Associations between research and teaching in Australian higher education

This article describes results of an empirical investigation of the relationship between research and undergraduate teaching in Australian higher education. Two research indexes (weighted number of publications, and number of research activities) were used. Scores on a Likert-type scale of reported commitment to teaching undergraduate students formed the main criterion of teaching effectiveness. This was supplemented by student ratings in one of the aggregate-level analyses. The results revealed typically no relation or a negative relation between teaching and research at the level of the individual and at the level of the department, across all subject areas. The only exceptions concerned one group of former colleges of education. Further analysis by staff self-rating of academic quality showed that there existed one group of staff, mainly in the universities, who were committed to teaching and highly active researchers. However, the data did not support a causal interpretation of the association. It is concluded that there is no evidence in these results to indicate the existence of a simple functional association between high research output and the effectiveness of undergraduate teaching. Some implications for policy and student course choice are discussed.     

The relationship between individual instructional characteristics and the overall assessment of teaching effectiveness across different instructional contexts

There is an ongoing debate in the student evaluation of teaching literature about whether an overall rating or factorial dimensions of teaching effectiveness should be used in personnel decisions. Marsh and his colleagues have advocated the use of a weighted average approach to computing overall evaluations. A policy-capturing experiment was carried out where students in three different instructional contexts made overall evaluations of hypothetical instructors based on a manipulation of the teaching factors in Marsh's SEEQ. The results indicated (1) amount learned was consistently the most important factor affecting overall evaluations; (2) course difficulty was consistently the least important factor affecting overall evaluations; and (3) there was a strong similarity among the three groups in the relative importance of the various teaching factors in arriving at an overall evaluation. The implications of this research are discussed, as well as directions for future research.     

Enhancing nursing home care for seniors: impact of a living classroom on nursing assistant’s education

ABSTRACT

Nursing Assistants (NAs) are the largest workforce in nursing homes, but often lack adequate preparation for their role. The Living Classroom (LC) is an integrated learning approach, whereby a NA program is delivered in a nursing home (NH) in collaboration with a community college. This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of the LC. Mixed methods were used to gather data from 48 NA students, 5 faculty, and 42 NH staff over 30 weeks. Students, faculty, and nursing home staff described the LC as a positive learning experience. Students’ gerontological knowledge increased over time (p = .0012). Students reported very positive relationships with program mentors and NH residents. The LC provides a unique approach to prepare NAs to work in nursing homes. This model could expand to other educational programs with a gerontology focus.