Research Informed
Teaching – a summary
Dr Susan Hill and Assoc Prof Tony Fetherston
Background
•
“Linking teaching and research is a topic of
international interest.
•
•
Schools need to work on strategies that consider
teaching and research together and strengthen the
potential links.
•
•
key characteristic of a university is where teaching
and research are brought together.
“At best, research and teaching are very loosely
coupled”
Re-orient research so that it informs what is actually
taught.
Background
All students - not just research students – need to develop the
skills of :
critical inquiry;
critical thinking;
reflection and analysis;
problem-solving; and
the ability to apply evidence-based solutions.
Disciplinary research needs to be infused into all
undergraduate courses
Skills of critical inquiry need to be explicitly taught
Research Informed Teaching
Links
disciplinary teaching;
disciplinary research; and
the scholarship of teaching and learning
to undergraduate course design.
Rationale
raises students’ awareness of the research-oriented ways in which they
are learning
makes students feel part of a learning community, in which research
and teaching are seen as part and parcel of the same endeavour;
increases motivation of students through active, or inquiry-based,
learning;
increases staffs’ motivation by achieving synergies between their
teaching and learning;
increases research output in both disciplinary and pedagogic
research;
improves students’ results profile;
develops students’ autonomy in learning
sensitizes students to their academic potential beyond their first
degree;
good, inclusive academic practice (Castley, 2006, p. 27).
Kinds of Research Informed teaching
Teaching can be research-led
emphasises transmission of information and understanding
research findings rather than research processes;
Teaching can be research-oriented
emphasises understanding the processes of disciplinary knowledge
creation and teaching inquiry skills;
Teaching can be research-based
incorporates inquiry-based activities and staff experiences of inquiry
processes into student learning activities; and
Teaching can be research-informed
draws consciously on systematic inquiry into the teaching and
learning process itself.
Way forward – Teaching and Learning
Conceptualise approach:
engage with the literature of teaching and learning of a general
nature, and of the discipline;
focus on reflection on own teaching practice and the learning
of students within the context of their own discipline:
communicate and disseminate ideas about teaching and
learning in general, and teaching and learning within the
discipline; and
develop conceptions of teaching and learning (Trigwell, et al.,
2000, p. 163)
Model
teaching is teacher-focused or student-focused,
students are treated as an audience or as participants,
the emphasis is on research content or research processes and
problems.
The Model
STUDENT-FOCUS /
STUDENTS ARE
PARTICIPANTS
EMPHASIS ON
RESEARCH
CONTENT
RESEARCH-TUTORED
Students find, examine, & discuss
current research & insights from
the discipline with teachers and
peers;
Teacher aims to engender critical
thinking and a deep approach to
learning.
SOTL-TUTORED
Learning aimed at understanding
learners and learning processes by
discussing teaching methods,
materials, learning styles, etc. gleaned
from the teaching-learning literature;
Students participate in and contribute
to the learning.
RESEARCH-BASED
Students learn as researchers;
Emphasis is on inquiry-based
learning and activities that mirror
the research process;
Division of roles between teacher
& student is minimised.
SOTL-LED
Learning about teaching through
reading and reflection on the
literature of teaching and learning both generally and in the discipline.
SOTL-ORIENTED
Learning aimed at understanding &
improving teaching practice through
research/inquiry and reflection (e.g. action
research);
Students are the subjects of the inquiry.
RESEARCH-LED
Students learn about current
disciplinary knowledge and research
findings;
Subject content dominated by staff
research interests.
RESEARCH-ORIENTED
Students learn about research processes
(research questions, methods,
procedures, etc.) & how knowledge is
constructed in the discipline;
Teacher aims to engender a research
ethos.
SOTL-BASED
Learning aimed at understanding and
improving student learning through
collaborative inquiry into teaching and
learning processes (e.g. Participatory
action research).
Students are partners and/or participants
in the inquiry.
TEACHER-FOCUS /
STUDENTS ARE AN
AUDIENCE
EMPHASIS ON
RESEARCH
PROCESSES
AND
PROBLEMS
Development and Implementation
Define Research-Informed Teaching
Promote Learning as the Common Focus of Teaching and Research
the model of research-informed teaching aims to show that learning is the “vital link” between
teaching and research
Build a Strong Culture of Teaching as Scholarship
raise academics’ awareness of the potential to build their profile as teacher scholars and contribute to
the literature of teaching and learning in their own discipline and more generally.
Encourage Student-Focused Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Develop an Undergraduate Research Ethos
Students had a poor grasp of the nature of academic work
frustrated at their lack of direct access to research and their exclusion from the research community
Develop Students’ Inquiry Skills
re-shaped to involve students in student-initiated or staff-initiated research from as early as their first
year
utilising the research skill development (RSD) framework proposed by Willison and O’Regan (2007)
which maps student progression through different facets of inquiry against different levels of student
autonomy.
Influence Course Design
academics may face resentment and resistance from students if
they are perceived, for example, to be the only lecturer in the
course or program that requires them to engage in inquiry-based
learning
Inform Academic Development Initiatives
CLD Role?
clearly define what is meant by research-informed teaching at ECU;
promote learning as the bridge between teaching and research;
foster a strong culture of teaching as scholarship;
encourage student-focused approaches to teaching and learning;
develop an undergraduate research ethos;
develop students’ inquiry skills;
influence course design; and
inform academic development initiatives.
position both staff and students as learners
clearly signal the expectation that university teaching should be
approached in the same scholarly manner as academic research