{"id":5,"date":"2003-08-03T18:00:01","date_gmt":"2003-08-03T08:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/?p=5"},"modified":"2003-08-03T18:00:01","modified_gmt":"2003-08-03T08:00:01","slug":"why-are-research-skills-so-seldom-taught","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelnielsen.org\/blog\/why-are-research-skills-so-seldom-taught\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are research skills so seldom taught?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Undergraduate education in physics is mostly concentrated on learning certain basic facts about physics, and technical skills that enable one to solve problems in physics. While both these are essential facets of doing research, many other equally essential skills are neglected, or ignored completely.<\/p>\n

Why is this the case? In some small part it may be because not all people taking physics degrees necessarily hope to do research one day. However, to an extent far greater than in almost any other subject, an undergraduate degree in physics is, at least nominally, focused on the task of preparing people for research.<\/p>\n

At the PhD level, it is interesting that while there is certainly a focus on doing research and getting research results, relatively few supervisors seem to engage in much active discussion of how research ought to be pursued. If a student is lucky they may see a particular research style modeled, through interactions with their supervisor and other more senior scientists.<\/p>\n

Such modeling is potentially quite valuable, especially if a student is exposed to a wide range of research styles. However, what works for one person may not work for others; this may be especially true when one is inexperienced and lacks confidence, while another is very experienced and has considerable confidence. Furthermore, each individual needs to develop their own style, suited to their own unique combination of talents.<\/p>\n

Many students fail even to see such modeling. A remarkably common attitude is that students either \u201chave it\u201d, or \u201cdon\u2019t\u201d, when it comes to research skills. This sells students lumped into either category short. It is true that some beginning PhD students are exceptionally well equipped to do the tasks required of a PhD student. Such students may complete their PhD much more rapidly than usual, with apparently astounding success. However, such students may also plateau \u2013 they may never move beyond this level, stagnating instead of growing into a new set of skills beyond that required of a PhD student. Similarly, other beginning students may be very well equipped in some ways, but lacking in certain essential skills that result in them being placed into the \u201cdon\u2019t\u201d category. It is interesting to wonder how such students might benefit from learning some basic research skills.<\/p>\n

I believe that there are many ways in which the learning of research skills can be integrated into both the undergraduate and postgraduate curricula. Rather than drafting such a list to be placed here, I’ll leave the construction of such a list as a topic for discussion, and for future posts.<\/p>\n

Topics for further thought:<\/p>\n