Research Informed Teaching – a summary

Dr Susan Hill and Assoc Prof Tony Fetherston

Background

• “Linking teaching and research is a topic of international interest. • key characteristic of a university is where

teaching and research are brought together.

• Schools need to work on strategies that consider teaching and research together and strengthen the potential links.• “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 learningmakes 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 learningsensitizes 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; anddevelop 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.

EMPHASIS ON RESEARCH PROCESSES AND PROBLEMS

EMPHASIS ON RESEARCH CONTENT

STUDENT-FOCUS / STUDENTS ARE PARTICIPANTS

TEACHER-FOCUS / STUDENTS ARE AN AUDIENCE

RESEARCH-BASEDStudents 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-BASEDLearning 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.

SOTL-ORIENTEDLearning aimed at understanding & improving teaching practice through research/inquiry and reflection (e.g. action research);Students are the subjects of the inquiry.

RESEARCH-ORIENTEDStudents learn about research processes (research questions, methods, procedures, etc.) & how knowledge is constructed in the discipline;Teacher aims to engender a research ethos.

SOTL-TUTOREDLearning 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.

SOTL-LEDLearning about teaching through reading and reflection on the literature of teaching and learning -both generally and in the discipline.

RESEARCH-TUTOREDStudents 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.

RESEARCH-LEDStudents learn about current disciplinary knowledge and research findings;Subject content dominated by staff research interests.

The Model

Development and Implementation

Define Research-Informed Teaching

Promote Learning as the Common Focus of Teaching and Researchthe 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 Scholarshipraise 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 EthosStudents 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 Skillsre-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 Designacademics 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