The Research-teaching Nexus in Higher Education Curriculum Design

Abstract

The article examines representations of the research-teaching nexus in curriculum design in contemporary higher education. It brings to the fore the pivotal aspects of enhancing research-teaching nexus in university studies reflecting dynamic and holistic view of curriculum design. Interviews with 27 academic teachers and 23 students from a multidisciplinary research university constitute the basis for the research. All the informants were involved in curricular work. The analysis was conducted by combining data and theory driven content analysis. The findings indicate the split nature of representations, revealing tensions within the internally and externally driven curricular goals of higher education, and the ways of understanding the role of research and teaching. Also interconnected representations emerged which were found to be crucial in order to enhance Humboldtian ideals in research-teaching nexus in curriculum design.