Jim -
Jim -
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and materials on teaching alternatives. You are widely appreciated for your professionalism and collegiality.
On the teaching/research dichotomy, I don't think the London University/UK mentoring model relates to our situation here but I do think Mike Sigel's brief statement is right on the mark. I wouldn't quibble with even a word because I thoroughly agree with him.
On the question of negative feedback to students, I think the best thing we can do for a goodly number of our students who are weak in their editing and writing skills is to use the PENding grade more frequently. We can honestly give them some positive feedback, promise them the maximum grade that they deserve, and get them the intensive one-on-one help that they need -- if they are required to work with one of the fine tutors in our College Writing Center for at least a month or more during the semester ahead. The work they do there is not graded, it certainly encourages them to think as well as write with greater clarity and coherence. I have sent A and B students there as well as D and C students. The feedback I get is limited, but very positive. And I've never heard any student complaints or regrets after they've fulfilled their requirements for the release of the PENding grade.
Thanks again,
Paul
-----Original Message-----
From: Greenberg, James
Sent: Wed 2/26/2003 8:41 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc:
Subject: Teaching w/ Research
TBers,
The posting below presents an interesting perspective on the
continuing research versus teaching issue. It is from Alan Jenkins of
the Westminster Institute Oxford Brookes University and the LTSN
Generic Centre (UK). It draws on Jenkins A , Breen R , Lindsay R and
Brew (2003) Reshaping Teaching in Higher Education : Linking Teaching
and Research , London ,Kogan Page and distributed by Stylus in the
USA. Reprinted with permission.
BREAK AWAY FROM TEACHING VERSUS RESEARCH
"I believe that the main hope for realizing a genuinely student
centered undergraduate education lies in re re-engineering the
teaching -research nexus." Paul Ramsden (2001,4) , Pro Vice
Chancellor, Learning and Teaching, University of Sydney.
In Scholarship Reconsidered Ernest Boyer (1990, X11) challenged US
higher education to "break away out of the tired old teaching versus
research debate." Since then scholars and institutions world-wide
have sought to reshape the potential connections between faculty
research and student learning . In doing this they have developed our
understanding of the research evidence; focused on issues of course
design; and started to reshape institutions in creative ways
Developing Research Understanding
At face value much of the research evidence questions whether there
is a positive relationship between (faculty ) research and student
learning. Much research has been statistical, examining mainly at the
level of the individual academic research 'quality' and teaching
'quality'. In a meta analysis of this research, Hattie and Marsh
(1996, 529) argued that "the common belief that teaching and research
were inextricably intertwined is an enduring myth". However recent
research, often using different research methodologies and focusing
much more on the student experience, does argue for the importance of
the teaching-research nexus. For example Baxter-Magolda (2001) sees
involving students in research and research-like activities as
supporting them in developing more sophisticated conceptions of
knowledge . In a study of an intensive undergraduate summer research
programme (at the University of Oxford ,Ohio ), she concluded that
students who took part in the programme became more confident as
learners and more capable of thinking independently.. Baxter Magolda
(1999, 9) sees such research as validating what she describes as
"constructive development pedagogy SÝ(in which) teachers model the
process of constructing knowledge in their disciplines, teach that
process to students, and give students opportunities to practice and
become proficient at it." Research at Oxford Brookes and the
University of East Anglia in the UK strongly reinforce the benefits
students obtain from research in including 'knowledge currency' and
faculty credibility; but also demonstrate that too often courses and
overall institutional structures do not support them in realizing
these potential benefits. (Jenkins , Blackman ,Lindsay and
Paton-Saltlzberg , 1998 ;Lindsay ,Breen and Jenkins , 2002, and
Zamorski 2002).
This recent research moves the issue away from the focus on
individual staff and whether the best researchers are the best
teachers to reshaping teaching and research to better ensure they
connect.
Focus on Course Design
Consider this course from the geography department at University
College London (UK) , in US terms a 'research one university'. In
term one year one, all students in tutorial groups of about four
interview a faculty member about their research .
*Individual faculty tutorial groups give tutorial groups their CV and
three pieces of writing which are representative of their research.
*Before the interview students read these materials and develop an
interview schedule, etc.
*On the basis of their reading and the interview, each student
individually writes a report on a) the objectives of the
interviewee's research; b) how that research relates to their earlier
studies c) "how the interviewee's research relates to his or her
teaching, other interests and geography as a whole".( Dwyer , 2001,
366).
Clearly the context is particular , small class sizes and all staff
involved in high level research .But aspects of it are relevant to
all institutions; in particular that the nexus is not automatic and
has to be designed into courses.
Most of the many texts on course design totally ignore how to realize
the nexus . Here is a model of course design from a student learning
perspective that supports faculty in realizing the nexus .
______________________________________________________________
Linking teaching and research is achieved when:
*Students learn how research within their disciplines leads to
knowledge creation.
*Students are introduced to current research in their disciplines.
*Students learn research methods
*Students are motivated to learn through knowledge of and direct
involvement in research.
*Students carry out research.
*Students participate in research conducted by their faculty .
*Students learn and are assessed by methods resembling research
procedures in their discipline.
*Students learn how research is organized and funded. ( Based on
Jenkins ,Breen, Lindsay and Brew 2003).
_____________________________________________________________
Departmental and Institutional Structures
One of the limitations of the correlation based research studies is
that they seldom consider the institutional structures in which
faculty and students work . Much of the international moves to
connect staff research and student learning has sought to reshape
these structures to better ensure fruitful connections . Many
recognize the faculty are a 'mosaic of many talents'. To highlight
some initiatives:
*US readers will be aware of the influential Boyer Commission (
University of Stony Brook 1998, 3) and its clarion call that "The
research universities have too often failed, and continue to fail,
their undergraduate populations." Much of the reform movement that
this report helped stimulate has focused on institutional policies
with respect to undergraduate research , first year inquiry based
courses and capstone seminar,s etc. A recent study clearly
demonstrates the "considerable headway that research universities
have been making in recent years SÝ(but) that most efforts have been
directed at the best students ; the challenge SÝis to reach a broader
spectrum of students" (and institutions) . (Boyer Commission on
Educating Undergraduates in the Research University, 2002, 2) . US
organisations such as the Council on Undergraduate Research
http://www.cur.org/ and the Conference for Undergraduate Research
http://www.ncur.org/ do invaluable work outside the research elite
. The Reinvention Center focuses support on research universities
http://www.sunysb.edu/Reinventioncenter/
*In Canada, institutions such as McMaster University with an
institutional focus on inquiry in year one and now upper level
courses, and the University of British Columbia with a major redesign
of the undergraduate curriculum are reshaping teaching to support the
links .
*In Australia a government sponsored research study revealed how
three very different institutions have sought to develop the nexus:
the 'sandstone' research rich University of Western Australia , the
more technology professional based Curtin University and the regional
access focused Ballarat. (Zubrick ,Reid and Rossiter 2001) .
Sydney University has a strategic plan to bring teaching and research
together, and is experimenting with performance funding for
departments to 'encourage' the link .
*In the UK there have been a range of initiatives including the
research on the student experience described above. See
http://www.exchange.ac.uk/issue3.asp Many institutions are making
awareness of the nexus and course design to deliver it a central
component of the ( compulsory ) courses for new academics that are a
significant part of the UK scene . The accrediting body for such
courses, the Institute for Learning and Teaching is requiring
established faculty seeking accreditation to demonstrate how 'you
draw on your subject research, scholarly activities or other
professional activities in the support of teaching and learning.' At
Oxford Brookes University a major redesign of the undergraduate
curriculum is requiring all courses to demonstrate how they link
teaching and research.
*National and international disciplinary associations can also play
key roles in supporting the nexus. UK national funding has initiated
two such projects -the materials of which are available world wide:
Project Link
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/planning/LTRC/index.html and Linking
Teaching and Research in the Disciplines
http://www.ltsn.ac.uk/genericcentre/index.asp?id=17221.
*In New Zealand in 2000-2001 all universities were audited nationally
for the extent to which they were linking teaching and research
.This stimulated much effort to achieve the nexus.
Conclusion
Internationally, faculty and institutions are moving away from
teaching versus research and succeeding to link them creatively. We
have still much to learn as to how to effect these links . We often
face evident problems of under-funding, the failure of institutions
worldwide to really value teaching, and the dominance of discovery
research that is not connected to other university roles. But we have
moved forward and our (potential ) students and society need our best
efforts to build on this good work.
References
Baxter Magdola, M B (1999) Creating Contexts for Learning and
Self-Authorship, Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville, Tenn.
Baxter Magdola, M B (2001) Interview with Alan Jenkins, April
Boyer, E L (1990) Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the
professoriate, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching,
New Jersey.
Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research
University. Shirley Strum Kenny, Chair .University of Stony Brook (
2002) Reinventing Undergraduate Education : Three Years After the
Boyer Report , University of Stony Brook , University of Stony Brook.
http://www.sunysb.edu/pres/0210066-Boyer%20Report%20Final.pdf
Dwyer, C (2001) Linking research and teaching: a staff-student
interview project, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 25, pp
357-76.
Hattie, J and Marsh, H W (1996) The relationship between research and
teaching: a meta-analysis, Review of Educational Research, 66 (4), pp
507-42.
Jenkins A , Breen R , Lindsay R and Brew (2002) Reshaping Teaching in
Higher Education : Linking Teaching and Research , London ,Kogan Page
and distributed by Stylus in the USA.
Jenkins, A , Blackman, T, Lindsay, R O and Paton-Saltzberg, R (1998)
Teaching and research: student perceptions and policy implications,
Studies in Higher Education, 23 (2), pp 127-41.
Lindsay R , Breen R and Jenkins A ( 2002) "Academic Research and
Teaching Quality: the views of undergraduate and postgraduate
students, Studies in Higher Education, 27,(3), 309-327.
Ramsden, P (2001) Strategic management of teaching and learning, in
Improving Student Learning Strategically, ed C Rust, OCSLD, Oxford,
1-10.
University of Stony Brook (1998) The Boyer Commission, Reinventing
Undergraduate Education: A blueprint for America's research
universities, Stony Brook, New York.
Zamorski B ( 2002) Research-led Teaching and Learning in Higher
Education; a case. Teaching in Higher Education, 7 (4) , 411-427.
Zubrick , A ,Reid I and Rossiter P ( 2001) Strengthening the Nexus
between Teaching and Research , Canberra , Department of Education
,Training and Youth Affairs.
http://www.detya.gov.au/highered/eippubs/eip01_2/default.htm
|
