The debate over the future of higher education in Texas is based on a fundamentally faulty premise: that research and education are separate and separable activities.
In fact, research is so tightly interwoven into the educational process at Texas A&M and the University of Texas that the current efforts to "improve" the educational process by emphasizing education at the expense of research would instead lead those respected Tier 1 research universities into mediocrity.
To understand why research is so important to education, let's first consider the education of Ph.D.s.
The Ph.D. education is basically an apprenticeship: The Ph.D. candidate sits at the side of the master and observes him or her doing research. As the student progresses, the master gives the student more and more responsibility for the research until the day arrives when the Ph.D. student is doing original, unguided research. When that occurs, the student has earned a Ph.D.
This process requires that the faculty member have a vigorous research program. You can learn how to do research only in an environment where research is being carried out.
That also exposes the wrongness in the criticism that much of the research produced is of no value to society.
Even if the resulting research did not fundamentally push forward our knowledge of the world, the production of a well-educated Ph.D. has tremendous value. ...
But most importantly, well-educated Ph.D.s -- those who know how to do research and solve problems -- can leave their field of study and move to Wall Street, corporate America, government, etc. If you know how to solve problems, you can do anything. Such people are tremendously valuable to America -- and they can be produced only at research universities.
Research at universities also helps undergraduate education. ... [Students] are learning state-of-the-art information, not using an out-of-date textbook or being instructed by a teacher whose knowledge is 20 years old. ...
Research cannot and should not be separated from the educational mission of the university. To weigh them against each other is to compare the value of your heart or liver -- they're both absolutely essential. ...
Posted Saturday, Jun. 04, 2011
Andrew Dessler is a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University.
adessler@tamu.edu
In fact, research is so tightly interwoven into the educational process at Texas A&M and the University of Texas that the current efforts to "improve" the educational process by emphasizing education at the expense of research would instead lead those respected Tier 1 research universities into mediocrity.
To understand why research is so important to education, let's first consider the education of Ph.D.s.
The Ph.D. education is basically an apprenticeship: The Ph.D. candidate sits at the side of the master and observes him or her doing research. As the student progresses, the master gives the student more and more responsibility for the research until the day arrives when the Ph.D. student is doing original, unguided research. When that occurs, the student has earned a Ph.D.
This process requires that the faculty member have a vigorous research program. You can learn how to do research only in an environment where research is being carried out.
That also exposes the wrongness in the criticism that much of the research produced is of no value to society.
Even if the resulting research did not fundamentally push forward our knowledge of the world, the production of a well-educated Ph.D. has tremendous value. ...
But most importantly, well-educated Ph.D.s -- those who know how to do research and solve problems -- can leave their field of study and move to Wall Street, corporate America, government, etc. If you know how to solve problems, you can do anything. Such people are tremendously valuable to America -- and they can be produced only at research universities.
Research at universities also helps undergraduate education. ... [Students] are learning state-of-the-art information, not using an out-of-date textbook or being instructed by a teacher whose knowledge is 20 years old. ...
Research cannot and should not be separated from the educational mission of the university. To weigh them against each other is to compare the value of your heart or liver -- they're both absolutely essential. ...
Posted Saturday, Jun. 04, 2011
Andrew Dessler is a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University.
adessler@tamu.edu
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