The Changing Nature of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

The Changing
Nature of the
Scholarship
of Teaching
and Learning
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/matrix-network-data-exchange-1013611/
Workshop at the
TEACHING AND LEARNING
INNOVATION EXCHANGE
25 - 27 February, Centre
for Teaching and Learning,
American University of
Cairo, Egypt
Paul Prinsloo
University of South Africa (Unisa)
14prinsp
Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hypatia.jpg

Imagecredit:https://pixabay.com/en/binary-code-man-display-dummy-face-1327512/
A confession on choosing an image for the Title
slide of a presentation…
The first idea for the Title Slide was
And then I thought -
why should we have
a(nother) male portrait
representing
scholarship?
So I chose an image of
Hypatia of Alexandria.

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/matrix-network-data-exchange-1013611/
Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hypatia.jpg
Hypatia (born c.
350–370; died 415
AD) was a Hellenistic
Neoplatonist
philosopher,
astronomer, and
mathematician, who
lived in Alexandria,
Egypt.

I do not own the copyright of any of the images in this
presentation. I therefore acknowledge the original
copyright and licensing regime of every image used.
This presentation (excluding the images) is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License.

These slides were used as broad guidelines for discussion, engagement
and reflection. One of the limitations in sharing slides is the fact that
looking at the slides without the context, narrative and
discussions/remarks may result in a loss of meaning or
misinterpretation.
Despite the limitations I share these slides for the following reasons:
• I believe knowledge is a public good and this presentation can be
used freely under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License.
• The slides represent my thinking about the topic at this particular
moment in time and as such are tentative and provisional. They do
provide, however, a broader framework of making sense of the
changing nature of the scholarship of teaching and learning

Overview of the Workshop
1. Clarification of expectations – why this topic?
2. Defining ’scholarship’ and how it is
similar/different to ‘research’ and ‘Research’
3. So, the scholarship of teaching and learning refers
to….
4. Has the nature of scholarship of teaching and
learning changed over the last 5-10 years, how
and what are the implications?
5. Mapping some elements of the digital scholarship
of teaching and learning

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/street-people-adult-road-asphalt-3169981/
Why this
workshop
(expectations)?
What do you want to get out of this
workshop?
Activity 1: Let’s get started

Activity 2: How would you classify yourself and
why?
Researcher
Practitioner
Scholar

Activity 3: What are the differences (and similarities)
between being a researcher and a scholar?
Researcher
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Source credit: https://degreesfiction.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/scholarship-and-
research-is-there-a-difference/
Scholar
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Researcher
• The knowledge in a
particular field does not exist
• The purpose of the
researcher is to generate
knowledge, to validate
knowledge claims
• Often a very specific
research interest/focus and
flowing from a specific
problem
• Shares his/her findings with
peers and the broader public
Scholar
• Knowledge exists
• The purpose of being a
scholar is to seek
knowledge, to become
knowledgeable, to acquire
knowledge and possibly, to
use it in a specific contexts
• Often also just for the sake
of knowing
• Shares his/her knowledge
with students/interest
groups
Adapted and expanded from Kyd, J. (2010, September 13). What is the difference between research and
scholarship?Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIrUWOfEy7w

Researcher
• The knowledge in a particular field
does not exist
• The purpose of the researcher is to
generate knowledge, to validate
knowledge claims
• Often a very specific research
interest/focus and flowing from a
specific problem
• Shares his/her findings with peers and
the broader public
Scholar
• The purpose of being a scholar is to
seek knowledge, to become
knowledgeable, to acquire knowledge
and possibly, to use it in a specific
contexts
• Often also just for the sake of
knowing
• Shares his/her knowledge with
students/interest groups
Practitioner/educator
•
•
?Activity 4: When we add the layer/role of the educator or practitioner,
how do these play out in the lives of educational practitioners?

Researcher
• The knowledge in a particular
field does not exist
• The purpose of the researcher
is to generate knowledge, to
validate knowledge claims
• Often a very specific research
interest/focus and flowing
from a specific problem
• Shares his/her findings with
peers and the broader public
Scholar/Educator
• The purpose of being a
scholar is to seek knowledge,
to become knowledgeable, to
acquire knowledge and
possibly, to use it in a specific
contexts
• Often also just for the sake of
knowing
• Shares his/her knowledge
with students/interest groups
Activity 5: How are research and scholarship valued in higher
education and in your institutional context? How is it
celebrated, rewarded, supported and developed?

Source credit: https://www.amazon.com/Scholarship-Reconsidered-Professoriate-Ernest-
Boyer/dp/1118988302/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519661337&sr=8-
1&keywords=Scholarship+Reconsidered%3A+Priorities+of+the+Professoriate
Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered:
Priorities of the professoriate. Princeton
University Press, 3175 Princeton Pike,
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648..
Boyer (1990) defined
scholarship as…
• Teaching
• Discovery
• Application
• Integration

Scholarship is
…not an esoteric appendage; it is at the heart of
what the profession is all about. All faculty,
throughout their careers, should themselves, remain
students. As scholars they must continue to learn
and be seriously and continuously engaged in the
expanding intellectual world (1990, p. 36).

Boyer, E. L. (1991). The scholarship of teaching from: Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities
of the professoriate. College Teaching, 39(1), 11-13.

Application
TeachingDiscovery
Integration
Savage, S., & Betts, M. (2005, July). Boyer reconsidered: priorities for framing academic work. In Proceedings of
the HERDSA Conference ‘Higher education in a Changing World(pp. 3-6).

Teaching
Scholarly Teaching
Scholarship of Teaching
ApplicationIntegrationDiscovery
Fincher, R. M. E., & Work, J. A. (2006). Perspectives on the scholarship of teaching. Medical Education-
Oxford, 40(4), 293-295.)

Activity 6: In general, how did the
scholarship of teaching and learning change
over the last ten years?

Activity 7: How did these changes affect you
being a scholar and ‘doing’, enacting, performing
scholarship?

Activity 8: How did living going digital and
connected change the scholarship of teaching
and learning?

Exploring the digital scholarship
of teaching and learning
• Teaching
• Discovery
• Application
• Integration
• Presence/networking/“onlife”
• Activism (engaged public scholarship?)
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/mobile-phone-smartphone-app-426559/

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/festival-tokyo-wheel-ferris-1943592/
Living online as scholar means to get used to,
enjoy and manage the noise, the unplanned
serendipitous insights, the view(s), the
selfies, the cats, the recipes, the insights, fake
news, and increasing despair

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/the-strategy-win-champion-1080536/
Living online as scholar also means to be
constantly peer reviewed, in public, having
your views questioned and tested, and testing
and contesting the views of others

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/balance-high-ropes-about-new-york-2051565/
Living online as scholar also means take risks and
negotiating the impact of your race, your gender,
your geopolitical location

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/tree-root-moss-overgrown-green-2266626/
Some considerations re digital
scholarship, presence and
activism
Overlay image credit: http://site.sharespot.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/conectados-redes-sociais.png

Networks do not only include but
also exclude
While not everyone is
included/connected,
everyone is affected
See Castells, M. (2009) Communication power .Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/photos/locked/

Networking pre-digital times…
Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ontario_Historical_Society,_Ottawa,_1914.jpg

Networking pre-digital times
• Who you knew mattered – ”can you introduce me to…”
• Old (white) boys networks, glass ceilings
• Disciplinary connections/gatekeeping/journals
• Institutional reputation and networks
• Legacy privileges/drawbacks – race, gender, class,
country of birth
• The role of individual reputation (as result of the
previous three)
• Social gatherings (by invitation only), conferences
(depending on funding and gatekeeping)
• Water fountain meetings, cafeteria discussions, bus and
train conversations

So what changed (if anything)…
• All the factors of the traditional networks are often amplified in
hybrid and online networks
• Social media - Twitter, Facebook, blogs, Linkedin, etc.
• Recognise/nurture weak and strong connections – don’t
underestimate the serendipitous weak connection
• Beware of ‘filter bubbles’
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/isolation-education-no-time-2365544/

Source credit: http://interactioninstitute.org/moving-from-inclusion-to-collaborative-solidarity/

Connect to the “Connectors”:
The “Connectors” have the
ability to span different
worlds which is a
combination of their
personality, curiosity, self-
confidence, sociability and
energy. These people not only
have feet in different worlds,
but the ability to bring these
worlds together (Gladwell
2000, pp. 49-51).

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/man-strange-male-funny-face-794514/
Connect to “mavens” – a Yiddish word for someone who
accumulates knowledge (Gladwell, 2000, p. 60).Mavens are
“information brokers, sharing and trading in what they know” and
“data banks. They provide the message. Connectors are social glue:
they spread it” (Gladwell, 2000p. 70).

A personal
journey as digital
scholar and
living “onlife”
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/boards-height-balance-2040575/

Goodier, S., & Czerniewicz, L. (2015). Academics' online
presence: a four-step guide to taking control of your
visibility. [Third edition]
Retrieved from http://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11427/2652/GoodierOnlinePresenceV3.pdf?sequence=11

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/traces-snow-snow-lane-footprints-69808/
Our digital footprints….
The (un)informed and (un)intentional,
(non)actions we take

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/shadows-jogging-footprints-evening-183121/
Our digital shadows….
Content that are collected from us (by other human and
non-human actors) and that are stored, analysed,
combined with other sources of information (including
our digital footprints) to compile digital dossiers

Activity 9: So, how do you use social media,
and if not, why not?
Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143601516@N03/28011015990

Some scholars say that Twitter ‘does not
work’ for them…
This reminds me of walking into a library and
expecting books to find you
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/books-door-entrance-italy-colors-1655783/

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/books-door-entrance-italy-colors-1655783/
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/ant-shadow-big-small-metaphor-1541524/
Using Twitter as scholar requires effort, dedication,
a careful selection of who to follow, a willingness
to be surprised, and dealing with an
abundance of stimulation

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/nacelle-workers-wall-city-work-1888587/
The increasing disappearance of
public/private/professional/personal
Using
Facebook as
scholar…

Activity 9: Living and being scholar in
a digital age – ‘notes to self’
Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143601516@N03/28011015990
Any thoughts you
want to share at
this stage?
Anything that, in
particular, made
you wonder?

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/sculpture-bronze-the-listening-2275202/
The art/craft of curation firstly involves
learning to listen
Some final reflections

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/bench-man-back-view-sorrow-pond-889222/
Being a digital scholar means to be an
audience, to take time to be an audience, to
care enough to be an audience

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/megaphone-speaker-sound-message-2335573/
Digital scholarship also means to carefully
amplify, to share, to highlight, to call
attention to…

Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Argentina_road_sign_R7.svg
Critical and ethical digital scholarship also means
to know when not to share, not to repeat, not to
amplify

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/adult-artists-audience-band-1836322/
Digital scholarship also means to support, to carry,
to applaud, to care…

Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MPOTY_2014_Social_media_opens_doors_for_meeting_new_people.jpg
On the internet, everyone knows you are a dog
Pointer 1

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/doors-choices-choose-open-decision-1587329/
Central to our strategy to take (more conscious) control of our
digital footprints and shadows is the need to understand the
choices we have, the (sometimes irrational) reasons why we
choose specific options, the downstream effects of our choices
and the choices we don’t have
Pointer 2

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/window-dark-old-opinions-shadows-2387518/
Going ‘dark’ or ‘offline’ is increasingly impossible.
For a scholar, going ‘dark’ is not really an option.
We need to understand what is (not) in our
control , the (ir)rationality of our choices, the
(un)foreseen downstream use of our data
Pointer 3

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/prey-hunt-bird-sparrow-nature-cat-244070/
Weighing the opportunities
with the risks; weighing the
abundance with the peril
Pointer 4

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/bubble-soap-bubble-winter-thorns-1991077/
Serious serendipity
Pointer 5

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/munich-oktoberfest-ride-carousel-1220908/
Playful serendipity
Pointer 6

(In)conclusion
Source credit: Circulated on Twitter (2017)

Paul Prinsloo (Prof)
Research Professor in Open Distance Learning (ODL)
College of Economic and Management Sciences, Office number 3-15, Club 1,
Hazelwood, P O Box 392
Unisa, 0003, Republic of South Africa
T: +27 (0) 12 433 4719 (office)
T: +27 (0) 82 3954 113 (mobile)
prinsp@unisa.ac.za
Skype: paul.prinsloo59
Personal blog: http://opendistanceteachingandlearning.wordpress.com
Twitter profile: @14prinsp
Thank you

The Changing Nature of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

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