Boyer Model

In 1990, Ernest Boyer, the previous president for the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching made a bold proposition to encourage the discussion about higher education faculty priorities, what faculty actually do, and to enlarge the discussion of definitions of scholarship. This later became known as the Boyer Model.

Learn About Types of Scholarship in the Boyer Model

Scholarship of Discovery

The scholarship of discovery has become synonymous with popular notions of scientific inquiry -- research. Although such activities as research are not necessarily for their own sake, they are also not necessarily tied to any applied purpose within society. In this way, this sort of scholarship adds to the sum of human knowledge but does not directly produce or suggest solutions to practical problems (Boyer, 1990). Even today, the scholarship of discovery forms the foundation for mass scientific enterprises and contributes to faculty tenure decisions.

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Scholarship of Integration

Surely the integration of ideas is an important part of discovering new knowledge, but providing perspective to the ever growing sum of knowledge occurs in fits and starts. This means that sometimes the generation of new knowledge, especially in specialized fields of research, produces disconnected and even isolated facts. As Boyer (1990) pointed out, the purpose of the scholarship of integration is the active and intentional reconciling of isolated facts -- providing a broader context and meaning to the seemingly disconnected fruits of the scholarship of discovery. With the proliferation of disciplines, integration in many ways is a crucial scholarly activity in which each faculty member needs to engage.

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Scholarship of Application (Engagement)

The scholarship of application, or what Boyer (1990) later framed as the scholarship of engagement, refers to the application of knowledge to practical problems. The later reformulation as scholarship of engagement emphasizes the scope of this approach. This refers to engaging faculty in discovery of answers to the ". . . social, civic, economic, and moral problems . . . " that affect society (Boyer, 1996, p. 11). As such, the practice of the engaged scholar would not only inform other scholars but also educate the larger community (Sandmann, Saltmarsh, & O'Meara, 2008).

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Scholarship of Teaching (SoTL)

What later became known as the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), this element of scholarship binds the activity of teaching with the activity of discovery. Here the notion of learning has two meanings. First, it refers to the continual and purposeful learning necessary for faculty to become scholars -- what Boyer (1990) referred to as the foundation of good teaching. Next, learning refers to the discovery that occurs in the classroom both in improving teaching practice and engaging learners. In effect, this type of scholarship can be research in the classroom, but it also necessarily leads to a closer examination and emphasis on student learning (Hutchings, Huber, & Ciccone, 2011). In either case, there is a more authentic basis upon which to evaluate the efforts of the professoriate (Glassick, Huber, & Maeroff, 1997).

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• Boyer, E.L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Princeton, NJ: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
• Boyer, E.L. (1996). The scholarship of engagement. Journal of Public Outreach, 1(1), 11-20.
• Glassick, C.E., Huber, M.T., & Maeroff, G.I. (1997). Scholarship assessed: Evaluation of the professoriate. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Hutchings, P., Huber, M.T., & Ciccone, M. (2011). The scholarship of teaching and learning reconsidered: Institutional integration and impact. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Sandmann, L., Saltmarsh, J. & O'Meara, K. (2008). An integrated model for advancing the scholarship of engagement: Creating academic homes for the engaged scholar. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 12(1), 47-63.