What constitutes high quality higher education pedagogical research?

Abstract

Over the last 20 years there has been significant growth in the volume of higher education pedagogical research across disciplines and national contexts, but inherent tensions in defining quality remain. In this paper we present a framework to support understanding of what constitutes internationally excellent research, drawing on a range of conceptual frameworks, international and national performance-based research funding systems, discipline/professional body frameworks, and research council guidance. While acknowledging the contested nature of excellence in pedagogical research, we provide criteria to guide discussion and to support individual and organisational learning. A key premise is that if learning and teaching in higher education are to be enhanced, considerable investment is required in supporting the development of integrated academics where emphasis is on both research and practice to inform pedagogy. Research and evaluation are essential aspects of teaching and need to be embedded within it. The framework is designed to enable colleagues to develop the necessary tools and approaches to support understanding of educational research and adapt these within their disciplinary context.

Exploring collective identity of a group of teaching-oriented academics amid research discourse: a Chinese case

“…Such efforts seem to increase parity of teaching and research, imposing challenges to developing shared understandings of pedagogic research and building pedagogic research communities. Although Evans et al (2020) propose the concept of "integrated academic," suggesting interdisciplinary communities of practice across research and pedagogical teams be promoted, our findings show that teaching-focused, public serviceoriented academics who occupy the bottom of the academic hierarchy have neither access to interdisciplinary research networks nor legitimacy to construct a pedagogic research community.…”

“…The findings add to the recent discussions about the position and quality of pedagogic research in HE (Cotton et al, 2018;Evans et al, 2020;Tierney, 2020). The study indicates the perception of pedagogic research as being of lower value is prevalently embedded in institutional structure (Cotton et al, 2018), in which academics perceive research and teaching as competing rather than complementary.…”

How university students are taught about sustainability, and how they want to be taught: the importance of the hidden curriculum

“…However, it should be noted that only one institute at a single university was invited to take part in the research, so it is possible that the results might provide answers that can be mapped to disciplinary bias (Bantanur et al , 2015b). However, in designing, implementing and reporting this study, key features of the pragmatic pedagogic research framework development by Evans et al (2021) were reflected upon. Using this, the researchers were able to consider the factors such as the pedagogical clarity of the study, methodological transparency and methodological congruence, which are identified by Evans et al (2021) as underpinning high-quality pedagogic research.…”

Was macht Design-Based Research zu Forschung?

“…Da sie aber -jenseits von DBR -von rivalisierenden Forschungsansätzen unterschiedlich gewichtet und bewertet werden, lässt sich die meist implizite Vorstellung eines inversen Verhältnisses schwer ausräumen, das dem Motto folgt: je mehr Rigor, desto weniger Relevanz beziehungsweise je mehr Relevanz, desto weniger Rigor. Einer solchen Vorstellung wird erwartungsgemäß vor allem in DBR, aber auch in der Bildungsforschung generell und darüber hinaus mit verschiedenen Argumenten durchaus widersprochen: Man könne Rigor und Relevanz ausbalancieren (Reeves, 2011;Evans et al, 2021); Relevanz sei auch eine Eigenschaft von Wissenschaftlichkeit (Dilger, 2012); Relevanz für die Praxis müsse zu einem Schlüsselkriterium für Rigor werden (Gutiérrez & Penuel, 2014, p. 22); man brauche Rigor bei der Anwendung von allen (auch für Relevanz ausgelegten) Standards (Prochner & Godin, 2022, p.…”