Photograph
taken by Jonathan Acuña-Solano
The Importance of Research in the
Academia
By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano
Universidad Latina de Costa Rica
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Twitter: @jonacuso
Post 211
“Research
is a tool used across fields and institutions to seek knowledge about a
particular phenomenon. It is essential in gathering information that often is
used to inform decisions and actions” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2016) . No matter what
one’s teaching field is, research in the academia is important to study
phenomena that can help us be more efficient in our daily teaching, understand
student behavior or tendencies that deserve attention from faculty members and
the institution, or even to try out new methodologies that can yield more
productive results for instructors as well for learners. And as stated by Laureate Education, Inc. (2016), what can be studied
in one’s classrooms with one’s students can assist us on “making informed
decisions,” which can yield more and deeper learning among students, and on
undertaking newer and different “actions,” which can calibrate student learning
to assist then on really acquiring the competencies necessary to perform at
their current or future jobs.
“Academic
research is a process of inquiry aimed at seeking answers to problems and
discovering new information. This process allows researchers to examine
research questions, build upon the previous work of others, and contribute work
of their own” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2013) . Research can be
done at a macro scale involving hundreds of individuals studying at a higher
education institution, or it can simple be done at a micro scale and only
pertaining to one’s classroom teaching/learning environment. There is, and will
always be, potential to be obtained from our educational experiences with
learners during a course at one’s university classroom: Understanding why
students behave in a certain way when a summative assessment is provided to
them, comprehending why pupils shift expectations when formative assessment is
periodically presented to students, and so on. Research can be feasibly carried
out in one’s courses to become better informed when making decisions and taking
a new course of action to improve learning outcomes.
As
suggested by Laureate Education, Inc. (2016)
and by wikiHow (n.d.), the very first thing one
needs to be certain of is the kind of research process one is to undergo.
“Primary research means doing original research, meaning that this knowledge
doesn’t appear in any other paper” (wikiHow, n.d.) . This type of
research is “considered factual and the direct result of a study” (Laureate
Education, Inc., 2013) ;
this type of research is meant to yield information that has not yet been
formerly obtained by any other scholar interested in the phenomenon. “Secondary
research … means reading other experts’ published papers to learn something new
about your topic, to survey what other have said and written about it, to reach
a conclusion about your ideas on the topic” (wikiHow, n.d.) . This other type of
research is “considered interpretation of results or a source” (Laureate
Education, Inc., 2013)
since one is meant to better comprehend why a given phenomenon is taking place
in a classroom, in a course with a group of students, or at the university
within a given field of study. Once one is able to determine the kind of
research one wants to carry out, the academic research process is about to
start.
If
I were asked how I could contribute through research with my field, which is
ELT (English Language Teaching), I would definitely say that I can supply my
field with ideas and questions to ponder:
·
Explore
areas in which I would like to know more about student language development;
·
Engage
and evaluate new technologies in teaching and learning that can contribute to
the development of student deep learning;
·
Increase
the understanding of cultural and social issues that prevent learners from
acquiring the needed competencies to function at work; and
·
Develop
skills in student language performance, in accent reduction, and in helping
learners become more critical as thinkers.
To say that one has no room in research is to look
down at one’s possibilities. Who said that a “scholar” cannot learn from an
“amateur” researcher interested in comprehending the processes of education?
One thing is certain, any faculty member, teaching professional, or student
interested in discovering more about teaching/learning phenomena has the
potential to become a researcher for the academia.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (2013). Faculty
Development. Retrieved from Laureate Education:
https://lnps.elearning.laureate.net/bbcswebdav/institution/
Laureate Education, Inc. (2016). Academic
Research. Retrieved from Faculty Development:
https://lnps.elearning.laureate.net/
wikiHow. (n.d.). How to Conduct
Academic Research. Retrieved from wiki How to do anything:
http://www.wikihow.com/Conduct-Academic-Research
Sunday, February 14, 2016
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