SoTL Commons Conference Presenters
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Changing Our Brains and Our Traditional View of Scholarship and Teaching
Robert Hautala (Western Oregon University): hautalar@wou.edu
Brian Caster (Western Oregon University): casterb@wou.edu
This presentation will illustrate a project in which a university's formal recognition of Boyer's multiple domains of scholarship within faculty evaluation standards influenced a select group of colleagues within academic unit of diverse subdisciplines. The combination of a faculty book discussion group focusing on James' Zull's book, The art of changing the brain , a newly approved faculty contract recognizing Boyer's multiple domains, and a genuine commitment to the academic mission of the unit from a disciplinary diverse group of colleagues, resulted in a transformation in attitudes toward scholarship and teaching. Scholarship of teaching and learning was viewed as the key element leading to the formation of a team approach to a scholarship of teaching and learning project within a group that had traditionally pursued research separate from instruction, and individually rather than collectively. The genesis, process and future of this transformation will be presented.