Teacher resources

Activity ideas for teachers

One productive follow-up activity for teachers is to assign their students a reflection exercise, in which they think carefully about what they've learned from the discussion.

Below are five prompts about the nature of academic research that students can consider. For an example assignment, you can ask the students to respond to one or more of these prompts in their reflection on the discussion.

1. Reflect on how [researcher name]'s research either abandoned or reconceptualized prior understanding in light of new ideas or evidence. Describe how this fits with your own understanding of "how research works."

2. There are a number of shared perspectives on the nature of research and there is no universal "step by step" method that captures the complexity of discovery. Among these perspectives are naturalistic explanations supported by "empirical evidence". Empirical evidence in principle, is "testable" against the world. It can include observations, rational argument, inference, skepticism, peer review, and replicability of work.

Describe a way in which [researcher name]'s research demonstrates "empirical evidence".

3. Creativity is a vital, yet personal, ingredient in the production of knowledge. Describe how [researcher name] was creative in his/her research.

4. The history of research reveals that understanding changes over time. With new evidence and interpretation, old ideas are replaced or supplemented by new ones. Describe how [researcher name]'s research has contributed to a new body of knowledge and may replace older understandings.

5. Pure research is not directly concerned with practical outcomes, but rather with gaining an understanding of the world for it's own sake. However, much research does have practical applications! How does (or can in the future) [researcher name]'s research affect your everyday life?