ENHANCING POSTGRADUATE TEACHING AND RESEARCH: Old Standards, New

Challenges

By

Abdullahi I. Musa, PhD (Emporia, USA)Department of Library and Information Science

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

Nigeria

Objective To discuss issues related to postgraduate teaching

and research

Based on U. S. Experiences as

a…

Research Scholar

Visiting Professor

Adjunct Faculty

Doctoral student

Presentation Outline

Introduction

Teaching, Research, and Community service

Conclusion

Introduction

The environment in which universities operate has changed dramatically

However, in many situations, the universities the late Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna Sokoto) and others helped to build remain to be the same

In particular, some Faculty members in Nigerian universities appears to be traditional–operating in

a relatively closed environment

Introduction As some Faculty members insulate themselves from new ideas that are driving the intellectual world to which they are connected, I have strong concerns about the future of Nigerian Universities

This is because universities are now faced with a much more complex operating environment and many competing needs, which compels a reassessment of mode of operation

Introduction

The new mode of operation require universities to be

customer centered

Customer centric

Universities need to

define their business in

terms of customer

needs

YES! UNIVERSITIES ARE BUSINESS TOO!

Levitt (1960) opined:• Organizations

should not define their business in terms of the product made and sold. Rather, organizations should define their business in terms of what the customer needs are.

Customer centric

“ The railroads did not stop growing because the need for passenger and freight transportation declined. That grew. The railroads are in trouble because…they let others take customers away from them… they assumed themselves to be in railroad business rather then in the transportation business…they were railroad oriented instead of transportation oriented; they were product oriented instead of customer oriented.”

Levitt illustrated that

Customer centric

•organizations should not define themselves in terms of their products but in terms of their markets or consumers needs.

Levitt’s message is clear:

Ahmadu Bello University Faculty should be scholarly centered, rather than university centered.

•Those who generate and diffuse knowledge wherever, whenever, anywhere, anyhow and by any means.

To be scholarly centered requires Faculty to view themselves as scholarly

workers rather than university workers,

Does it matter to be customer centric?

To be successful universities

MUST provide customers with what they want!

What we value as an organization has

little or no value unless it matches

that of our customers! –Joey

Rodgers

The Customer Centric QuestionThe future of Ahmadu Bello University depends on its ability to meet the emerging needs of our customers, in terms of teaching and research

BUT, who are our customers?

What are their emerging needs?

How will these needs differ from traditional university services that we provide?

Three parameters will be used to discuss emerging issues: research, teaching, community services, and others

Research

Top universities recognize research

excellence. Examples of award:

The distinguished research medal

Early career award for distinction in research

Top achiever doctoral scholarship

Post graduate supervisor of the year award

Do we recognize research

achievement?

To enhance RESEARCH activities Universities engage in public private partnerships•To what extent do we engage in public private partnership on research activities?

Dissemination of Research Findings

Membership of well-recognized professional associations?

Are we active members of professional associations?

Remember: Active membership require energy, time, and efforts.

That will address interesting societal problems

Which will produce interesting result

n studies that

ask interesting research questions?

Which produces interesting result?

That addresses worrying problems

Research questions

Do we ask interesting research questions?

How Frequent Do We

Research and creativity day?

Organize

Mentoring

Producing quality research require a VERY LONG

mentoring process

How many were mentored among us?

How many junior Faculty are we mentoring currently?

Interdisciplinary Research

Interdisciplinary research Multi-disciplinary

Trans-disciplinary What is our

research like?

Faculty-Student supervision ratioOn the average how many students do we

supervise?

• Are Faculty conversant with grant writing technique?

• To attract research fund

Grant Writing

Students assistant

Top universities

employ students

assistants

How many student assistants do we

employ?

The use of Human subjects in research

Teaching

Curricula

•Pays attention to the search for truths that are documented in textbooks with little reflections on the content

Objectivism curricula

•Asserts that the mind is instrumental in interpreting events about the real world, and that those interpretations comprise a knowledge base that is personal and individualistic

Constructivist epistemology

What is our curricula orientation?

Top universities are guided by mission, vision, and values in all their undertakings?

In facilitating learning are we guided by our mission, vision, and values?

Teaching and Research Philosophy

Do our Faculty members have a clearly articulated teaching

philosophy?

Faculty in top universities have a clearly articulated teaching

philosophy

Content delivery •Passiv

e learning? Or active leaning?

Content delivery

•Cluster or row seating?•Row

seating does not encourage active learning

For example: How is our class

room seating organize?

Knowledge Construction

Does our teaching foster reflective

practice?

Does our teaching support collaborative

construction of knowledge through social negotiation?

Does our teaching support context and content dependent

knowledge construction?

Does our teaching focuses on knowledge reproduction or knowledge construction?

Course syllabi

Does our syllabi consist of:• Course objectives,• Course description• Weekly topics• Weekly readings• Weekly assignment • Recommended textbooks,• Required textbooks, • Seminal readings, • Grading rubric, • Expectations of students, • Assignments/exams and

their due dates.

Course pack

Do we provide course pack for

every course that we teach

Do we teach HUNDREDS of

students?

•With no teaching assistant?

•And E-learning software system to assist in content delivery and assessment?

Scholarly Content Area

Do we clearly demarcate scholarly content areas for each academic program that we teach?

•Do we clearly identify philosophies, paradigms, meta-theories, theories, models, and frameworks

And, for each

content area

And recognize teaching excellence?

Do we evaluate teaching?

Reputable schools evaluate and recognize teaching excellence

Semester End

Teaching Evaluation

Award for teaching excellence Survey on quality of teaching

Community Service

Community Service

• Do we quantify the value of services provided by the university academics?• This can be used for marketing,

public relations, and fund raising.

Reputable schools quantify the value of community services provided by the university academics

Admission

.Admission

Top schools admit by matching the expertise of Faculty to student’s research interest

How do we admit postgraduate research students?

Institutional Support

Fellowships?

Travel grants?

Scholarships?

Do we have a system of recruiting and retaining smart students?

Career services support

Writing center

IT help desk

Institutional Support

Scaffolding support allows students to perform tasks that would normally be slightly beyond their ability

Are we Student Centric?

Do we have representati

ve of students on Department

al Managemen

t Board?

Do we informally meet with students?

Do we have efficient and effective advising and

mentoring system?

Do we have diversity policy and office of diversity to

implement diversity policies?

Do students have degree

plan?

Do we listen to the voices of

students?

Motivate Faculty?:

Acceptance of a job offer?

For successfully teaching & supervising students at the end of each semester?

How frequent does the Management

Faculty recruitment

Tenure track Faculty recruited though rigorous search committee system

How do we recruit Faculty?

Technology Savvy

Are our Faculty Technologically

Savvy?

To be effective members of the 21st century “invisible college”

Finally Are Faculty information literate in this digital age?

Information literacy is

Abilities to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use

effectively the needed information."American Library

Association. Presidential Committee on Information Literacy. Final Report

.(Chicago: American Library Association, 1989.)

For Listening

Thank You