A study, published in Science in 2011, focuses on a range on research-related skills, displayed through the ability to write research proposals. The authors conclude that graduate students engaged in teaching activities develop at least some of these skills to a higher degree than those who are exclusively engaged in research.
The investigation was based on research proposals, written at two time points (early fall and late spring) by 95 STEM graduate students — about half of whom were involved in both research and teaching, while the other half only did research. All participants were given the same instructions on what to include in their proposals, as well as a summary of the evaluation criteria. The quality of the proposals was subsequently rated by evaluators using a pre-specified rubric, checking for aspects like ability to describe the context of research ideas, establishing reliability, data analysis, and identifying limitations of the project. Between the two time points, participants revised their proposals so that the outcomes of the study could be controlled for pre-existing differences in skills. Information on participants prior research experience, as well as tests on scientific reasoning, were also included in the analysis.
The analysis showed significant differences between graduate students engaged in both teaching and research, and graduate students engaged in research only, on two specific evaluation criteria: ”testability of hypothesis” and ”research/experimental design”. Here, the teaching-and-research group scored higher than the research-only group. The authors suggest that the findings should be used as guidance when planning graduate research training within STEM disciplines.
Text: Emma Wikberg, Fysikum
