Patterns in the prevalence of research-related goals in higher education programmes

Integration of research into teaching is considered a desirable characteristic of higher education, and valuable for student learning. Nevertheless, not much is known about the prevalence of research integration in students' everyday experiences within higher education. This article reports on an empirical study on the prevalence of six research-related goals in 45 educational programmes in Flanders. The study aimed at identifying the patterns in the prevalence of these goals at programme level. For each programme, a profile was identified. A cluster analysis revealed three different patterns: a low-attention pattern (N=21), a results pattern (N=16) and a critical-thinking pattern (N=8). The prevalence of the patterns in the programmes included in the sample differs between distinct types of programmes, but not between disciplines.