The Role of Research in Teaching: A Comparison of Teachers from Research Universities and those from Universities of Applied Sciences

We explored how the institutional and individual backgrounds of university teachers influence their beliefs about what the role of research in university teaching should be and their perceptions of how they have managed to incorporate research into their actual teaching. A total of 132 teachers from research universities (RU) and universities of applied sciences (UAS) participated in our survey study. Teachers from both institutions highly value the role of research in teaching. The teachers from the RU were more positive about the incorporation of research into their teaching than the teachers from the UAS. To explain these differences, the institutional and individual backgrounds of the teachers were investigated in terms of: perceived research support and the institutional research culture, time spent doing research, educational background and research experience. Research support and research culture were found to be particularly and highly relevant for the teachers at the UAS. The teachers with higher educational backgrounds and more research experience — at the RU — were more positive about incorporating research into their actual teaching. We conclude that both institutional and individual backgrounds play a significant role in the incorporation of research into university teaching, particularly in the case of universities of applied sciences.