The idea of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) was launched in the landmark book by Ernest Boyer, Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate (1990). Boyer described “the scholarship of teaching as one element of a four-part categorization [of scholarship] that also included discovery, integration and application. Since then scholarship of teaching and learning has been framed in many different ways.
Kathleen McKinney (2004) describes it as ‘the systematic study of teaching and/or learning and the public sharing and review of such work through presentations, publications or performances.’ Richard Gale (2008) maintains that scholarship of teaching and learning ‘involves the gathering and interpretation of evidence of student learning. It invites peer review and ‘going public’ with insights about how, where, and why students learn. In its dissemination, scholarship of teaching and learning influences teaching, learning and scholarship beyond the local context.’
“[In summary], scholarship of teaching and learning generally includes: rigorous, systematic, and evidence-based study of student learning in one’s own course; the understanding and improvement of student learning and/or teaching practice as its ultimate goal; commitment to disciplinary and/or interdisciplinary peer-review and appropriate public dissemination; impact beyond a single course, program, or institution – advancing the field of teaching and learning to build collective knowledge and ongoing improvement.” ~
(Excerpt from the Institute for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta)