Subject: PhDs and Learning & Teaching
------------------------
From: Probyn, Paul <pprobyn@rvc.ac.uk>
Date: 18 February 2011 09:58
To: SEDA@jiscmail.ac.uk
Given the recent discussion on this forum about the possible use of the
proportion of staff who are operating at UKPSF standard 2 or equivalent
as a PI in the information to be provided to prospective students, it
was interesting to read in this week's Times Higher the comments of the
Director General of the Russell Group:
"The vast majority of our academics have doctorates......academics
without a doctorate would be very much in a tiny minority. This has
been the case at Russell Group universities for many years. Providing a
first-class teaching and learning experience is vitally important to our
universities."
I'm aware of the considerable research conducted into research-informed
teaching, however defined, but this is the first time I have seen the
research-led universities proposing that the quality of teaching and
learning is directly correlated with the proportion of staff holding a
PhD. Is anyone aware of any research that underpins this contention?
Thanks.
Paul Probyn
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From: MORGAN A.J. <A.J.Morgan@swansea.ac.uk>
Date: 18 February 2011 10:11
To: SEDA@jiscmail.ac.uk
Dear Paul,
I would have to look it up - if pressed - but my memory is that
relatively recent research indicates no discernible positive effect in
terms of research-active staff and effective teaching. I know of no
research, however, that has looked at the doctorate as a contributor to
teaching effectiveness. (One would expect that an increased depth of
learning would improve one's capability and flexibility in teaching but
measurement might be somewhat difficult.)
Yours
Andrew
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From: Peter Hartley <p.hartley@bradford.ac.uk>
Date: 18 February 2011 10:29
To: SEDA@jiscmail.ac.uk
If only a tiny minority do not have PhDs then how can you establish a link?
Work by Mike Prosser is relevant here. Some years ago he gave a presentation where he suggested that there is no direct linear relationship between quality of teaching and research expertise. His data suggested that some of us are good at both, some are good at one and not so good at the other, and - alas - some of us are not much good at either. Has anyone got the reference to this study?
Peter
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From: Vlachopoulos, Panos <p.vlachopoulos@aston.ac.uk>
Date: 18 February 2011 10:39
To: SEDA@jiscmail.ac.uk
Hi Peter,
I think you are referring to the below project:
http://www.cetl.hku.hk/research-teaching-relationship
I am not sure if a final report of this project has been published, but at least now we have the details of it :-)
Best wishes
Panos
Dr Panos Vlachopoulos
Lecturer in Academic Practice
Centre for Learning Innovation and Professional Practice
Aston University
Birmingham
B4 7ET
UK
email: p.vlachopoulos@aston.ac.uk
Telephone: 0121 204 5234
Visit our website on: http://www1.aston.ac.uk/clipp/
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From: Giles Polglase [gop] <gop@aber.ac.uk>
Date: 18 February 2011 10:55
To: SEDA@jiscmail.ac.uk
Dear Peter,
This is a very old debate. Prosser's research reflects John Henry Newman (1852) observation that "To discover and to teach are distinct functions; they are also distinct gifts, and are not commonly found united in the same person."
However, in the complex realities of modern academia our staff are expected to be "experts of all trades and jacks of none".
Can you keep the Mailing List updated if you find relevant research??
Many thanks
Giles Polglase
BSc, PG Dip (Oxon), PGCE, FSEDA, FHEA, MIfL
Cynorthwyydd Cydgysylltydd / Assistant Coordinator
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From: Sarah.Moore <Sarah.Moore@ul.ie>
Date: 18 February 2011 10:57
To: SEDA@jiscmail.ac.uk
Hattie and Marsh's 1996 meta-analysis finds no relationship between teaching and research expertise probably for the same reasons that John Henry Newman suggested.
Sarah
Professor Sarah Moore
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From: Helen King <H.King@bath.ac.uk>
Date: 18 February 2011 10:53
To: SEDA@jiscmail.ac.uk
There's loads of information on linking teaching and research, including links to key literature, on the HE Academy website at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/supportingresearch/teachingandresearch
Cheers,
Helen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr Helen King SFSEDA NTF
Head of Academic Staff Development
Learning & Teaching Enhancement Office
University of Bath
BA2 7AY
Tel: 01225 38 6933
Email: h.king@bath.ac.uk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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From: Debby Cotton <D.Cotton@plymouth.ac.uk>
Date: 18 February 2011 11:04
To: SEDA@jiscmail.ac.uk
I think the Hattie and Marsh meta-analysis was probably the most definitive on the teaching-research link (or lack thereof at an individual level):
In a metaanalysis
of these correlational studies of university
academics, Hattie and Marsh (1996) considered 58
research articles contributing 498 correlations and
found that the overall correlation was 0.06. 'Based
on this review we concluded that the common
belief that teaching and research were inextricably
intertwined is an enduring myth. At best teaching
and research are very loosely coupled'
(This is pulled from Alan Jenkins 2004 HEA publication: A Guide to the Research Evidence on teaching-Research Relations which discusses the research findings at individual, departmental and instituttional levels). Available here: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/research/id383_guide_to_research_evidence_on_teaching_research_relations.pdf
Debby
Dr. Debby Cotton
Acting Head of Educational Development
Teaching and Learning Directorate
Tel: 01752 587614
http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/dcotton
________________________________________
From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association [SEDA@JISCMAIL.AC.UK] On Behalf Of Giles Polglase [gop] [gop@ABER.AC.UK]
Sent: 18 February 2011 10:55
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From: Mick Healey <mhealey@glos.ac.uk>
Date: 18 February 2011 11:07
To: SEDA@jiscmail.ac.uk
I've heard Mike Prosser talk on this subject as well. I think at this point he was summarising the conclusions from the Hattie and Marsh well cited study.
Hattie, J and Marsh, H W (1996) The relationship between research and teaching: A meta-analysis, Review of Educational Research 66 (4), 507-542
Hattie, J and Marsh, H W (2004) One journey to unravel the relationship between research and teaching. Research and teaching: Closing the divide? An International Colloquium, Winchester, March 18-19. http://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/webdav/site/education/shared/hattie/docs/relationship-between-research-and-teaching-%282004%29.pdf
A study by Trigwell (2006) on 306 students in eight UK English and Physics courses with a range of RAE ratings revealed that there was no significant difference in the proportion of students saying they experienced the benefits of a research-stimulated teaching environment. Moreover, he found a strong positive relationship with adopting a deep approach to learning which was independent of discipline and RAE rating.
Trigwell, K (2006) Relations between research active teachers and student learning, HE Academy Research Report http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/detail/projectfinder/projects/pf2655
For a good discussion of the relationship see:
Jenkins, A (2004) A guide to the research evidence on teaching-research relationships. York: Higher Education Academy http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/research/id383_guide_to_research_evidence_on_teaching_research_relations.pdf
A slightly updated summary also occurs on pp17-22 of:
Jenkins A, Healey, M and Zetter, R (2007) Linking teaching and research in departments and disciplines York: The Higher Education Academy http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/ourwork/teachingandresearch/LinkingTeachingandResearch_April07
If anyone wishes to explore the relationship further they may find the bibliography I regularly update useful. It is currently over 30pp long.
Linking Research and Teaching: A selected bibliography http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/resources/toolkit/resources/reference/Pages/default.aspx
It is no surprise that this debate resurfaces at the current time when Russell Group universities wish to justify charging high fees. In the new universities where there are more professional courses taught it might be argued that the PhD qualification is not as an important qualification to teach the subject.
Best wishes
Mick
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From: Mandy Asghar <M.Asghar@yorksj.ac.uk>
Date: 18 February 2011 11:29
To: SEDA@jiscmail.ac.uk
Graham Gibbs Dimensions of Quality (2010) on the HEA website has a small section on Quality of teaching: research record. He cites Hattie and Marsh's (1996) review of 58 studies which suggest that there is little or no relationship between measures of quality or quantity of teacherss research and measures of quality of their teaching.
Mandy Asghar
________________________________________
From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association [SEDA@JISCMAIL.AC.UK] On Behalf Of Peter Hartley [p.hartley@BRADFORD.AC.UK]
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From: PG Morgan <P.G.Morgan@bradford.ac.uk>
Date: 18 February 2011 11:19
To: SEDA@jiscmail.ac.uk
Thanks for the references and bibliographies - useful and interesting, especially since I've just done a rough and ready audit of how faculty research feeds into teaching myself.
For those teaching in the business school arena (or assisting others to do so), the following might prove useful. AACSB (US B-school accreditation organization) has some pretty tight views on this, effectively separating out ability to teach and knowledge by arguing that a good teacher needs to show evidence that at the very least, they are aware of up to date knowledge. Their very 'rough and ready' way of doing so is by analysing proportions of staff who are publishing.
Peter
Dr Peter Morgan
Learning and Teaching Co-ordinator
University of Bradford School of Management.
Email: <blocked::mailto:mhealey@glos.ac.uk> mhealey@glos.ac.uk (Best wayhttp://www.mickhealey.co.uk <http://www.mickhealey.co.uk/>
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From: Dale, Vicki <vdale@rvc.ac.uk>
Date: 18 February 2011 11:22
To: SEDA@jiscmail.ac.uk
Hi, one of the more recent papers by Prosser and colleagues (2008) looks
into the relationship between approaches to research and approaches to
teaching:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/92m141633406666w/
This work indicates that teachers who take an information transfer
approach to teaching also approach individual research problems in an
atomistic way, whilst teachers who take a conceptual change approach to
teaching also approach research in an integrated, multidisciplinary way.
They conclude that " qualitative variation in the experience of research
is related (a) moderately to experience of teaching and (b) strongly to
experience of understanding the subject matter."
But I'm not sure if there is evidence that individuals with PhD's always
take the conceptual change/multidisciplinary approach to teaching and
research.
Vicki
David Andrew,
Head of Academic Practice
The Learning Institute at Queen Mary, University of London
Mile End, London E1 4NS
02078822803
02081446753
Book an appointment with me at http://doodle.com/DavidAndrew
