Kasia Pierzga
UW Tacoma
Mention the words “teaching and research” and you’ll likely evoke thoughts of juggling time, energy and priorities, unless, of course, your field is education. So it’s a little unusual that four professors from different disciplines joined together to perform research on their own teaching to identify ways to help UW faculty improve the classroom experience for students.
“Faculty research may enhance scholarship in the discipline in which they teach, but it’s not always directly connected to what’s happening in the classroom,” says Belinda Louie, an associate professor of education who has chaired the Scholarship of Teaching Research Group at UW Tacoma since its inception.
Most research on pedagogy is done within the context of teacher education programs, but the UW Tacoma group is taking a different approach: They’re developing research that connects teaching with the various academic disciplines as they are taught in the UW classrooms.
“In much of higher education, the culture has been focused more on research,” says Louie. “Our goal is to integrate teaching and scholarship, so that faculty can strengthen their teaching skills in an environment that’s supportive, not just evaluative. We want to help build a culture that encourages faculty to become the best teachers they can be.”
A primary focus of their research has been the use of a “self-study” approach to strengthening the effectiveness of teaching methods.
Research developed by the group, which also includes Denise Drevdahl from the Nursing faculty and Jill Purdy and Richard Stackman from the Business Administration faculty, has gained national attention. Their work has been published by several academic journals, including the prestigious Journal of Higher Education. In addition, members of the group have presented their research at several conferences both in the United States and abroad, including at the American Educational Research Association annual convention last year.
Information about their research is available through UW Seattle’s Center for Instructional Development and Research, a centralized teaching resource and information clearinghouse that addresses instructional issues and provides instructional consultation and access to educational materials and services.
To learn more about the work of the Scholarship of Teaching Research Group at UW Tacoma, including a list of papers and presentations, visit the UW’s Center for Instructional Development and Research Web site at http://depts.washington.edu/cidrweb/UWTgroup.html