MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY HIGHER EDUCATION TEACHING THROUGH RESEARCH

Professional teachers (primary, secondary and tertiary) naturally seek answers to questions and solutions to problems that enable them to help their students to learn effectively and efficiently. They are decision makers; make thousands of choices on hourly basis regarding the choice of texts, literature, appropriate and relevant technology integration, curriculum pedagogy, assessment and measurement. They are reflective and sensitive to the needs of their students and encounter failures and successes as a result of the cultural diversity of their students. Their key to success is a mystery. Research is one of such potential keys to help unlock these cultural secrets to enable teachers fulfil their professional mandate. This paper provides empirical evidence together with scholarly argument to address the issue “meeting the challenges of twenty-first century higher education teaching through research”.