A talk on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning by Prof. Douglas Newton, School of Ed., Durham University

1. TEACHING FELLOWS AND
SCHOLARLY
ACTIVITY
DOUG NEWTON
PROFESSOR
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

2. Different roles?
‘Teaching
Fellow’
Scholarly
Activity
Admin
Teaching
‘Lecturer’
Research
Admin
Teaching

3. Scholarship & Scholarly Activity
 Scholarship: erudition,
extensive assimilated
learning, being an
authority in a field of
learning.
 Scholarly activity: the
process of achieving,
maintaining and fostering
extensive learning, and of
widening awareness of its
value in specific contexts.

4. Some scholarly activities
Updating subject knowledge Attending a research seminar
Developing teaching skillsAttending a teaching conference
Giving a seminar to colleagues Preparing a poster for a
conference Speaking at a teaching conference Writing for a
professional journal Active membership of a professional body
Study for a further qualification/for additional skills Devising a
new approach to teaching Applying for a HEA teaching
development grant Writing a textbook review Reviewing a
research articleWriting a textbook Being an editor of a
professional journal Submitting a paper to a research journal
Applying for research funds Promoting subject via the media
Presenting aTV programme/series Raising the public profile of a
subject through writing Organising a conference

5. And some‘research’activities
Updating subject knowledge Attending a research seminar
Developing teaching skillsAttending a teaching conference
Giving a seminar to colleagues Preparing a poster for a
conference Speaking at a teaching conference Writing for a
professional journal Active membership of a professional body
Study for a further qualification/for additional skills Devising a
new approach to teaching Applying for a HEA teaching
development grant Writing a textbook review Reviewing a
research article Writing a textbook Being an editor of a
professional journal Submitting a paper to a research journal
Applying for research funds Promoting subject via the media
Presenting aTV programme/series Raising the public profile of a
subject through writing Shaping subject teaching internationally

6. Some concrete products of
scholarly activity
 Better teaching evaluations
 Seminars for colleagues
 Poster/presentation at a conference
 Book/article review
 Issues/Journals produced as an editor
 Professional/academic articles/books/software
 Income (e.g. HEA)
 Further qualifications
 Radio/TV programme/series
 Contributions as a member of committees
 Contributions made as a consultant
 Prizes and awards for teaching/books/supervision

8. Well kept secrets
Some of the 40,000 bronze arrowheads recovered from the site of the Terracotta Army © Imperial Logistics Project
The project’s latest results focus on investigating the logistics of technology and labour org

9. Less tangible products
 Raising the profile of
subject/department/University publicly
 Increased personal motivation/interest/vigour
in teaching
 Enhanced respect
 Public recognition/esteem
 Evidence to argue for promotion

10. Making a difference: evidence
of impact
 Evidence of better/effective/efficient
teaching/enhanced student achievement
 Evidence that others use your ideas
 Evidence of engagement with your ideas (e.g.
book sales, reference to your approach)
 Evidence of effectively promoting your subject
 Evidence of changes in policy/organisation/
content/perceptions/value due to you
These may be local, national, international

12. Scholarly activity
 Scholarly activity is wide ranging
 Engaged in to the full, it produces scholars and
scholarship
 Scholarship has the potential to promote the
University and its scholars
 Where it is ignored:
 It is a missed opportunity for promotion of the
institution/faculty/department
 It risks a narrower and, I believe, poorer
intellectual ethos.

13. AnAcademic
Scholarly
Activity
Admin
Teaching

14. To conclude
 Where scholarly activity has a narrow
interpretation, scholarly activity and
scholarship may not be understood.
 In which case, scholarship may be
interpreted narrowly as dabbling in
research.
 Some may need to be enlightened.
 Some may need to be enlightened more
than once.