Learning & Teaching Enhancement Office

Good Practice Guide on Linking Research and Teaching (2006/07)

Introduction

The University of Bath takes pride in being a research intensive university where research and teaching are closely linked.

In order to enhance and strengthen this link, the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Office has produced this Good Practice Guide which offers an opportunity to reflect on the nature of this relationship by drawing from the evidence generated through the 2006/07 good practice discussions (QA54) on linking research and teaching at the University of Bath.

This guide is also designed to act as a resource for linking research and teaching for those Departments, Schools and Faculties who wish to further explore and discuss some of the ideas and issues put forward.

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Theory of Links between Research and Teaching

There has long been published work on the linkages between research and teaching, but this has often concentrated on the role of the academic within society, or the way staff view their academic role (academic identity). More recently, colleagues have studied the links between teaching and research from a teaching-centred point of view.

Although there is little agreement about the nomenclature of these types of research and teaching linkages, commonly used literature refers to four non-exclusive types of linkage:

Research – Led Teaching is concerned with students learning about the research in which the lecturer is involved:
- Students learn about research findings;
- The curriculum is structured around content based on the specialist research interests of teaching staff;
- The emphasis is on understanding research findings rather than research processes.
Research – Orientated Teaching places emphasis on the development of research skills:
- Students learn about research processes;
- The curriculum places emphasis as much on understanding the processes by which knowledge is produced in the field as on learning the codified knowledge that has been achieved;
- Careful attention is given to the teaching of inquiry skills and on acquiring a 'research ethos'.
Research – Based Teaching (or Enquiry – Based Teaching) is where the emphasis is placed on learning in research mode:
- Students learn as researchers;
- The curriculum is largely designed around inquiry-based activities, rather than on the acquisition of subject content e.g. Lecturer acts not only a task giver but also as an information resource and discussion facilitator;
- The division of roles between teacher and student is minimal;
- This approach takes advantage of the opportunity for two-way interactions between research and teaching;
- The experiences of staff in processes of inquiry are highly integrated into the student learning activities.
Research – Informed Teaching (or Scholarship of Teaching) in which the lecturer becomes involved in the research of teaching:
- Teaching can be research-informed in the sense that it draws consciously on systematic inquiry into the teaching and learning process itself.

Please refer to the Further Resources section for additional information on the different ways to link research and teaching.

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Good Practice at the University of Bath

The types of linkages that have been identified between research and teaching at the University of Bath vary according to the culture and structure aims of an academic department, the learning expectations of students, and the requirements and culture of the discipline. It is also possible for a particular element of practice to incorporate aspects of more than one of the theoretical models outlined above.

Furthermore, the links between research and teaching can be two-way. For example the Department of European Studies and Modern Languages observed that the supervision of both final year dissertations and postgraduate work had acted to open up new areas of research to staff and also helped staff to clarify their own ideas about research already underway.

Broadly speaking the links between research and teaching identified by the Good Practice discussions on linking research and teaching can be grouped around:

Policy development, the Department/School takes an active approach at a policy level and puts into place strategy to ensure that the link between research and teaching is consciously developed e.g the Department of Economics and International Development has a policy to enable staff to teach at least one undergraduate unit in their research area (Research – Led Teaching);
Curriculum development, in which the curriculum is designed with built in linkages, with the outcome being a more effective link between research and teaching;
Skills development where emphasis is placed on the development of a range of research skills and in which part of a unit outcome is to develop one or more of these skills;
Developing staff linkages between research and teaching output in which the Department/School sets out to deliberately match staff research interests with their teaching output e.g the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering embeds research into undergraduate curricula by means of student projects being informed by the research interests of their academic staff (Research – Led Teaching);
Providing opportunities for students to participate in the research culture of the Department/School, for example the School for Health Undergraduate Programme’s Contemporary Research Issues Unit where academic staff and visitors present their latest research in a seminar format; students write their coursework on a given comprehensive research task, and there is an examination on research articles based on the seminar presentations (Research – Orientated Teaching);
The creation of two-way links between research and teaching in which there is a two-way interchange of ideas and information, for example in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering staff have used pilot study research results that have been carried out by undergraduate students to inform their Research Council applications (Research – Based Teaching).

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Examples from Faculties, Departments and Schools

This section of the Guide summarises the linkages between teaching and research reported by Faculties, Departments and Schools in the course of the Good Practice Discussion.

Faculty of Engineering

The Faculty of Engineering has summarised how the Departments in the Faculty link research and teaching:
Within the Faculty the integration of research into the curricula is seen as a natural way of working, one of the ways of doing this is by the embedding of research into curricula by means of undergraduate projects informed by academic staff research interests.
Research related activities for students are focussed in a block of study.

Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Bridge Engineering 2 runs along side Bridge Engineering 1. As Bridge Engineering 1 evolves, students on Bridge Engineering 2 apply their developing knowledge to a case study bridge and write and present a conference paper on their chosen bridge. The unit is designed to galvanise application of the theory of bridge design and introduce students to writing a conference paper.
The Department encourages all members of staff to run their own options units, based on their research fields.
Many staff use pilot-study research results (carried out by undergraduate students) to inform their Research Council applications.

Department of Chemical Engineering

All undergraduate students take taught units which are related to the research interests of a member of staff and Masters level units connect closely with the research interests of the Department’s academic staff.
Students are encouraged to develop original thought and their work has lead to publication with their supervisors in journals or at conferences.
All undergraduate students undertake final design projects which require them to research the design of their processes.
All Masters of Engineering students undertake a Product Design Unit which incorporates a significant amount of group and personal research.
The aim of the Technical Review Unit is to provide students with the skills required to carry out and write up a critical review of a given technical subject.

Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering

Development of the 3rd/4th year and Masters of Science syllabus is influenced by current research of the Department’s staff.
Final year and Master of Science student projects are often designed to link in with current research programmes.

Department of Mechanical Engineering

In the Department there is a requirement that final year students produce a poster describing their project activities.

School for Health

The School incorporates research into their postgraduate teaching in two broad ways: firstly through incorporating research into the teaching of the specific subject domain, and secondly into the actual process of teaching, specifically associated with the fields of professional development and distance and e-learning.
The School offers undergraduate Contemporary Research Issues and Research Project Units in which research skills are taught and practised.
The undergraduate Research Methods Units allow the students to develop their own skills in which the lecturers encourage the students to develop a critical and analytical attitude.
In the undergraduate Contemporary Research Issues Unit, academic staff and visitors present their latest research in a seminar format; students write their coursework on a given comprehensive research task, and there is an examination on research articles based on the seminar presentations.
The use of internally generated research within the School and that of others in the discipline to illustrate different ideas, concepts and theories.
Opportunities for learners to undertake research within their subject discipline. All School for Health programmes have a research project in which students undertake research into a topic.
Masters of Science students undertake an online unit on research project design.
On successful completion students join the School’s online ‘research community’ where they benefit from sharing experiences and issues with fellow students.

School of Management

It has been common for staff to introduce case studies or examples drawn from their own research into the lecture room, as well as to seek evidence drawn from student experiences while on placement to support or challenge current academic theories.
Within the MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice there is an emphasis on inquiry processes and skills, and on self-reflected learning.
The Masters of Business Administration elective programmes reflect the current research interests of the faculty which have included: Future Business, International Finance and Project Management.
At undergraduate level, research generated within the Faculty is particularly to be found in specialist electives such as: Emerging Patterns of Thought, Belief and Action and Virtual Organising.

Faculty of Science

Department of Computer Science

Students are engaged with the research of the Department by making various weekly research seminars open to student attendance.
Engagement of selected students with research projects on an (informal) extra-curricular basis.
Second year unit CM20143 is explicitly research oriented, with current research feeding into the course content and style and students being encouraged to begin to conduct research for themselves. Current academic and industrial research both informs the lectures and provides a basis for coursework projects that engage and excite the students. Sub-projects are spun off current research projects in the department, providing a set of group coursework projects from which to select. Coursework reports are produced in the format of conference papers and each coursework group also gives an assessed presentation. This approach has fed into real publications; coursework from the unit has contributed to a book chapter in 2006 and a conference paper in 2007.
Within the Database Systems Unit there is a space reserved to consider a topic emerging from current research.
Two of the Department’s taught Masters of Science programmes are linked directly with research groups in the Department.
The undergraduate units Project Preparation and Double Module Project have a very strong research emphasis and all staff are encouraged to provide projects that link strongly to their research areas.

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences have summarised the different ways in which their Departments link research and teaching.
The Faculty encourages the teaching of research techniques and methods.
The inclusion in most undergraduate and all taught postgraduate programmes of a research dissertation
The use of postgraduate research students in undergraduate teaching, which is an effective example of exposing students to current areas of research.

Department of Economics and International Development

The Department’s policy is to enable staff to teach at least one undergraduate unit in their research area.
The unit Researching Social Change involves the development and application of research methods to real research questions arising in a development context.
In the unit Research and Presentation Skills for Economists students are assigned a research topic and supported by an academic who has helped formulate the research question. The students are required to carry out independent research. They also make an oral and visual presentation of their research.

Department of Education

It has been noted that a number of students have gained comprehensive insights into Departmental research process from the descriptions that staff have received from students.
Personal research interests and experiences directly inform teaching input by broadening discussion and helping students see how staff at the University contribute to the expansion of knowledge.

Department of European Studies and Modern Languages

Most of the optional units in Year 2 and Year 4 of the various undergraduate programmes are closely linked to the research interests of teaching staff.
There is a strong relationship between the Department’s research clusters and collaborative teaching.
It is recognised that linking teaching and research is not a one-way process. Some staff observed that supervising both final year dissertations and postgraduate work had either opened up new areas of research to them or helped them to clarify their own ideas about research already underway.

Department of Psychology

In the Department small group projects are provided where the students work with a member of staff on a research topic related to the member of staff’s research interests.
Provision for optional units which are based on the research interests of the member of staff who teaches them.
Approx 20% of all degree programmes are composed of research methods units.
Placements in the Department also involve a substantial research component.
Small group based research projects on a research question which students have to answer using research based methods.
Placements in the Department also involve becoming a member of a research team and therefore experience what it is like to be a researcher.

Department of Social and Policy Sciences

The unit Community Profiling provides a model for linking research and teaching by introducing first year students to some of the practical problems associated with carrying out research.

Students’ Union

A large number of departments currently have either a research project with their lecturer or a research module as part of their course.
Working in the lecturer’s research with the lecturer as a group has taken place in a number of departments.
The Students’ Union have noted increased enthusiasm amongst students for subjects that use current research in there teaching.

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Next Steps

This guide illustrates the positive and vibrant link that exists between research and teaching at the University of Bath, evidenced by the examples of well developed and diverse sets of practices by Faculties, Departments and Schools.

As a Faculty/Department/School member you may like to consider further steps to develop and enhance the linkage between research and teaching. The following section puts forth some ideas in order to facilitate further discussion/actions:

You might like to consider using the good practice guide on linking research and teaching as a basis for departmental discussion;
Alternatively, or in conjunction with the above, you could use the Resources section at the end of this document to further explore the practices highlighted by the guide and the good practice discussions;
Another idea for consideration is the development of a project to enhance further links between research and teaching practices in your Faculty/Department/School. For example the Social and Policy Sciences Department made a successful bid to the Teaching Development Fund 2007/08 titled ‘Supporting first year undergraduates through learning communities’. The project idea came out of the 2006/07 good practice discussions on linking research and teaching. As part of these discussions meetings were held with postgraduate students in the Department. It was found that some postgraduates currently teach on first year units and the Good Practice discussions suggested that this was an area of activity that could be developed to include all research students. The project will commence in the next academic year and it is hoped that it will foster the development of research focussed ‘learning communities’ within the Department. (Source: Learning and Teaching Committee Minute LTC0607-71)

We hope that you find this guide a useful resource. If you have any comments or queries about the guide or wish to obtain more in-depth information about the examples from elsewhere in the University, then please contact a member of the Enhancement and Development Team.

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Further Resources

Blackmore, P. and Cousin, G. (2003) Linking teaching and research through research-based learning, Educational Developments, 4(4): 24-7.

Brew, A. (2001) The Nature of Research: Inquiry in Academic Contexts. London: Routledge Falmer.

Brew, A. (2003) Teaching and research: new relationships and their implications for inquiry-based teaching and learning in higher education, Higher Education Research and Development, 22(1): 3-18.

Brew, A. & Boud, D. (1995). Teaching and research: establishing the vital link with learning. Higher Education, 29, 261-173.

Brew, A. and Weir, J. (2004) Teaching-research nexus benchmarking project: the University of Sydney and Monash University. Available at: www.adm.monash.edu.au/cheq/academic/.

Griffiths, R. (2004). Knowledge production and the research-teaching nexus: the case of the built environment disciplines, Studies in Higher Education, 29(6), 709-726.

Hattie, J., & Marsh, H. W. (1996). The relationship between research and teaching: a meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research. 66(4), 507-42.

Jenkins, A. & Bree, R, & Lindsay, R. (2003) Reshaping Teaching in Higher Education: Linking Teaching with Research. Birmingham: Kogan Page.

Jenkins, A. & Healey, M. (2005). Institutional strategies to link teaching and research. York: Higher Education Academy.

Jenkins, A. & Healey, M. & Zetter, R. (2007) Linking teaching and research in disciplines and departments. York: Higher Education Academy.

Shiach, M., S.Ketteridge, M. Williamson, L.Ward, Managing Teaching Performance. Report of a Leadership Foundation Fellowship Project conducted at Queen Mary, University of London, 2006/07.

Zamorski, B. (2000). Research-led teaching and learning in higher education. Norwich: University of East Anglia.

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