Contact - Volume 7, Issue 3

October 2010 - Improving the Link Between Teaching and Research

Often in academia, it is said that good researchers do not necessarily make good teachers and vice versa. With the growing emphasis at universities on research, how do we bridge the gap between research and teaching to ensure our students are benefiting from the best academics in their fields?

For upcoming workshops on teaching and learning, check out Concierge.

Podcast - The Link Between Teaching and Research
An podcast interview with Richard Felder, Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University by Dr. Maureen Wideman.

Play it / hear it - MP3 - 17 minutes

Inductive Teaching and Learning Methods: Definitions, Comparisons, and Research Bases

M.J. Prince and R.M. Felder

This study reviews several inductive teaching methods used in engineering including inquiry learning, problem-based learning, project-based learning, case-based teaching, discovery learning, and just-in-time teaching. Authors found that inductive teaching methods are consistently at least equal to or more effective than traditional deductive methods for achieving a broad range of learning outcomes.

University academics’ experience of research and its relationship to their experience of teaching

Michael Prosser, Elaine Martin, Keith Trigwell, Paul Ramsden, Heather Middleton

This article discusses previous investigations that students' conceptual change are associated with clear articulation of the important aspects of the subject matter, how those aspects relate to each other, and how the teacher situates their understanding of the subject matter in the field as a whole. However, teachers who were unable to explain their understanding of their subject matter in these ways were more likely to experience their teaching as a process of information transfer from a teacher-focused perspective.

Teaching and research: Establishing the vital link with learning

by Angela Brew and David Boud

With learning as the focus, this article demonstrates that greater emphasis needs to be placed on the ways in which knowledge is generated and communicated. Those aspects of teaching which lead to learning and the learning which occurs through research provide the vital link.

Other Resources:

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School

Considered one of the best books on learning. Available online at: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309070368

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