Research Informed Teaching

Welcome to Volume 2 (2008) of the Journal of Qualitative Research in Sports Studies. Developing from our experiences of writing Volume 1 (2007), this second volume represents a significant addition to what is now a growing body of knowledge stemming from student generated research; each paper being mentored by an academic member of staff. An underlying research theme in this volume has been that of experimenting with different ways of presenting qualitative data within the text to “tell your story”. This theme has largely guided the selection of papers for the journal so that its contents might reflect some variation within this theme, i.e. that they might collectively show some variation of possibilities and examples of working with qualitative data. It is hoped that these ideas are useful to the student researcher by providing a reference point to get started on their own accounts of research in sport.
Whilst each paper is quite different in terms of topics studied and their presentation of ideas there is a unifying theme of discussing the “lived experience” or discussing things that might affect this for different groups of people. Over the past year, as students conducted their investigations and began to make discoveries there seemed to be a need for them to demonstrate and communicate in writing what they, specifically, had found. That is to say that one person’s discoveries about attitudes to sports coaching or behaviour in Physical Education, was different to the next being affected significantly by the context of their research situation. This situation may have been determined by for example, different environments and different relationships for observations and interviews, different levels of detail in responses, or unexpected areas of interest emerging from the data. These kinds of things may lead the student to want to demonstrate in their written work what they have discovered in their own way but within the discipline of good academic writing about qualitative research, be that for submitting coursework essays or the writing of articles such as these. Consequently, it may be claimed that there may be no fixed model or ideal to follow in writing about qualitative data that will suit all investigations that might simultaneously, emphasize what was special about the research and show what the subtleties of the discoveries were in a given context. Therefore, we hope you find these articles helpful, engaging and thought provoking for your ongoing research.Overview of contents
There is an impressive array of sport related topics which have been tackled within this volume. A significant trend throughout is one of providing commentary about sports coaching, sports provision and understanding of sporting culture, including that of Physical Education as they may have been variously experienced. Consequently, the breadth of sporting scenarios which have attracted the attention of the authors has also been impressive ranging from local coaching provision to national and Olympic level commentary. Additionally there are a number of papers on football culture ranging from discussions about the perceptions of domestic football to the use of that sport by non-governmental organisations for charitable and social development purposes. As a reflection of the breadth of application of sports related research, this volume hosts writing from a range of authors across the levels of Undergraduate study, as well as Masters and PhD students along with their associated mentors. Contributors also come from a range of Higher Education institutions which are both UK based and from overseas and some contributors are currently outside of HE but working within the sports world. All are welcome.

Notice: The discussions, statements of fact and opinions contained in the articles of The Journal of Qualitative Research in Sports Studies are those of the respective authors and cited contributors and are set out in good faith for the general guidance of student supported research and the promotion of pedagogical discussion in teaching and learning contexts. No liability can be accepted by the Editor, Editorial Board, Advisory Board, the reviewers or the authors/submitters for loss or expense incurred as a result of relying upon particular statements made or circumstances outlined in this journal.

Welcome to Volume 3 (2009) of the Journal of Qualitative Research in Sports Studies (JQRSS). Learning from our experiences of writing Volume 2 (2008), this third volume makes a valuable addition to what is now a significant body of knowledge stemming from student mentored research. There are now approximately forty articles across the three volumes, (2007,8,9) comprising in the main dual authored papers which are mentored by an academic member of staff who are second named. There are reviews of various kinds and also “cameo” articles. Cameo articles are usually one per volume, when an academic or non-student is invited to write specifically for a student audience. An underlying research theme in Volume 2 (2008) was that of experimenting with different ways of presenting data to “tell a story”. Experimentation with this theme continues further in this volume. There have also been several new developments which are worthy of editorial note which will help track the evolution of JQRSS over its relatively short history to date.

Notice: The discussions, statements of fact and opinions contained in the articles of The Journal of Qualitative Research in Sports Studies are those of the respective authors and cited contributors and are set out in good faith for the general guidance of student supported research and the promotion of pedagogical discussion in teaching and learning contexts. No liability can be accepted by the Editor, Editorial Board, Advisory Board, the reviewers or the authors/submitters for loss or expense incurred as a result of relying upon particular statements made or circumstances outlined in this journal.

We analyse the interaction between university professors’ teaching quality and their research and administrative activities. Our sample is a high-quality individual panel data set from a medium-size public Spanish university that allows us to avoid several types of biases frequently encountered in the literature. Although researchers teach roughly 20% more than non researchers, their teaching quality is also 20% higher. Instructors with no research are 5 times more likely than the rest to be among the worst teachers. Over much of the
relevant range, we find a nonlinear and positive relationship between research output and teaching quantity on teaching quality. Our conclusions may be useful for decision-makers in universities and governments.

Welcome to Volume 7 (2013) of the Journal of Qualitative Research in Sports Studies (JQRSS) which comprises papers from first-time authors alongside more experienced writers, all wishing to share their ideas stemming from primary research or through critical discussion articles. A glance down the contents page reveals a range of contributions which may be informative and thought provoking for people at different points on their journey through education. Reviewers’ comments have been incorporated at the end of papers, after the JQRSS Acknowledgement Footnotes, with a view to stimulating critical discussion about a given topic or research idea. I hope readers will gain as much from browsing the experiences of others formulated through these pages as much as I have enjoyed working with the authors and editing this volume. Below, an overview of submissions precedes the scope and purpose of the  journal which is followed by the JQRSS researcher award for the previous year. Then, an invitation to submit work through the open call for papers and JQRSS operational guidance provides further information about the context of this journal and advice to researchers/authors. This leads to a closing note and other editorial acknowledgements.

Notice: The discussions, statements of fact and opinions contained in the articles of The Journal of Qualitative Research in Sports Studies are those of the respective authors and cited contributors and are set out in good faith for the general guidance of student supported research and the promotion of pedagogical discussion in teaching and learning contexts. No liability can be accepted by the Editor, Editorial Board, Advisory Board, the reviewers or the authors/submitters for loss or expense incurred as a result of relying upon particular statements made or circumstances outlined in this journal.

Lo sviluppo sostenibile nell’alta formazione: un’esperienza integrata di didattica e ricerca
Il contributo presenta un’esperienza di insegnamento all’interno di un corso di laurea magistrale di area pedagogica dell’Università di Firenze. Attraverso un approccio integrato di research-informed teaching (RIT) e l’utilizzo di metodologie attive, il corso è centrato sui temi dell’Agenda 2030 e della sostenibilità, esplicitando la dimensione educativa sottesa alle azioni di sviluppo. Si evidenzia l’importanza di approcci pedagogici e didattici student centred e learning outcomes oriented funzionali allo sviluppo di competenze legate al tema dello sviluppo sostenibile e volti alla formazione di professionisti dell’educazione e della formazione ritenuti figure centrali nell’accompagnamento e nella gestione di processi di transizione ecologica e sostenibile. Il contributo offre la sistematizzazione di questa esperienza pluriennale di didattica universitaria.

Reported benefits of research-informed teaching include enhanced student engagement and graduates that are better prepared for employment in an uncertain world. However, there are a number of academic risks that can have both positive and negative impacts on staff
and students when implementing research-informed teaching.
Mitigating such risks could smooth the way for, or even encourage,
wider exploration of innovative teaching methods with associated
benefits. This paper presents findings of an empirical study that identifies what risks were encountered or perceived from both student and staff perspectives when adopting a research-informed teaching approach. Risks were identified through semi-structured interviews with
multi-disciplinary staff and a questionnaire survey with students. Two risk categories were revealed as particularly significant for student learning: curriculum bias and how research engagement impacts on student experience. Staff reported considerable positive impacts on
well-being and motivation when adopting research-informed teaching. In light of this, the frequently encountered strategies for staff to reduce risks and negative impacts are presented, including raising awareness of key teaching styles or methods and fostering a sense of wider cultural
support for innovative pedagogies within and between disciplines and departments. More could be gained by acknowledging and managing the risks associated with research-informed teaching than by strategically avoiding this type of activity.
Keywords: research-informed teaching, risks, student learning, teaching strategies

Writing twenty years ago, Neumann (1996) questioned the existence of a nexus between research and teaching roles. Since then, the nexus has been confirmed and extended by drawing in further issues such as learning (see Buckley, 2011) and scholarship (see Musthafa & Sajila, 2014). In the arts, the artist academic also incorporates an arts practice. We have argued previously (Bennett, Wright & Blom, 2010) that this inclusion extends the nexus to encompass artistic research and teaching (ART). This short discussion paper retains the focus on the artist academic and further extends the ART nexus through the addition of employability.