Researching the Teaching-Research Nexus: A Critical Review

Abstract

The question of whether or not a nexus exists between the teaching and research roles of academics is often contentious and has been the subject of much research and writing over this century. This paper critically examines a large portion of this body of literature. The first section provides a historical and an organisational perspective on the evolution of the teaching and research roles of academic work. It then reviews the higher education literature which reflects three approaches to examining the teaching-research nexus: personal commentaries and analyses; correlations of measures of teaching effectiveness as measured by student evaluations and measures of research productivity based predominantly on publication counts; and surveys of academics of their work preferences, time spent on teaching and research activities and perceptions of academic rewards. The paper then presents some recent investigations of the teaching-research nexus which have attempted to take different investigative approaches, and concludes by suggesting future research directions.