Educational Scholarship and Leadership

Introduction

The scholarship of education consists of promoting learning through effective application of the sciences of teaching and learning, leadership, and instructional design. This area of scholarship emphasizes the interdependence of theory, research, and practice in three related domains:

• Direct involvement in the process of promoting learning
• Support of infrastructure needed for learning
• Development of products used by others in learning

Major Focus

The expectation for faculty with this area of focus will be a major investment of time in teaching, mentoring, evaluation, learning assessment; course or curriculum leadership; and the development of enduring educational materials. Examples, by domain, include:

Involvement in the process of learning

• Lecturing
• Facilitating small groups
• Conducting laboratory tutorials
• Precepting students, conducting teaching rounds
• Mentoring trainees, serving on thesis committees
• Preparing and administering knowledge or performance assessments

Support of the infrastructure needed for learning

• Course development and leadership
• Curricular development and leadership
• Course, clerkship, program, or fellowship leadership
• Leadership on education governance committees and task forces
• Involvement on committees that set curriculum guidelines/standards

Development of educational products used for learning

• Authorship (both paper and electronic) of textbooks, tutorials, problem sets, teaching cases, simulation scenarios, or image libraries

Scholarly Products Expected

The value of individual faculty accomplishments within the three domains of the educator area of focus varies according to the degree of quantity, quality, and scholarship documented in submitted evidence of the accomplishment.

Evidence of quantity tends to be countable units such as contact hours, number of learners, numbers of pages, etc. Evidence of quality tends to be based on learner or peer perceptions of process (i.e., learner ratings of teaching) or the degree to which objectives were achieved (i.e., student test scores). Evidence of scholarship is based on peer review and subsequent inclusion of the methods and/or outputs into a ‘shared understanding’ within meaningful communities of practice. These communities can be local (e.g., NYPH residency program directors), regional (e.g., geographically based subgroups within a professional society), national or international (interest group within a professional society).

While quantity and quality is manifest in all educational accomplishments, scholarship is usually manifest in those accomplishments where faculty have explicitly presented a product in a form that can be peer reviewed and made beneficial to others within the community.

Examples include:

• Presentation of work at professional meeting
• Development of teaching materials in both paper, electronic formats, and simulation technologies
• New curricular offerings, and written syllabi
• Development of educational methodology, educational assessment tools
• Descriptions of educational innovations
• Involvement on local or national committees that set curriculum or other educational guidelines/standards

Metrics of Evaluation

• Educational innovations adopted locally, regionally or nationally
• Trainee/peer evaluations Participation/leadership in educational societies
• Success of educational leadership measured by the success of new programs according to program goals
• Participation in educational training programs
• Participation in national educational leadership societies
• Awards for teaching or educational leadership
• Publications related to educational methods/assessment/policies
• Educational products (print, electronic, simulation technologies)
• Notable educational contributions of especial importance within CUIMC

*It is expected that most faculty will have a single major academic focus with accompanying evidence of competency in the appropriate type and quantity of teaching. However, there will be instances in which faculty make high quality substantive contributions in two areas of focus. It is expected that their contributions will be of excellent quality though perhaps quantitatively reduced in each focus area.

**Scholarly products provide a sample of the kinds of materials which would be evidence of strength in a particular area of focus. A faculty member need not have evidence of all examples, but should provide evidence of excellence in those selected.