The relationship between academics' conceptions of knowledge, research and teaching a metaphor study

Abstract

Universities are supposed to be institutes where research and teaching are closely related. To understand this relationship fully, it is necessary to learn how academics perceive these key components. Different conceptions among academics may stem from varying conceptions of knowledge. Thirty academics were interviewed by means of metaphors about their conceptions of research, teaching and knowledge. Academics' conceptions of knowledge ranged from knowledge as facts in an external world to knowledge as a personal construction. Their conceptions of research ranged from research as disclosing patterns to research as creating patterns. Their conceptions of teaching ranged from teaching as knowl..