The Importance of Research in the Academia

Photograph take 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;

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Engage and evaluate new technologies in teaching and learning that can contribute to the development of student deep learning;

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Increase the understanding of cultural and social issues that prevent learners from acquiring the needed competencies to function at work; and

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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/LPS1/FD/APSK/L PS1.FDEV.APSK.ACRE.EN.ON.V1.MASTER/readings/LNPS_APSK_ACRE_EN_U nit01_introductionToAcademicResearch.pdf 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