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Research Informed Teaching
Tansy Jessop2 November 2016
@solentlearning
Demystifying Research Informed Teaching:
Do R & T occupy parallel universes?
Tansy JessopSouthampton Solent UniversitySeminar at University of Wolverhampton25 January 2017
This session
1) Defining the terms2) What are universities for?3) A brief history of RIT4) What is RIT? What does it look like?5) Three myths about RIT6) Five compelling reasons for doing RIT7) Impacts of RIT
Defining the terms on mentimeter
1) What words spring to mind to define research? Go to www.menti.com and use the code 56 03 77
2) What is teaching? Go to www.menti.com and use the code 21 04 76
3) So what is research informed teaching? Go to www.menti.com and use the code 94 51 54
Personal growth
Citizenship
Social justice and
transformation
Economy and jobs
Character and moral virtue
Knowledge and
intellectual growth
Creativity
Looking back in history: medieval universities
• The main ones: Bologna (1088), Paris, Oxford (1000s), Cambridge (1209)• Training for church and civil service• Law and philosophy• Men• Authority of teachers• Printing press 1440 (Caxton), 1470 (Gutenberg)
Medieval Universities in Europe (circa 1100 to 1500)
It is a peculiarity of the institutions of higher learning that they treat learning as not yet completely solved problems, remaining at all times in a research mode… Schools, in contrast, treat only closed and settled bodies of knowledge
(Humboldt's Programme for University of Berlin 1810)
Birth of the modern university
The Modern University 2016
A ‘facts first’ approach prevails…
• Knowing is about content
• Acting is about becoming a historian, actor, psychologist, or philosopher
• Being is about understanding yourself, orienting yourself and relating your knowledge and action to the world
(Barnett and Coate, 2005)
Knowing
Being
Acting
with ‘knowing’ trumping acting and being…
Research informed teaching challenges facts first
So what is RIT?
Teachers active
Students active It’
s abo
ut c
onte
nt
It’s a
bout
pro
cess
Research-tutored
Research-orientedResearch-led
Research-based
(Healey 2005)
Take Five: Post it exercise • Write down as many examples
of RIT that you have experienced or led.
• Write down what prevents you or your colleagues from doing RIT.
• Populate the matrix nearest you
• Research active staff• Confidence about doing research• Great research environment• Lots of dosh• Loads of PhD students
Myth 1: RIT works best in research-intensive universities
But does it?
Researchexcellence
Teaching excellence
..but does it?
A positive research and teaching link primarily depends on the nature of students’ learning experiences…rather
than on particular inputs or outcomes…
(Elton 2001, 43 ).
Most students don’t rate RA staff highly
HEPI Student Academic Experience Survey 2015
Myth 2: You can’t do RIT with first year undergraduate
students
It all began with Perry’s Unit Evaluations…
“This course has changed my whole outlook on life. Superbly taught!”
“This course is falsely taught and dishonest. You have cheated me of my tuition”
This has been the most sloppy, disorganised course I’ve ever taken.
Of course I’ve made some improvement, but this has been due entirely to my own efforts!”
Intellectual Development of Students
Myth 3: It’s only for bright students
• Intellectual stimulation• Developing curiosity• Engaging students with
problems• It’s not about original
research
Five compelling reasons
1. The structure of our degrees demands it2. It is challenging3. It introduces students to the complexity of messy
problems4. It is exciting, authentic and student-centred5. It develops critical thinking, academic writing and
complex reasoning skills
1. Structure demands it
120 Credits (20 per unit)
120 credits (20 per unit)
120 credits (20 per unit)
1 credit is worth 10 hours of work: each unit = 20 x 10 = 200 hours of which 40 is contact time
2. It is challenging
3. It introduces students to complex, messy real-world problems
4. Exciting, authentic and student-centred
“Research promotes critical and creative thinking, the habits of mind that nurture innovation; creates a sense of intellectual excitement and adventure, and provides the satisfaction of real accomplishment”. (Ellis, 2006)
“Enquiry-based learning enables students to take increasing control of their own learning…it views students as active participants in their learning”.
(University of Birmingham 2007)
5. Develops critical thinking, complex reasoning and academic writing
•Weighing up evidence• Putting questions before answers• Problem-solving mode• Not text-book• No ‘settled bodies of knowledge’• Shared journey
Impacts of RIT
• Self-confidence• Independence in learning • Increasing epistemological sophistication• Entry into discipline research cultures• Collegial relations with academics• Improved grades• Enhanced metacognition• Increased engagement• Employability skills
(Levy 2012)
Benefits to students in the following areas:
We need to shift students from the idea that university is just like school, only faster.
Lewis Elton
ReferencesArum, R. and J. Roksa. 2011. Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. London: University of Chicago Press.Barnett, R. and Coate, K. 2005. Engaging the Curriculum in Higher Education. SRHE.Brew, A. 2012. Teaching and Research: New relationships and their implications for inquiry-based teaching and learning in higher education, HERDSA. 3-18.Brew, A. 1999. Research and teaching: Changing relationships in a changing context, Studies in Higher Education, 24:3, 291-301.Collini, S. 2012. What are Universities for? London: Penguin Books.Elton, L. 2001. Research and Teaching: Conditions for a positive link, Teaching in Higher Education, 6:1, 43-56.Hattie, J. and H.W. Marsh, 1996. The Relationship between Research and Teaching: A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 66(4), 507-542.Healey, M. and A. Jenkins, 2009. Developing undergraduate research and inquiry. York: Higher Education Academy.Healey, M., 2005. Linking Research and Teaching: disciplinary spaces In R. Barnett, ed, Reshaping the university: new relationships between research, scholarship and teaching. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill/Open University Press, 30-42.Jessop, T and Wu, Q. 2016 (forthcoming) Debunking common myths about RIT. Dialogue Journ-alPerry, William 1981. Cognitive and Ethical Growth: The Making of Meaning. In Chickering, A. 1981. The Modern American College. San Francisco. Jossey Bass.
