The Role of Collaborative Authorship in Decentered Research Innovation: An Interdisciplinary, Interdepartmental, and Interinstitutional Model to Accelerate Research Culture in Teaching Institutions

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Information, Medium, and Society: Journal of Publishing Studies

Abstract

Teaching and research institutions of higher education have traditionally been structured in such a way as to incentivize improving teaching and learning and a focus on student engagement, while the latter has an administrative and grant structure that promotes scholarship. At R1 institutions, graduate students are often leveraged to teach undergraduate students, while faculty are left free to pursue their own research agendas. On the other hand, the evaluative, financial, and administrative structure disincentivizes faculty at teaching institutions from pursuing their own research agenda and instead places a focus on keeping current on the latest in pedagogy for their respective fields. While extensive scholarship exists in promoting research in postsecondary institutions outside of the United States, this study provides a model to accelerate a culture of research and scholarship at primarily undergraduate teaching institutions post pandemic. The study will (1) identify the barriers to inducing research and scholarship in a primarily undergraduate teaching university and provide a descriptive analysis of these issues and (2) provide a strategy to overcome said barriers for American institutions of higher education. Drawing from international models, the study recommends the promotion of disciplined-based pedagogic research, research-led teaching, teaching-led research, and inquiry-based learning. The adoption of the proposed decentered collaborative research model would improve student engagement; provide research and practical skills for students for their future careers; reengage a burned-out and disengaged faculty; improve recruitment, retention, and completion efforts of institutions; build interdepartmental and interinstitutional capabilities and capacities via shared resources; and arrive at new, innovative, and novel solutions for wicked problems.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.18848/2691-1507/CGP/v21i01/7-24

Publication Date

8-2023

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