Does Boyer’s Integrated Scholarships Model Work on the Ground? An Adaption of Boyer’s Model for Scholarly Professional Development

• Main Author: William Boyd
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Georgia Southern University 2013-07-01
• Series: International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• Subjects: Boyer; Integrated scholarship; Professional development; Curriculum development; Academic mentoring; Performance benchmarking; Higher education
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/ij-sotl/vol7/iss2/25

Boyer’s model of four scholarships as an integrated system engaging and integrating the scholarships of discovery, integration, application, and teaching is being increasingly adopted both by individual scholars and institutions. Here I reflect on my own adoption of this approach almost a decade ago, and I describe one application, its use in defining my professional academic profile. While this does not directly address issues of pedagogy, it provides a sound basis for improved pedagogical practice in higher education. I assess my adoption of Boyer’s model against several benchmarks grounded in the social life of academe: success of promotion; mentoring peers into their own professional development and promotion cycles; the development of a integrating research program; and as a basis for curriculum review and development. Drawing on this reflection, I conclude that Boyer’s model offers both promise and applicability across many domains of university scholarly life, and thus provides a sound basis for enhanced university teaching and learning.