SOTL as Academic Activity
vs. Campus Initiative		 Unit 1 A: page 3 of 6
 

 

 

Distinction between scholarship of teaching and learning as a domain of academic activity and as a campus program:

-SOTL as academic activity (yellow ellipse)
-SOTL as a campus program can span all teaching-related activities (leftmost three ellipses).

A SOTL program provides support to faculty for movement toward the yellow ellipse; that is momement in their teaching-related activities toward the right and movement in their research-related activities toward the left.

 

Into what realm beyond teaching does scholarship of teaching extend? The rightmost ellipse is the set of points representing deeds that scholars perform in the name of research and creative activity. Though research-based activity to advance knowledge is the prevailing notion of scholarship, scholarship is not precisely synonymous with research .

Walker discussing idea that scholarship is not synonymous with research.

Scholarship is reflective and creative. It can result from reflecting on the processes and outcomes of research or personal teaching experience and creating something new.

Boyer’s notion that scholarship of teaching and learning spans the “tired teaching vs. research debate” is naturally depicted in the position of the yellow ellipse (with italicized text) between the two big red ellipses.

We can distinguish between SOTL as an academic activity and as a campus initiative.

Walker discussing SOTL as an academic activity.


As an academic activity, what scholarship of teaching and learning means in your institution defines the boundary of the yellow ellipse. As a campus initiative, what SOTL means may encompass the entire 3 leftmost ellipses.

 

 In other words, a SOTL initiative may include all teaching related activities of faculty. Thusly conceived, a SOTL initiative can provide a resource-rich and opportunity-laden home to faculty members who aspire SIMPLY to teach excellently as well as to those who perceive themselves primarily as scholars (i.e.”researchers”). In fact, there is evidence that faculty who have not been attracted to previous teaching improvement initiatives can be attracted to a SOTL initiative because of its research orientation. This phenomenon may be visualized in the diagram as faculty converging to SOTL not only from the big red ellipse on the left but also from the one on the right.