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Research and teaching are often construed by academic staff as incongruous activities that have little overlap in practice. Many studies on the relationship of teaching and research assume an inherent competition or “rivalry” between these two practices. In this study, we draw on a framework that conceptualizes these academic practices not as distinct and irreconcilable, but rather as analogous practices with a common essential goal: the advancement of learning and knowledge. Taking a phenomenographic research perspective, we investigated how 39 early career, research active academic staff at a research-intensive university conceive of learning across their academic experience and practices. We identified five distinct conceptions of academic learning within three general categories: disconnected, transitional, and connected.

The paper presents a phenomenographic study of conceptions of academic learning among Nepalese students. Students from various disciplines at the Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu were interviewed about their understanding and experience of learning. The results are related to previous studies in Nepal, using Bigg‘s Study Process Questionnaire and written responses to open questions. They are also compared to similar phenomenographic studies carried out in the East as well as the West. The present study indicates, among other things, that Nepali students look upon memorising and understanding as interlinked in a way not usually found among Western students. The results are described within a two-dimensional outcome space, derived from previous studies of learning experience conducted in various cultural settings, and providing a general framework for different conceptions of learning.