On 1 November, I took over the TLC baton of research education theme leader, and with it also this column, from Lia Fluit. The first of November was quite the good timing for me, because in the first teaching block I also teach the course Methods of Research and Intervention at the Faculty of Management Sciences. In that course, first-year and pre-master students are introduced to the basics of methodology and designing a research project. What forms of logic can we use? What does that mean for research design? How can we make certain concepts measurable and report on them? How do practice-based and theory-based research relate to each other? When is research being 'good' research? I try to use as many examples as possible from case studies and scientific articles to recognise concepts such as objective, question, research design and research strategy, and to reflect on the connection between these elements.
Inevitably, around week 3 and 4 of the course, questions pop up like "But how do you come up with all this? This is quite a lot to think about when writing a one-sentence research question!", incidentally often preceded by a loud "Pffffffffff". In a way, I can only agree with that sigh: there are a lot of elements, all related and all of which we as researchers have to think about before an idea eventually becomes a finished research publication. But, I reply, that's why there are often multiple authors on an article. After all, you often agree with yourself that something is a good idea, at the risk of overlooking certain things from various (often unconscious) assumptions. Or, depending on how you are put together, on the contrary, you never agree with yourself and therefore don't get much further in your thinking. Either way, in both cases it can be really nice to be able to fall back on others to ask critical questions or make choices. And of course the practical aspects: everyone has their own specialisation or strengths and together you can divide the tasks.
Actually, those arguments for collaboration in research also apply in our teaching. What do our students actually learn in our education, how does that relate to our previously formulated learning objectives, and how can we make that visible? How we actually assess our teaching, what is our own role in it and what do our students actually learn from it and what do we think of it, becomes better when we as teachers and developers of the subject are not the only ones questioning it.
We make our education ourselves. Literally. But as a department, course, university, are we more than the sum of our parts? We cannot and do not need to come up with it all on our own. We all need a co-author in our teaching from time to time; to give that critical perspective, to ask that tricky question or to doubt aloud a proposed approach. But also sometimes to share the burden or find a way out together when all the doors seem to be locked.
From my theme leadership, I hope to contribute in various ways to reflecting and exploring our education together. I sincerely hope that I can involve and connect many 'co-authors'.