RE-EXAMINING SCHOLARSHIP: EXPLORING THE MEANINGS OF BOYER'S DIMENSIONS TO THE PROFESSORIATE

Since Boyer's (1990) seminal publication on scholarship there has been a steadily expanding body of knowledge concerned with reviewing the priorities of the professoriate in higher education (HE). This dissertation enters that discourse by exploring HE educators' perceptions of Boyer's (1990) multiple dimensions of scholarship. It also accepts the challenge offered by Schon (1996) that examination of the new dimensions of scholarship requires a new epistemology by designing and employing a spiral methodology. This twofold task forms the basis of this dissertation. This investigation is contextually located in an education department in a large university in the United States of America. It delves into the opinions of educators as they relate to scholarly practices, and the influence of the institutional ideology embedded in the structure of HE in today's modem universities. The study then focuses on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and renders problematic the proposed assessment standard of reflective practice. The use of my spiral methodology in action opens up both the framework and the theoretical structure for critical examination. It reveals, through the praxis how the phased structure has allowed the research project to extend into using such diverse research methods as an email survey, interviews through conversations and autoethnography. This study offers contributions in two distinct areas. Firstly, the investigation into educators' perceptions of scholarship revealed four important issues: • a strong desire to see the definitions expanded • that the SoTL is a contested and poorly understood dimension • the rhetoric of reflective practice is often very different to the practice • the ideology and epistemology of the institution dictate the priorities Secondly, the spiral methodology which holds reflexivity as a central tenet proved capable of offering a sensitive, flexible, interconnected framework within which to conduct research in the complex and context bound environment of research in educational settings. There are a number of potential future directions that could be developed from my research some of which include: • investigating institutional commitment to implementing campus changes • the impact of proposed changes on the student population • examining the contested meaning of reflective practice in theory and practice • further development of a reflexive spiral methodology • expansion of the combination of critical analysis and boundary conversations This dissertation should be read both as a very personal sequential journey into researching, and as a growing understanding of the research topics. This evolution has led to altering some of my early methodological claims and demonstrates my commitment to an open and honest account

Analysis of Emerging Reputation and Funding Mechanisms in the Context of Open Science 2.0

This report covers the outcomes of two studies funded by JRC IPTS to explore emerging drivers for Open Science 2.0. In general, Open Science 2.0 is associated with themes such as open access to scientific outputs, open data, citizen science and open peer evaluation systems. This study, however, focused on less explored themes, namely on alternative funding mechanisms for scientific research and on emerging reputation mechanisms for scholars resulting from Web 2.0 platforms and applications. It has been demonstrated that both are providing significant new opportunities for researchers to disseminate, share, explore and collaborate with other researchers, but it remains to be seen whether they will be able to bring about more disruptive change in how science and research systems function in the future. They could well do so, especially if related changes being considered by the European Commission on ‘Science 2.0: Science in Transition’ are taken into account.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

A diffusion of innovation analysis of the acceptance of digital activities, products, and services as scholarship in a Boyer model of academic scholarship

This Delphi study explores the opinions of experts on their interactions with the adoption of digital products, services, and activities. Although there are a wide assortment of digital products and digital spaces that have the ability to make significant contributions to scholarship, still traditional monographs and textual publications dominate how research and opinions are shared. Even though scholars have widespread adoption of social spaces and digital technologies including self-publishing, many of their institutions and peer review platforms are still hesitated to recognize their contributions to scholarship (Gruzd, Staves, & Wilk, 2011). The conceptual framework of this study is built upon Ernest L. Boyer\u27s (1990) four principles of scholarship: the scholarship of discovery; the scholarship of integration; the scholarship of application; and the scholarship of teaching. In addition, the theory of diffusion of innovation by Rogers will guide the analysis component of the research

What is New or Different about the Scholarship of Teaching?

SCHOLARSHIP Reconsidered (Boyer, 1990) summarized a new way of approaching higher education. This report presented higher education as a set of four scholarships, four means of accomplishing the goals of academe. The purpose of our report is to address the scholarship of teaching, both as an activity and as an assessment of such activity. This report will focus on the scholarship of teaching by addressing: What is the scholarship of teaching? What qualities exist in this form of scholarship? What are the requirements of this scholarship? How does one accomplish this scholarship? And finally, how can the scholarship of teaching be assessed

Practice and Fit in the Allocation of the Resource of Faculty Time: A Study of Current and Preferred Scholarly Practice of the Faculties of Ten Theological Schools Affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA)

Faculties, deans, and trustees of theological schools affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) were surveyed to determine current faculty practice; the practice preferred by faculty, deans. and trustees; the fit between current and preferred practice; and faculty practice and faculty preference difference according to categorical variables such as gender, race, and rank. Seven variables defined faculty practice: workweek in hours, instruction, scholarship, service, advising, governance, and other. Scholarship was subdivided into three categories adapting Ernest Boyer’s multi-dimensional definition of scholarship: orginitive, applied, and teaching. Fit was defined in two ways: statistical fit and practical fit. The reported workweek was comparable to that reported by faculties at other types of universities and colleges. The time theological faculties reported spending on teaching exceeded only that of research university faculty. The theological faculties reported spending more time on scholarship than liberal arts college and comprehensive university faculties, but less than doctoral and research faculties. Theological faculties reported spending significantly more time on service than faculty at other types of institutions. While statistical differences were found between current practice and the preferences of deans and trustees, practical differences were negligible. A statistical and practical difference was found between the preferences of faculty and deans for governance activities and between faculty and trustee preferences for the categories of instruction and scholarship. Considered by categorical variables, preferred practice of faculty varied most by faculty teaching discipline. Implications of the findings for planning and assessment in theological schools were discussed

An Investigation Into The Blogging Practices Of Academics And Researchers

This research project investigated the experiences of academics and researchers using blogs to support their practice. The three research questions were: to identify the academics' and researchers' motivations for beginning and maintaining a blog, the contribution of blogging to their learning in the profession, and the challenges experienced. The research questions were investigated using several methods. Five datasets were collected from 26 participants. A questionnaire was first administered to collect background information about the bloggers, and was analysed quantitatively. Then, an initial unstructured interview of one open-ended question was conducted by email. The unstructured interview was analysed using descriptive phenomenology. A follow-on semi-structured interview was conducted and analysed by applying thematic analysis. Blog content was collected in parallel: textual extracts were analysed using discourse analysis and visual extracts by applying thematic/saliency analysis. Results revealed varied reasons for beginning a blog. For example, the blog can be used as a repository of 'half-baked' ideas. Blogging contributed to the academics' and researchers' learning in the profession in multiple ways. Academic bloggers, for example, can quickly reach a wider audience compared to other forms of academic publishing. Among the challenges, there were concerns over managing confidential information in public, and intellectual property issues. Regarding the methodological contribution of the research, suggestions on strategies for mixing and matching different research methods for data collection and analysis have been provided. An empirically-grounded framework of blog use in academia and research has been derived based on research findings and scholarship models in the literature. The framework describes how characteristics of digital scholarship such as openness and sharing, are manifested through blogging. The framework can be used to guide academics and researchers who are interested in taking up blogging as a scholarly practice. Finally, empirically-grounded guidelines on using blogs in academia and research have been derived. The guidelines were evaluated by four practitioners. Future work includes recruiting more practitioners to evaluate the guidelines

Measuring Faculty Motivation And Engagement Through An Institutionally Supported Faculty Development Program At An Academic Healthcare Center

Trends in the literature suggest that institutional support, defined as provisions for balancing work demands, schedule, and protected time, is a critical factor consistent with institutional academic success and an increase in faculty satisfaction. Competing factors including societal scrutiny, cost containment the safety and effectiveness of academic healthcare institutions, faculty recruitment and retention, increasing expectations for faculty, and pressures for high-functioning productivity can lead to feelings of ineffectiveness for faculty. This summative program evaluation focused on the success of the Scholars Program, an institutionally supported faculty development program. The researcher sought to identify and describe faculty perceptions of the program’s effectiveness as defined by two metrics: the faculty member’s self-perceived motivation to remain in an academic career path and their engagement in academics after they graduated the Scholars Program. The study was guided by two research questions. 1) How do faculty members who participated in the Scholars Program describe its influence on their engagement in academic activities supported by the program? 2) Do the curriculum vitae (CV) of faculty members who have participated in the Scholars Program demonstrate sustained academic productivity through evidence of scholarly appointment and promotion? Participants consisted of scholars who graduated in the years 2018, 2019 and 2020. This program evaluation used an embedded mixed methodology to identify the qualitative and quantifiable outcomes of the Scholars Program specific to faculty motivation and engagement in academics. The qualitative themes describe the programmatic experiences of the participants and how those programmatic elements effect their self-perceived motivation to participate in scholarly activity. The quantitative data showed participants demonstrated engagement in scholarly work after graduating the scholars program. The findings suggest that participants enjoyed and found value in the program. Recommendations include: Institutions who may be struggling with faculty engagement might explore programs that utilize a similar approach. The conceptual framework could be useful for developing programs for institutionally supported faculty development and should be evaluated for effectiveness

From micro to macro levels of practice: a showcase of a SoTL journey within and beyond classroom experiences

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is closely related to a teacher's journey of personal and professional growth, which initially occurs in the classroom. In higher education, where academics are recognised experts in their fields, SoTL activities are critical for translating educational principles into innovative practices that are consistent with the body of knowledge, thus significantly facilitating the learning process of students. When implemented consistently, two components of SoTL - reflective practice and practice dissemination - have the potential to accelerate growth not only at the micro (classroom) level, but also at the meso (institutional) and macro (national and international) levels. This article showcases a SoTL journey that began with a micro level practice in engineering classes and progressed into meso and macro level implementations. Beginning with student-centred learning approaches designed to assist students with classroom engagement, motivation enhancement and contextualised learning during a challenging course, the practice expanded into institutional-level experience-sharing sessions. This resulted in the development of structured training programmes and later, a centre of excellence. SoTL practice at the institutional level paved the way for national and international professional development training. This reflection showcases SoTL implementation at all three levels while demonstrating the potential for growth from one level to another leading to wide-ranging impacts both within and beyond the classroom

Cases of university faculty conceptions and practices of teaching, assessment and action research.

Conceptions of teaching and learning held by faculty in higher education broadly reflect two dominant approaches, those that are teacher-focused and content oriented, and those that are student-focused and learner oriented (Entwistle, Skinner, Entwistle & Orr, 2000). Conceptions of teaching may be reflected in the pedagogical choices and practices of instructors, but this has not been well established at college level. Thus, an examination of such conceptions may advance the understanding of good teaching at the college level (Fernandez-Balboa & Stiehl, 1995). Using a case study approach this research (a) examined conceptions of teaching and learning, assessment, and action research held by selected science faculty in higher education involved in NOVA (NASA Opportunities for Visionary Academics) funded courses, and (b) explores the relationship among conceptions and their practices. The dissertation is divided into six chapters. Chapter One provides a rationale and conceptual framework for the study, which is embedded in (a) research on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL), (b) research on faculty conceptions, epistemological assumptions and approaches to teaching, learning and assessment, © research on faculty conceptions of research and action research practices, and (d) research on faculty professional development. Chapter Two is a review of the literature relating to these four areas of research and educational development. Chapter Three outlines the research methodology employed. A case study approach was selected because there have been few studies of faculty conceptions and practices, particularly in depth case studies that examine the relationship among conceptions and associated practices. Chapter Four and Five present the results of the study. In Chapter Four, five detailed individual case narratives are presented, one for each of the five professors who participated in the research. The study participants ratified these as a member check to validate the findings. Chapter Five is a cross-case analysis of emerging themes and issues and reflects both common trends, as well as differences, among the cases. The cross-case analysis is related to the research questions for the study. The results show that in general conceptions of teaching and assessment are associated with practices of these phenomena. However, there are a number of interesting anomalies relating to the less well-known phenomenon of action research, and these are explored more fully. Chapter Six links the research findings with the relevant literature and draws on Bandura\u27s social cognitive theory as an explanatory construct. Particularly, it is important to note that environmental conditions act as a third factor in reciprocal relationships with personal factors (including conceptions) and behavior (teaching practices)