Linking Teaching and Research in the Biosciences

Abstract

Research is so inextricably embedded within the teaching in the bioscience disciplines that many of us do not question that there is linkage between teaching and research - we simply know that it is true as part of our discipline culture. We, as bioscientists, have written this essay for the bioscience academic community. We start from the point of view that the link between research and teaching is embedded but not necessarily made explicit and that the link could be exploited more effectively for the benefit of staff and students. We have attempted to articulate the development of understanding and skills of a bioscience undergraduate through the course of their degree. However, our main aim is to challenge bioscience colleagues to review and evaluate existing links and think about ways of developing and integrating new links into their teaching practice. Keywords: teaching bioscience; linking teaching with research; case studies