The Practice
The research project explored current pedagogic research culture and practice across the University with the aim of producing recommendations towards strengthening pedagogic research culture and practice overall.
Pedagogic research is an integral component of the scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education (HE). HE institutions are beginning to promote pedagogic research and seeking ways of equipping their teaching staff to undertake high quality, impactful research that can lead to improvements in student outcomes and student experience. Yet, research has identified that pedagogic research practice in the UK (and beyond) is currently challenged by tensions in defining, distinguishing, evaluating, and engaging with the practice, meaning further research is needed. At the University of Bristol, this project is the first internal research project exploring current pedagogic research practices within our institution. Our findings will be used to understand and enhance pedagogic research culture across the university.
Our project utilised a mixed methods approach to data collection utilising in-person focus groups (56 participants) and an online questionnaire (72 participants) to gather the views of members of staff across the university. Research participants included representatives from all faculties across the university, including participants from the majority of individual schools and from the professional services sector. Participants represented colleagues from across career pathways, from within different role ‘grades’, and with varying lengths of service at the university from 1-3 years all the way up to 20 years plus.
Demographics of colleagues participating in the survey are summarised below:
| Faculty | Arts Health Sciences Life Sciences Social Sciences and Law Science Engineering Central teams | 29% 16% 15% 15% 11% 7% 6% |
| Pathway | Pathway 3 Pathway 1 Professional Services Pathway 2 | 74% 19% 7% 0% |
| Role | Academic Grade L Academic Grade J/K Academic Grade M Prefer not to say Professional Services I-K Professional Services L-MAcademic Grade IProfessional Services A-H | 50% 18% 17% 6% 4% 3% 1% 1% |
| Duration of employment at Bristol | 10-20 years 7-10 years 4-6 years 1-3 years More than 20 years Prefer not to say Less than 1 year | 29% 22% 22% 14% 11% 1% 0% |
Findings
Our findings indicate that there is significant diversity within approaches to pedagogic research culture and practice across the university. This is driven by a perceived lack of clear institutional support or guidance for pedagogic research as well as varying levels of support for undertaking pedagogic research. Colleagues across the university recognise ways in which pedagogic research can bring about positive changes that can support the improvement of educational practice, the student experience, the professional and personal development of members of staff, and boost the external reputation of the university. Similarly, our findings highlight existing areas of success for pedagogic research within the university and indicate a real desire for enhanced pedagogic research support and capacity overall. However, a key findings was the sense that pedagogic research is not valued by the wider university community, and that it is considered to be a low priority activity with limited potential impact.
Our findings have identified key barriers to pedagogic research culture and practice at the university, and consequently we have identified areas for improvement that may best support pedagogic research practice at the university, focused around increasing colleagues’ capacity for pedagogic research.
Recommendations include:
- More comprehensive policy/procedures for pedagogic research including clearer guidelines as to how pedagogic research fits into job descriptions, workloads, and promotion and progression criteria particularly for teaching-focused members of staff
- A better-established pedagogic research culture across the university that can function as a community of practice for all members of staff, as well as a hub for more informal pedagogic research networks or groups
- Introduction of a hub for pedagogic research information and support, including ethics processes and funding opportunities
- Enhanced pedagogic research training opportunities for all staff
The Impact
Our project gave voice to members of staff who had strong opinions to share in regards to pedagogic research culture/practice at the university, both positive and negative. Following this, our project has produced several outputs which provide significant insights into current pedagogic research culture and practice at the university, as well as attitudes towards it. We hope for our findings to inform future university strategy, policy, and practice for pedagogic research, with benefits including improved teaching and learning practices, improved student experiences and outcomes, improved professional development opportunities for staff, and increased staff morale (particularly for teaching-focused colleagues).
Our project has generated materials a range of outputs to support colleagues to enhance their current pedagogic research culture and practice, including:
- A list of pedagogic research publications and conferences grouped by discipline (available autumn 2024)
- “Talking heads” interviews available on the BILT website exploring how pedagogic research is promoted and celebrated in different schools
- Opportunities for schools or faculties to host workshops on “Enhancing a pedagogic research culture” to start or accelerate work within schools (see contact details below)
- A detailed report of our findings will be circulated to senior leadership to help inform future strategy and practice
- We have drafted a literature review relating to the pedagogic research landscape within the UK HE environment and are drafting a paper exploring our project findings for submission for publication later in 2024
Next Steps
The outputs generated from this research project will inform the BILT pedagogic research culture project 2024-25, which will curate and develop specific training resources to continue to support the development of university wide pedagogic research culture and practice.
Our findings will be shared with Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students, Tansy Jessop, to advocate for enhanced pedagogic research culture and practice at the university and potentially help inform to university strategy, policy, and practice for pedagogic research.
Contact
Please contact Sheena Warman for more information – Sheena.Warman@bristol.ac.uk
