Research Informed Teaching (RIT)

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Research Informed Teaching (RIT)
Teaching informed and enriched by research?
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Dont all HE lecturers already link the two?
Statement One Reference to research is a natural
part of HE teaching Statement Two Students are
expected to engage with the research which
informs their discipline as part of their
learning and to acknowledge it within assessment
tasks
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Linking research and teaching is unique to HE?
The proposal (National Professional Standards)
recognises that the scholarly nature of subject
inquiry and knowledge creation, and a scholarly
approach to pedagogy, together represent a
uniquely embedded feature of support for student
learning in universities and colleges. (HEA,
2005)
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Higher Education Academy (2005), National
Professional Standards Framework for standards in
teaching and supporting learning in higher
education consultation document, York HEA
http//www.heacademy.ac.uk
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Are research and teaching inextricably linked in
HE?
While research endeavour and teaching endeavour
are believed to be conceptually related in higher
education, that relationship needs active
management and explicit support since the
pressures to split the two apart are powerful.
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(Madeline Atkins, VC Coventry University, quoted
in Jenkins and Healey 2005)
Jenkins A and Healey M (2005) Institutional
strategies to link teaching and research Higher
Education Academy (HEA) project
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RIT Issues the staff experience

• Is engagement in research a prerequisite for all
  HE lecturers?
• Has the RAE helped or hindered RIT initiatives?
• Has the gap between research-led and teaching-led
  universities widened?
• Has widening participation taken academics
  further away from the research agenda?

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What are the dimensions of RIT?
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What is the experience of your students?

• Research-Led curriculum structured around
  subject content (sometimes directly related to
  specialist interests of teaching staff).
• Research-oriented curriculum places an emphasis
  on understanding the processes by which knowledge
  is produced e.g. through development of enquire
  skills or a research ethos.
• Research-based curriculum is designed around
  inquiry-based activities rather than subject
  content, the experiences of staff are prominently
  integrated in learning activities.
• Research informed teaching draws consciously on
  systematic inquiry into the teaching and learning
  process itself.

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A simpler model (Michael Bradford)

• Learning about others research
• Learning to do research research methods
• Learning in Research Mode inquiry-based
• Pedagogic Research enquiring and reflecting on
  learning

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Issues the students experience

• Can undergraduates really engage in research?
• Should undergraduate student projects be called
  research, or are we just talking about learning
  becoming more problem- based, and active?
• Should students knowledge and understanding of
  research processes precede, or correspond with,
  undertaking their own research?

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How could the research-teaching nexus be
developed in your programmes?
Dr. Jackie Eales An account of RIT in the
Department of History
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Supporting departmental developments
The Teaching Fellowship Simon Hoult (Teaching
Fellow RIT) Supporting the RIT Initiative at CCCU
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Supporting departmental developments

• Funding for development projects
• Eligibility
• Criteria
• Level of funding
• Timing

www.canterbury.ac.uk/LTEU