Rated but not related?

John Saunders (Letters, THES , December 13) has not read my Exchange article carefully. Evidence of the lack of relationship between the quality of a lecturer's teaching and his or her research comes from many rigorous studies. My daughters' experiences of inadequate feedback simply illustrated one consequence of emphasising research at the expense of teaching. In contrast, the "measure" of teaching Saunders would prefer - teaching quality assessment scores - lacks reliability, validity or independence from other variables, such as resources and students' ability to cope without adequate teaching.

Graham Gibbs
Centre for Higher Education Practice, Open University