Abstract—

Achieving an appropriate combination of teaching and research as the two key elements of education
offered by the institutions of higher education in the world has been and is a challenging task for the
educational leadership and policy makers. Therefore, this paper is dedicated to analyze the existing
theories of teaching and research integration with a purpose of: diagnosing the pros and cons of
teaching and research integration; identifying implications associated with the education model based
on teaching and research integration for the institutions of higher education; and finally, presenting
certain specific recommendations for the institutions of higher education to achieve a better
combination between teaching and research activities. The paper”s findings suggest that a balanced
combination of teaching and research activities affects positively the overall education quality and
standards. Nonetheless, in order to create optimal conditions for such a balanced and strategic
integration between these two different but interdependent educational activities the institutions of
higher education must demonstrate a strong academic and research leadership, commit all the required
resources, show operational flexibility, and last but not least, build supportive institutional culture. Index
Terms—Balance between research and teaching, Benefits of research and teaching integration,
pedagogy, research and teaching integration models.

Abstract

Integrating new knowledge created through research with teaching has become an important area that
needs prompt attention with the growing emphasis on student learning activities, quality assurance
procedures and research funding mechanisms within the UK higher education system. The link between
research and teaching is not automatic. Thus, it needs to be formally created in higher education
departments in order to achieve a productive relationship and manage research activities of university
staff with teaching duties. The research study on which this paper is based on, aims to develop
principles to enable transfer of research knowledge into teaching. This study is different from previous
approaches in that it looks into the research and teaching link as a two-way knowledge transfer process
in the light of growing knowledge management viewpoints. In developing the framework, this research
uses the case study approach. Finally, the research introduces principles of research to teaching transfer
that are applicable for higher education institutions. Keywords: Higher Education, Knowledge Transfer,
Learning, Research, Teaching.

Key words: higher education, research-based academic studies, quality of learning outcomes,
effectiveness of students‟ research process, students‟ research-related capabilities.

Students need problem solving, critical thinking and learning-to-learn in their employment. Different
authors give various aims of teaching thinking. According to Fisher (2003), the key function of education
is to teach students to think critically, creatively and effectively (Fisher 2003:6). Teaching thinking
enables students to utilize new information in new situations. Hamers & Overtoom (1997) assert that “It
is precisely the capacity to think which enables students to acquire new knowledge and replace old
knowledge by new, and it teaches them to recognize the value of gaining knowledge” (Hamers &
Overtoom, 1997:23).

The research involves knowledge in practical situations and using a knowledge base to derive solutions
to new problems, rather the internalizing world of knowledge itself. In this study the organization of the
research-based academic studies in interuniversity Master‟s programme “Educational Treatment of
Diversity” will be discussed in relevance to the quality of learning outcomes in higher education.

B. In Favor of Teaching and Research Integration The proper integration of teaching and research
activities may have positive, long term and wide range benefits for all stakeholders of educational
services and programs. In particular, such integration strategy will benefit immediately and directly the
two key stakeholders: students (receivers of the knowledge) and teachers (providers of the knowledge).
Theories suggest that universities can benefit from integration of research and teaching by improving
their good perception and public image in the eyes of their stakeholders [17]. Also, such strategies will
help bringing students into research field and teachers will bring their research projects to the
classrooms and both of these outcomes will further broaden the model for academic scholarship [18].
Traditionally, universities are believed to graduate students with competencies needed by the
industries, which are often very much job related such as operational and managerial. Not always
knowledge and skills of conducting scientific research are neither required at undergraduate and post-
graduate levels for graduation nor they are needed in the industry [18]. Quality teaching is about quality
learning for students and of course, active-quality research undertaken by a faculty can enhance quality
teaching. Therefore, a strong research and teaching integration at undergraduate and postgraduate
levels may produce quality teachers-researchers and quality learners-researchers. Other ideas such as
linking research and teaching by inviting students into research related classes/programs and involving
them in literature review, data collection and data analysis etc., or simply introducing inductive teaching
methods into the class [19]. There are arguments for and against the idea of involving students in
research related projects but majority in the academic and research community believe that it can help
them build skills of analysis, critical thinking and writing, for instance [19]. Other thinkers claim that
outstanding researchers are the best teachers as well [20], [21]. These thinkers are of the view that
research professors become more closely associated with their colleagues in the same field at other
universities than with faculty members within their own institution. They collaborate on joint papers,
evaluate each other‘s work for publication in the top journals, generate offers of employment to each
other, and write outside letters recommending (or not recommending) tenure for junior faculty at each
other‘s institutions. At the end of the day, these professors share their knowledge and experiences with
their students in their respective classrooms. Professors can be involved in writing quality and
sophisticated papers for high impact international journals or they can write teaching materials like
textbooks and students handbooks [20], [21]. The more research work professors do, the more they
gain knowledge in their fields of teaching and interest. Therefore, their teaching can be more enriching,
broader and original. Research based teachers are more engaging and challenging than their textbook
based counterparts [20], [21]. In addition to bringing the freshest materials into the classroom, research-
oriented faculty members tend to be inquisitive, demanding, evidence-oriented [21], systematic and
engaging when they teach. Moreover, teaching the same subject over a number of years using the same
textbook and consulting books and without new ideas, concepts and theories is a boring task both for
the teacher and students. Research oriented teachers tend to be more self-confident, self-reliant and
more interested in teaching since they like to share their research outcomes and self-created knowledge
with their students [21].

D. Benefits of Integrating Teaching and Research There are several prominent benefits of integrating
research and teaching activities for the teachers-researchers, students and the institutions. As suggested
earlier research is an intellectual work. It can broaden the knowledge horizon of the teacher beyond
his/her knowledge of the course materials and obviously teaching needs new impetus and knowledge
(theories, concepts, models) and this can be achieved by doing research. Doing research and teaching
may diversify the professional development opportunities for the faculty and is important for training
and teaching research students [26]. The Oxford Brookes University provides rather broader
explanations of why teaching and research nexus is important in many ways and from different
perspectives. One basic understanding is that research is the process of learning for academics and
teaching is the promotion of learning for students. Teachers learn from the research and students learn
from the teachers, so there is an indirect but strong relationship between research and quality teaching.
Moreover, we are moving towards knowledge-based societies and economies and therefore, research
and consultancy skills are becoming key attributes in vocational and professional fields. Acquiring and
building research and consultancy skills enhances graduate employability and provides graduates with
the resources and confidence to understand and adapt to a society whose knowledge-base is fast
changing. Students must develop these skills before they graduate and teachers must be able to transfer
such skills and attributes to their students [27]-[29]. Furthermore, as never before our graduates
increasingly need core skills in managing, synthesizing and deploying subject-based knowledge to derive
solutions to real-world problems. Integrating teaching with research helps to embed these core skills. It
is also suggested that graduates with the skills and ability to conduct research in operational settings are
more likely to have the capacity to formulate problem-solving solutions (collecting information,
identifying problems, finding solutions, presenting conclusions and findings). Some other benefits
proposed by Jenkins, Breen and Lindsay [29] are helpful for building successful synergy between
teaching and research: 1) Students learn how research within their discipline leads to knowledge
creation (broadening the knowledge horizon of learners). 2) Students are introduced to current research
in their disciplines (new-refreshed knowledge). 3) Students learn methods used to carry out research in
their disciplines (research methods are critical for logical and systematic decision makings and finding
reliable and valid solutions to the problems). 4) Students will be more motivated to learn through
knowledge of and direct involvement in research (learning by doing, self-learning). 5) Students will be
provided opportunities to participate in research projects conducted by their lecturers (co-learning).
Plus, students learn and are assessed by methods resembling research procedures in their discipline. 6)
Other benefits for students participating in research activities include that students learn how research
projects are planned, organized and funded. Students become parts of the institutional learning and
knowledge culture and system. Such integration of learners with research and learning at the same
time, can help in forming the researchers and scholars of the future and as well as promoting research in
the pedagogy of the International Journal of Information and Education Technology, Vol. 7, No. 5, May
2017 344 disciplines.
2. Research questions
1) How did research-based academic studies promote students‟ learning outcomes?
2) Which opportunities were secured in research-based academic studies by the quality of students‟
learning outcomes?
3) How to provide research-based academic studies in our Master‟s programme in the future?
4) What advantages, difficulties and deficits exist in organization of opportunities of research-based
academic studies?

Ron Griffith (Griffith, 2004:722) proposed four models of the links between teaching and research:

1) Teaching can be research-led in the sense that the curriculum is structured around subject content,
and the content selected is directly based on the special research interests of teaching staff; teaching is
based on a traditional information transmission model; the emphasis is laid on understanding research
findings rather than research processes; little attempt is made to capture the two-way benefits of the
research and teaching relationship.

2) Teaching can be research-orientated in the sense that the curriculum places emphasis as much on
understanding the processes by which knowledge is produced in the field as on learning the codified
knowledge that has been achieved; careful attention is given to the teaching of inquiry skills and on
acquiring a research ethos; the research experiences of teaching staff are brought to bear in a more
diffuse way.

3) Teaching can be research-based in the sense that the curriculum is largely designed around inquiry-
based activities, rather than on the acquisition of subject content; the experiences of staff in the
processes of inquiry are highly integrated into the student‟s learning activities; the division of roles
between teachers and student is minimized; the scope for two-way interactions between research and
teaching is deliberately exploited.

4) Teaching can be research-informed in the sense that it draws consciously on systematic inquiry into
the teaching and learning process itself.