Linking Educators and Researchers in Setting a Research Agenda for Undergraduate Education

The American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) and American Educational Research Association (AERA), two professional higher education organizations, provide leadership by clarifying directions for scholarly inquiry. Educators at the first organization’s national meeting created a research agenda for undergraduate learning that was later discussed and critiqued by researchers at their annual meeting. This agenda covers questions on several current topics: teaching, assessment, collaborative learning/student learning, critical thinking, liberal education/general education, and voluntary service. Educators added methods for implementing a research agenda, and researchers introduced research utilization.