The CEDA Meta-Profession Project
ITEM:

SCHOLARLY/CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

(SoTL Case)

Definition or Description:

Activities specifically associated with the full spectrum of professional skills required by the roles a facuty member plays including but not restricted to those skill sets associated with the faculty member's formally recognized area of content expertise (base profession).

Comment:

The special case of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

As defined by Boyer (1990), scholarship is of four types, discovery, application (now, "engagement"), integration, and teaching (now more often titled "the scholarship of teaching and learning" – SoTL). Though the four types are differently defined, Boyer did not note one, unique aspect of the scholarship of teaching and learning: that of the four, it was the only one that encompassed the other three.

By definition, SoTL is discovery. It involves the use of rigorous techniques for the exploration of phenomena in an attempt to develop new knowledge. But SoTL is also applied because one of its functions is to take the acquired knowledge and use it to improve teaching and learning. In all almost disciplines the application is in an area outside the base profession. Finally, SoTL implies the development of knowledge and skills related to teaching and learning within one’s discipline. In that sense, it most often requires the integration. of information, methods, and processes from outside the base profession in order to be carried out, and the subsequent integration of findings into the instructional process (in the meta-profession). SoTL blends what Shulman (1986) has called “content knowledge” (knowledge in the base profession) and “pedagogical content knowledge” (knowledge of both content and related instructional process and methods) to build “curricular knowledge” (specific expertise in teaching within one’s discipline). Thus, by its very nature, SoTL encompasses all forms of scholarship.

SoTL presents a special case of the use of the meta-professional model and a way in which it can be used extend the current dialogue about faculty roles. The model can also be used to describe the skills necessary to successfully carry out SoTL projects, and in doing so, it outlines areas for concentration in faculty development efforts (that is, in those meta-professional skill sets for which graduate education rarely provides training and experience).


Faculty Evaluation Implications:
 Research (Braxton, 2001; Franklin & Theall, 2001) has show that a major issue for many faculty is that their evaluation systems do not include appropriate recognition and reward for SoTL activities. The meta-professional model provides a basis for enhancing the status of SoTL, and guidelines exist for the assessment of scholarship in general (Glassick et. al, 1993) as well as SoTL activities in particular (Theall & Centra, 2001).
Faculty Development Implications:
 The model suggests that the resident expertise among faculty on any campus is sufficient to create a critical mass of training capabilities. The power to train peers resides among the faculty themselves, and in providing this training, they are applying and integrating their content knowledge in service to the institution and to improved teaching and learning.
Research Implications:
  The meta-professional model can also suggest opportunities for additional SoTL or other research. For example, the further development of disciplinary epistemologies can be applied to instruction within the disciplines or the better understanding of commonalities across disciplines.
Policy Implications:
 With respect to policy and organizational issues, the above implications for faculty evaluation and development are clear. Best practices can be implemented at minimum cost if the faculty adopt a meta-professional approach to both evaluation and development and if administration at the department, college, and university levels supports policy change that guarantees appropriate recognition and rewards for SoTL and related activities.

References and/or Links:

Publications

    Boyer, E L. (1990) Scholarship reconsidered. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

    Braxton, J., Helland, P. A. & Lucky, W. (2001) "Faculty engagement in Boyer's four domains of scholarship:results of a national survey." Paper presented at the Faculty Roles and Rewards Conference of the American Association for Higher Eudcation. Tampa, FL, February 3.

    Franklin, J. & Theall, M. (2001) Faculty opinions about the scholarship of teaching. Paper presented at the 81st annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Seattle WA: April 13.

    Glassick, C. E., Huber, M. T., & Mearoff, G. I. (1997) Scholarship assessed. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

    Shulman, L. S. (1986) "Those who understand: knowledge growth in teaching." Educational Researcher, 15, 4-14.

    Theall, M. & Centra, J. A. (2001) Assessing the scholarship of teaching: valid decisions from valid evidence. In C. Kreber (Ed.) "Scholarship revisited." New Directions for Teaching and Learning # 86. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

    Resource Links
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