Abstract:

The aim of this theoretical study is to reflect on how the third mission can be an alternative for the integration of teaching and research in universities. Discussions about the relevance of the third mission of universities have been guided by several studies that address everything from their role in economic and social development to their effects on student education. Training the student is the main goal of universities and its realization is linked to the missions of higher education institutions. In Brazil, the third mission is called university extension and among the guidelines that guide it is the articulation with teaching and research. This guideline is based on the principle of the Federal Constitution of Brazil, which imposes the inseparability of teaching, research and university extension. This principle determines that the missions of universities are inseparable and that their integration is essential for the complete formation of the student. The University Extension in Brazilian Higher Education is the activity that integrates the curriculum and the organization of research, constituting an interdisciplinary, educational, cultural, scientific, technological policy process, which promotes the transformative interaction between higher education institutions and the other sectors of society through the production and application of knowledge in permanent articulation with teaching and research. In this perspective, the performance of actions of the third mission in Brazil necessarily needs to be integrated with teaching and research. Integration with teaching takes place from the viewpoint of the student's role in the execution of actions that will help identify the technical skills of their professional performance. Also, the confrontation of their theoretical learning with the practical field transforms the field of application of their action in a classroom outside the university whose constructed knowledge comes from many perspectives, not the scientific one. As far as research is concerned, its articulation consists of participatory methodological possibilities that put the student in contact with the practical field and make him reflect and generate new knowledge. This performance may generate scientific products such as theses, dissertations, book chapters, articles in journals, among other publications. In light of the above, Brazilian universities are betting on university extension as one of the main alternatives for integrating teaching and research, providing students with a complete education.

Keywords:

Third mission, Brazilian universities, University extension, integration of teaching and research.