• HERDSA 2010
  • CONFERENCE THEME
  • KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
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HERDSA 2010 program: keynote address

*Please note that this provisional program is indicative only and subject to change.

Reshaping higher education research

Professor Carmel McNaught

Director and Professor of Learning Enhancement
Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research (CLEAR)
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

The Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative has focused attention on the research profile of universities in Australia, and it is likely that the ramifications of ERA will be felt elsewhere. Indeed, world-wide there is a growing number of constraints and demands on research that can be described in terms of 'calls', emanating from government and societal quarters. In this keynote address, I will explore the tensions inherent in four such popular calls.

1. The call for research productivity: Does this mean quantity or quality?
2. The call for research quality: Does this imply journal metrics or improving conceptual understanding?
3. The call for research innovation: Does this mean seeking new funding models or new strategies to explore understanding?
4. The call for research ethics: Does this imply focusing on curbing plagiarism or a desire to strengthen human values in research?

For each of these tensions (and others), should we use 'or' or 'and' or 'and/or'?

As a scholarly higher education community, it is clear that we need to address the role that research in higher education has within our universities and beyond. In the address, examples of good research across a variety of aspects of higher education will be celebrated and contrasted with examples of not-so-good research (disguised to protect the innocent and not-so-innocent). Through these examples, I will build up a model of core principles that can guide new (and old) researchers in maximizing the value of their research in fulfilling their own professional lives, rejuvenating the educational systems we are committed to, and enhancing students' learning opportunities and learning outcomes.