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In asking ¡°Is teaching in research universities actually research-led?¡± (Opinion, 22 December), Holly Else addresses some pertinent questions. However, she misses out two important considerations.

First, everyone involved in teaching must underpin this with ¡°research¡±. Most of it will not be the type that is submitted to the research excellence framework; but to treat ¡°research¡± and ¡°REF?able¡± as synonyms is utterly misleading. It also denigrates the effort and importance of the broad conceptualisation of research that underpins teaching.

Second, research-led is only one of four widely recognised components of research-informed teaching ¨C along with research-tutored, research-oriented and research-based. These embrace a wide range of materials taught in classes and a wide range of types of learning activity that students are asked to undertake as part of their studies. This adds up to a whole lot more than ¡°I talk about my research in my lectures¡±.

Indeed, doing (REF?able) research is not a prerequisite for most such activities. If lecturers are not underpinning their teaching materials with research activities, broadly defined, and if students are not being exposed to a wide range of research ideas and activities as part of their studies, that is when they are being short-changed.

Rob Ackrill
Nottingham Business School
Nottingham Trent University

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