TWO EXPERIENCES ON THE APPLICATION OF THE RESEARCH-TEACHING NEXUS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES: THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE UNIVERSITY TEACHER

The methodological model known as research-teaching nexus can be considered as an strategic factor for the learning process at university in at least three different ways, namely: 1) in terms of scientific and academic productivity and competitiveness at the institutional level; 2) in terms of individual training addressed to the successful integration in labor markets which are increasingly competitive and 3) for the improvement of the efficiency on project planning and resource management in both the public and the private sectors. Under any of the former perspectives, it is apparent the potential contribution of interactive- and experimental-guided teaching in transferring prominence to students during the attainment of a number of abilities and competences. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss two cases inspired by this type of teaching methodologies. These experiences are carried out in subjects of Social Sciences degrees at the Universities of Jaen and Murcia (Spain). Around these experiences some tools applied over diverse stages of the learning program and with diverse objectives are commented, namely: foundations for diagnose base on research problem solving, practical understanding of concepts, data collection-generation techniques, and means of presentation and dissemination of research findings. The main constraints and handicaps that students have to face during the development of their projects are commented as well. Finally, some learning outcomes attained together with some difficulties that were found over the application of this methodology and the advances on the targeted competences are discussed.