Incorporating Research into Teaching: How & Why

It is a widely held view that lecturers should use their research to inform the content of their teaching. However, a number of factors impede this desired state becoming a reality. There are endless numbers of thick textbooks with a vast amount of content, many ready-made case studies for use in class are available, and film resources are increasingly accessible. Such factors mean that incorporating one’s own research in teaching becomes increasingly optional. Moreover, with the widening of access to HE, such research may need to be put into a more digestible form than the ‘read my paper on XYZ and we will discuss it at next week’s tutorial’ approach. Accordingly lecturers need to possess knowledge and skills in how to shape research into suitable teaching formats. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how a lecturer’s own research can be used as a resource in teaching, and to encourage debate and discussion on the strategic role of research-based teaching.