IMPACT OF INVOLVING ACADEMIC STAFF IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PROCESS AT ENGINEERING UNIVERSITIES

Albania is suffering a period of educational crisis, with a wide discrepancy between the instructional methods used in universities and those verified by scientific research as most effective in practice of engineering. There is still a disconnection between theory and practice when there is even more pressure on teachers to perform better. This study focus on impact that research method has for improvement of schools’ learning environment through reflective teaching. Educators have to begin to shift the paradigm of implementing routine instructional customs to more innovative instructional practices that are based in practitioner research. The future directions of academic staff development programs, teacher preparation curricula, as well as school improvement initiatives, will be impacted by teachers that learn themselves through the critical inquiry and rigorous examination of their own practice and their school programs that scientific research requires. Other significant aspects of teacher research are their potential as a means of bridging the gap between scholars and practitioners, not as a passing trend but as being instrumental in creating the groundwork and vision needed to further professional teaching, teachers who engaged in the process of scientific research become more critical and reflective about their own practice. The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ perceptions of changes in their instructional practices as related to their own scientific research. This study investigated teachers’ perceptions of the influences of research method on their thinking about instructional practices and the impact of this thinking on teaching practices. The scientific research model of professional development provides them with opportunities to do that. This study prove that involving the academic staff directly on scientific research programs is an imperative to overcome the crisis and to have a better and sustainable development higher education. Engaging teachers in the process of raising questions and answering questions about how to improve the practice of teaching is essential and the solution is involving the teachers and academic staff in programs that through scientific research solve real problems of engineering practice because research enables educators to inquire, to observe, to collect data, and to dialogue during the school day, giving to students the best example how to act in the future in their works. The results of this study show clearly that teachers engaged in the processes of scientific research and reflective teaching, place educators in a more able position to critically influence the future of teaching and learning.