge. In addition, Geography fosters a range of personal attributes relevant to the world beyond HE, which will promote geographers' ability to engage in lifelong learning, to consider ethics and values, and to contribute to the wider community. Some will chose to develop specialist research skills in social or natural sciences; all compete successfully for a wide variety of employment.

From Knowledge and understanding - para 3.1

Geographers should have an understanding of the vital contribution made by research in their discipline to the development of knowledge, particularly in terms of the influence of recent research.

From Student skills, abilities and attributes - para 4.4 Intellectual skills

Geography enhances a range of intellectual skills and abilities that are acquired through use of its learning resources, frequent practice of its methods and immersion in appropriate research contexts.

From Student skills, abilities and attributes - para 4.8

While recognising and valuing the diversity of existent good practice, it is useful to emphasise some of the general principles underpinning successful skills curricula. The most important is the need for careful planning and the explicit incorporation of skills within the design and delivery of the degree programme as a whole. The skills dimension is best planned in conjunction with the knowledge-based curriculum, so that the relationship between the two can be given detailed consideration. Skills need to be taught, practised and assessed within a curriculum framework that is balanced, coherent and progressive, so that the level of challenge and achievement is gradually increased throughout, taking students to the boundaries of research frontiers.

From Processes and contexts of learning - para 5.8

An education in Geography involves an active engagement with the external world. Fieldwork constitutes an essential aspect of this engagement and thus has a variety of roles, in:

From Standards and levels of achievement - para 7.8

It is also important to recognise that a significant proportion of Geography graduates achieve excellence beyond the typical standard. These graduates are distinguished primarily by superior intellectual skills, which are deployed in the context of wide-ranging knowledge of the various aspects of the discipline. The strength of Geography's catholic methodological tradition is most clearly demonstrated in its best graduates, who bring originality, insight and superior critical and reflective abilities to bear upon this knowledge, and have the capacity to link theory and practice in identifying and tackling research problems. This quality is evident across the spectrum of assessed work, but is perhaps most clearly demonstrated in dissertations.

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Links

Change Strategies for institutions and departments to develop teaching /research links

Good Practice Guidelines for course teams...and institutions

International listing of relevant web sites

Frank Websters article from the Guardian on the death of Cultural Studies and Sociology Department at Birmingham

The Guardian article asking if students benefit from the increasing amount of research conducted in universities

Linking Teaching and Research in the Disciplines Subject Centre Partners:

Other examples of linking of teaching and research in the related Built Environment Disciplines

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Linking Teaching and Research in the Disciplines

The Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences,
Buckland House, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
Email: info@gees.ac.uk Tel: ++44 1752 584529 Fax: ++44 1752 584880