Indigo: a new model of doctoral training in global health

The four-faceted model of scholarship introduced by Boyer twenty years ago views the scholarship of teaching and learning as a distinct aspect of academic practice that overlaps with the scholarships of discovery, integration, and application. In recent years the phrase ‘scholarship of teaching and learning research’, or ‘SOTL research’ for short, has become a popular term. ‘SOTL research’ refers to research into matters of teaching, learning or assessment carried out by academics in particular subject areas. The principal rationale for ‘SOTL research’ is seen to be the enhancement of the student experience. I will problematise this latter claim on two grounds. Firstly, I argue that research and scholarship, though obviously related, are not the same. Hence, when academics engage in the scholarship of teaching and learning, this practice is not limited, nor does it necessarily involve, carrying out research on teaching, learning and assessment. Key features of engagement in scholarship, such as having deep knowledge of the discipline, adopting an inquiry-orientation, being reflective, and going public, when applied to the domain of teaching, can be met also in other ways, which then might also have a more direct effect on the student experience. Secondly, I suggest that advancing the goal of enhancing the student learning experience requires deliberating about what constitutes a meaningful or worthwhile experience for students. This moves SOTL beyond the realm of instrumental or empirical analytical inquiry and into the realm of moral decision-making within a community of peers about the goals and purposes of higher education. Finally, I propose that student autonomy and authenticity continue to be significant aims of higher education. Hence, I suggest that the scholarship of teaching and learning is perhaps best practiced by teachers whose professionalism is guided by an authentic motivation to do what is in the best interest of students.