Abstracts

Opetuksen positiivisia vaikutuksia tutkimukseen : Kokeneiden tutkija-opettajien näkemyksiä opetuksen ja tutkimuksen yhteydestä: Positive effects of teaching on research : Experienced academics' views on the research-teaching nexus

by Lauri Kontula

The purpose of this study is to describe, analyze, and map the ways through which teaching can positively affect research at the university and thus establish the foundation for the reinterpretation of the Humboldt’s Ideal in today’s university. The aim of the study was to create, for the first time, a structured and multi-perspective model of these ways. In previous research, the direction of the impact from teaching to research has received little attention, and no clear convention or structured model has been constructed to describe the phenomenon. The research question of this study, in what ways teaching positively affects research, arose in the co-creation workshop held as a pilot-study, where we asked where research should be directed to meet the needs of the scientific community. An answer to the research question was sought by interviewing 17 highly experienced scholars from the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry and the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences of the University of Helsinki. The data produced by the semi-structured interviews was analyzed by combining inductive and abductive content analysis. The main outcome of the study is a presentation that places 25 different ways in which teaching enhances research into five themes: 1) research process, 2) scholars’ well-being at work, 3) scholars’ scientific expertise, 4) scientific community, and 5) relationship between research and society. In addition, the results thoroughly describe the diverse properties of the individual links. The findings challenge the general perception of the one-way link from research to teaching and create common standards for classifying and describing the positive impacts teaching has on research in academic discourse. The results can be applied in the planning and development of both teaching and research, can have an impact on the incentive schemes in higher education, the well-being and expertise of academic staff, student inclusion and learning, disciplinary cultures, and the connection between research and society.