The Research-Teaching Nexus in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Abstract

This article is an edited version of a longer essay on the topic available on the LTSN-GEES Web site (www.gees.ac.uk) (Healey et al., 2003). Drawing on an LTSN-GEES project, it argues that students may benefit from developing links between teaching and research in all kinds of higher education institution. However, the nexus between research and teaching in geography, earth and environmental sciences is complex and contested, takes a variety of forms, and varies by subject and type of institution. Moreover, it reflects the changing concepts that staff and students hold about the nature of research and teaching. Most of the previous literature on the linkage comes from geography, which has been extensively reviewed elsewhere (Healey, 1997, 2000; Jenkins 2000; Johnston and Cook e, 2001). To help correct the disciplinary balance for a GEES audience, two appendices are included with this article, which deal specifically with linking teaching and research in environmental sciences and earth sciences respectively. The main article reviews some of the themes in the international debate about the research-teaching nexus.