Teaching on the High Seas: How Field Research Enhances Teaching at All Levels

Abstract

Although teaching and research often compete with each other for the limited time a professor has, they can be mutually supportive as a teaching-research symbiosis. Especially for fields in which study of the natural environment is central, bringing research field experiences to the classroom and bringing students to the field creates a powerful symbiosis. For me, the field is the world’s oceans, mid-ocean ridges in particular. Even the majority of students, who were unable to go on research expeditions, were inspired by their peers’ experiences at sea. As research tools become more remote and abstract (such as ocean observatories and remotely operated vessels using “telepresence”), it is more important than ever for students to have seagoing opportunities on research expeditions. Whenever possible they should be able to participate in physical work on deck in addition to computer-based work.