Summarized by James T. P. Yao, 7/30/99

"There is a perceived conflict between teaching and research. … An analysis of the different audiences to which Professors profess is presented, and it is concluded that the problem is under-emphasis on teaching. This under-emphasis on teaching results from a lack of commitment of resources to evaluating and rewarding formal classroom teaching, the avoidance of painful decisions, and time pressures. The challenges are to develop and apply an accepted procedure for measuring the quality of teaching, to provide realistic opportunities for continued professional development, and to provide the time required to meet both research and teaching expectations, especially for probationary faculty. …"

"The role of the Professor not only differs between audiences but becomes blurred at times for a given audience. For example, is the Professor more of a student than are the students the first time he/she teaches a course? Is the Professor a student or a Professor as he/she works with a graduate student in the final stages of the Ph.D. dissertation? Is there both a student and research component in the experience of a Professor working on a highly technical consultation? In today’s highly technical society is there a student/research component as the Professor tries to understand social and economic matter in preparation for professing to the public and its elected representatives? And what is the importance and significance to the Professor of all of these ‘student’ roles as he/she struggles with a half life of 5 years for engineering knowledge?"

"The dictionary defines research as a scholarly or scientific investigation. Alternatively, research is the intellectual and physical activities resulting from an internal urge to discover new concepts, devices, procedures and understanding. … Neither definition limits or specifies the number of individuals involved in the research. Neither definition requires communication to others of the results of the research. However, one of the characteristics of a good Professor is the urge to share with others new ideas and understanding. Neither definition requires that the research be sponsored or funded although, in the real world of today, significant participation by graduate students requires funding. A portion of the perceived conflict comes from a too narrow definition of research."

"No professor will, for long, have the opportunity to profess to his peers, to consult, or to serve the public unless he/she is in the forefront of generating new knowledge, understanding, and approaches resulting from his/her participation in research. … Without research … a Professor will soon have a limited audience. Furthermore, it is doubtful if the Professor will serve even this limited audience well for any length of time."

"If research, broadly defined, is essential to continued good teaching it follows that teaching and research are not incompatible and the problem is one of emphasis and time allocation between competing demands."

"… However, in assessing which element is over or under emphasized, several facts … mind that apply to all universities. First, …, Professors are human beings. Consequently, … there will be differences in the ability of individual Professors to establish a rapport with and address a specific audience. … Second, the greatest recognition is typically given for accomplishments in funded and published research. … Note that the bill-payer may have a different expectation! Third, if a Professor professes primarily to a single audience it is reasonable to expect ‘world class’ performance from this Professor. … Fourth, as science and technology move faster, more time is needed to keep up with one’s profession. … Because of the low reward and recognition profile of formal classroom teaching, the item most likely to lose priority is teaching technique. … Fifth, Professors, like most individuals, respond to praise, recognition and reward. The sixth fact is the extreme difficulty of measuring the quality of professing to degree seeking audiences where teaching techniques are the most important. The seventh fact is that continued professional growth which will update technical approaches and content is absolutely essential to continued good teaching. Funded and published research, while not the only way, is the easiest and most generally accepted way to accomplish professional growth. …"

"Currently there are at least three distinctly different challenges facing the academic engineering community. In order of importance and difficulty, the first is to develop and use a valid, practical measurement of formal classroom teaching quality. The second is to gain acceptance in the general academic community of the fact that … continued professional development and growth of engineering faculty (i.e., research) can occur in a variety of ways in addition to traditional funded research. The third is to gain administrative recognition that, particularly for probationary faculty, significantly increase time is required both to seek and administer the funding essential today to an active research program …"

"There are complexities in determining the quality of formal classroom professing. … If we spent the resources on evaluating the quality of teaching that we spend on evaluating the quality of funded research, i.e., outside peer review, invitations to speak, prizes, etc., we could evaluate with equal accuracy, the quality of teaching. …Peers in training (students) are extremely useful, but imperfect, evaluators. … Exit interviews with graduating seniors who have more maturity and who are relatively free from potential retaliation by the system can also provide important input. Interviews with modestly recent graduates can provide an additional perspective. Student sponsored teaching awards are a useful criteria. Additional important information can be obtained from the professors’ peers, both directly and indirectly. Why not have practicing engineers audit classes on an ‘announced as to occurrence but unannounced as to time’ basis. … Colleague evaluation can be both dangerous and perceptive! Some professional societies give presentation awards for papers presented – are these not a clue as to teaching ability? …"

"… One extreme is the professor who, after the BS degree, went directly to graduate school and from there to teaching continuing his professional development with government funded research and having little or no industrial contact. The other extreme is the professor who does little or no formal research but, in addition to his teaching, is active as a professional engineer. the institutional system would give high recognition to the first but minimum recognition to the second. It seems to be essential that the ‘ideal’ engineering professor operate somewhere between these two extremes but this will not occur until the present system recognizes the necessity for professional experience in the engineering field."

"When an individual enters the teaching profession, there is a fundamental dilemma with regard to seeking research support. One approach is to seek individual research support. … A second approach is to join an existing group, which already has funding. However, doing so raises the question of how, at the time of promotion, an individual’s contribution can be separated from the group contribution. … However, the institution must make it clear to the tenure-seeking professor that teaching performance will be a significant criterion in the tenure decision as well as the method by which teaching performance will be measured. The same comments apply to continued professional growth! … The institution can minimize departmental and institutional administrative duties during this period. A reduction in teaching load can ease the time problem if it is made clear that relief from teaching commitments is for the sole purpose of easing time pressures and that teaching performance in the courses taught will still be a significant promotion criteria. …"

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