Research, Teaching & Knowledge Transfer

The new teaching semester is almost upon us here in Australia. And, in the process of orienting a new, part-time lecturer to our degree program and the university context, he exclaimed:

"I thought we were just here to teach!" he said, somewhat aghast about other higher education imperatives, including research.

Universities are in the business of Research. This links directly in the following ways:

Both are centrally about knowledge transfer and applied in university's missions in various ways, but here in this context, is applied in terms of learning and teaching.

KT in teaching draws upon current research, practice, lifelong learning and application. In the case of University academics, they participate in the knowledge economy by undertaking research and the output of this research contributes directly to government, industry and yes, education.

Universities are in the business of Knowledge Transfer.

Research does not mean simply googling or reading other's works, but of course can include this. It also means original research, arguing, constructing, presenting, publishing and peer validation - then applying such new original knowledge in practical applications.

In this way, then teachers don't simply perpetuate opinion, old habits, outmoded conceptions or unsupported conjecture. They are be able to lead, facilitate and challenge both themselves and student's thinking through such a proven and personally constructed research base.

For example, a brilliant piece of work by US music technology university educator. Imagine how this works in *his* classes: Moorefield, V. (2005). "The producer as composer: Shaping the sounds of popular music". London: MIT Press. (Available Griffith library ML3470 .M66 2005)