Integrating research into degree programmes is a distinctive characteristic of university degree programmes, and it helps strengthen in-depth knowledge at the university. Often the degree programme will be anchored in an active research environment, where most teaching staff are active researchers. Research can be integrated as the academic content of teaching, e.g. by students reading research literature or learning about research methods. Research integration can also take place through teaching activities, e.g. by students participating actively in research-like exercises. Such exercises may include searching for and selecting research literature, conducting experiments, and analysing and interpreting data. Research-like activities can be particularly beneficial for research integration, as they increase students' awareness of, and train them in, fundamental research content, methods and processes.
Research integration can be at several levels (this article will focus on integrating research into teaching):
| The degree programme and the teachers | Teaching | Research-based development of degree programme and teaching |
|---|---|---|
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You can integrate research in many different ways, but it is important to focus on both research content and research processes. It is also important to support progression in students' academic and scientific competencies, and to increase the complexity of research-integrating activities. This means that, during their studies, students experience that they are more than mere recipients of information about research, and they gradually adopt an active and experimental role that trains them in research processes.
Find inspiration for working with research integration in the nexus model (Healey 2005).
If students areactive participants, either by debating or conducting research, their academic curiosity will be stimulated. They will acquire academic and scientific competencies, e.g. analytical and critical thinking, understanding of methods, creativity and interdisciplinary understanding. To promote students' research competencies, focus on students:
learning critical thinking skills and acquiring the ability to understand and reflect on knowledge production within the subject area.
gaining skills in using methods and tools and learning to work with the scientific/scholarly process independently. Students achieve this through their Bachelor’s and Master’s projects, laboratory work, and other written assignments during their studies.
acquiring competencies that enable them to work with complex research questions in a variety of academic/interdisciplinary contexts.
Content/ Taxonomic level | Research results | Research methods | Forskningsprocesser |
|---|---|---|---|
| Understand | The student learns about and understands research results, and is able to explain them. | The student learns about and understands research methods, and is able to explain them. | The student learns about and understands research processes, and is able to explain them.
The student learns about and understands scientific working methods (e.g. citations, data protection, ethics), and is able to explain them. |
| Apply | The student can discuss and put research results into perspective | The student can discuss strengths and weaknesses of research methods | The student can critically discuss research projects and put them into perspective The student can critically discuss the planning of research projects. |
| Demonstrate | The student works independently with research results by collecting, analysing and putting into perspective the results (knowledge) within the given subject area. | The student is able to choose and demonstrate the appropriate research methods to illustrate a research question. | The student can pursue a research question, and plan and execute the research process. The student can critically interpret and draw conclusions from own data. |
Read more about taxonomic levels here.
You can work with research integration in many ways. You can take outset in the following suggestions to strengthen research integration:
Ask the students to read and process the latest research literature within the subject area.
Ask the students to discuss and adopt a critical approach to new research, including research results and methods.
Facilitate interaction between researchers and students in teaching contexts.
Example 1: International researcher gives feedback on products
Example 2: Introduktion til forskning- og laboratoriearbejde (in danish)
Incorporate scientific processes into your teaching and let the students be active participants in them.
Connect methodological courses to other courses on the degree programme so that the students can practise their method on specific empirical data.
Ask the students to collect, interpret and draw conclusions from their own data.
Ask the students to pursue research questions by planning and carrying out a research-like project, as in some written assignments, including Bachelor's projects and Master's theses.
Provide process-oriented supervision for written assignments.
Give the students an opportunity to participate in research projects or project activities, for example in collaboration with institutions and academic environments, which the students may be working on after graduation.
When the students are to be the audience and when they are to be active participants in research-like activities.
What research competencies the students are to acquire on your course.
What research-related activities the students are to carry out and how you will support them in their independent work.
How the research activities in your teaching interact with the degree programme in general.
Fælles grundlag for viden- og forskningsbasering på AU's uddannelser
Gibbs, Graham (2010) Dimensions of quality. Higher Education Academy: York.
Forskningsbaseret uddannelse, Uddannelse- og Forskningsministeriet 2020
Deicke, Gess, and Ruess: Increasing Students Research Interests Through Research-Based learning at Humboldt University; CURquarterly2014, fall, pp 27 – 33.
Jensen, J. O., & Lund, J. H. (2019). Vidensflow: Hvordan kan forbindelserne mellem forskning og uddannelse i professionshøjskoler begribes?. Tidsskrift for professionsstudier, 15(28), 82-95.
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