The teaching and research nexus from an international perspective

Abstract

Over the last 15 years various social changes have exerted pressure to transform academia from a community of knowledge to an enterprise of knowledge. In the emerging knowledge society, the knowledge functions of discovery, dissemination, and application are increasingly important. Considering these factors, the integration of research and teaching, and, even more, the integration of research, teaching and learning (an R-T-L nexus) is essential. However, such integration is rarely achieved due to the increasing tendency for the differentiation of research and teaching. The concept of the Humboldtian model was acceptable a century ago at the time of the institutionalization of the modern university, but this model is hardly adaptable to the universal stage of higher education today. Conversely there is a trend of encouraging teaching without research that necessarily drives academic staff either towards research or towards teaching. Conflicts between research and teaching are evident in many countries in the light of the fact that the research orientation has been strengthened around the world.