The European Commission has, as one of its explicit objectives, the modernization of universities to enhance European competitiveness in the global knowledge economy (COM 2008). One means of achieving this goal, has been the development of more standardized pan-European curricula to enable student mobility across national boundaries and to promote the creation of the ‘knowledge triangle’, i.e. the linkages between education, research and innovation (EU 2009). The emphasis on academic research is a stated policy aim for both traditional universities and universities of applied sciences. However, the configuration and cultural dynamics of academic research across European higher education (HE) is extremely diverse and complex. It is, therefore, important to understand how teachers in different academic communities perceive research and how they see its importance for their students and their professional lives. In this symposium, we are focusing on various dimensions and concepts of the research-teaching nexus. In particular, we examine how these concepts are manifested in the curricular practices of diverse HE contexts from the perspectives of both teachers and students. The presentations are from four European countries using data from both traditional universities and universities of applied sciences. Our aim is to promote useful debate on the state of the research-teaching nexus in HE in Europe in an era of fast-moving economic and political change. 

We understand that curriculum development is an intentional and dynamic process, which reveals the values and principles in relation to pedagogy, learning, knowledge and disciplines.  It also reflects the cultural and political purposes in developing the educational mission of HE (Barnett & Coate 2005, Pinar et al. 1995). The academic community has generally been suspicious of the concept of externally-driven curriculum development, appealing to the autonomous position of the university as an organizer of teaching (Fraser & Bosanquet 2006; Leathwood & Phillips 2000). However, HE curriculum design is firmly linked to political, social and cultural forces that impact on the daily work of academics and their professional identities. The HE curriculum is never neutral or static, but reflects the conceptions of those constructing it within a temporal context.

Previous studies demonstrate the diversity and complexity of conceptions of HE curriculum (Fraser & Bosanquet 2006 et al) as well as in the understanding of research-teaching nexus in curriculum development (Healey 2005; Trigwell & Prosser 2009). The most common of the latter is “research-based” teaching as a primary task of university level education. Healey’s (2005) model identifies four orientations within the research-teaching nexus: research-based, research-led, research-tutored and research-oriented views. This model posits a matrix of relationships between research content, research processes and problems, student-focused and teacher-focused views and the treatment of students as an audience or as participants. The disciplinary view renders these relationships even more complex. Knowledge is, therefore, produced and processed in multiple ways in various institutions, research fields and curricular cultures (Becher & Trowler 2001, Jaspers 1960/2009). This symposium aims to bring these complexities into sharp focus through the multiple lenses of research in four HE institutions located in four different national contexts.