gms | German Medical Science

Within the field of research-driven learning and teaching, distinctions of methods or formats are often indicated by adjectives such as “research-based”, “research-oriented” or “research-led” etc. However, empirical evidence for these concepts and distinctions was not yet achieved.

Surveys completed by teachers and students at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2016, were used as a basis for exploring especially the distinction of the teacher-centered vs. student-centered formats as well as the opposites of focusing research content or research processes (cf. [1]). The samples consist of 1482 students and 550 teachers. Both were asked about their experience with formats, their expectations, reasons and attitudes towards research-driven higher education. The analysis then focused on: the use of particular didactic elements such as informing students about research or challenges to plan and conduct independently a research project; furthermore, the importance of this experience from a subjective point of view and reasons for estimating this experience. Finally, students’ motives for enrolling to university courses and teachers’ general attitudes towards teaching were assessed.

Empirical evidence can be reported for both, students and teachers, that the subjective relevance of learning with research content differs from learning through research processes. Factor analyses were used to extrapolate these two teaching and learning formats and similarly, patterns of expectations, motives and attitudes. Thus, the distinction between a metacognitive learning style and a learning behavior which is dependent on teacher’s guidance could be confirmed. Moreover, given opportunities to experience undergraduate research have an influence on student’s learning strategies and their estimation of challenges conducting research on their own. To enhance the quality of these results, further investigations are planned on the basis of a panel survey.