Continuing the Discussion on Scholarship in Pharmacy Education

(6) Reflection, including self-evaluation based on evidence and application to future work.2 With respect to the scholarship of teaching, the authors suggested that these criteria are manifested through providing clear learning objectives; being well-prepared for class; using appropriate pedagogies and assessment procedures; stimulating students' interests and engendering learning that students value; explaining course material effectively to students and sharing teaching innovations with colleagues; and modifying teaching approaches in response to critique and undertaking professional development activities.2 While these are excellent teaching practices indicative of scholarly teaching, they are not the scholarship of teaching as we know it today. Or it may be part of a larger initiative, involving more formal research and evaluation designs, and perhaps collaboration with colleagues in other settings.6(p71) Richlin, on the other hand, takes a harder line, suggesting that the scholarship of teaching requires peer review and dissemination of the outcomes of scholarly teaching, and that excellence should be judged in the same way as other forms of scholarship, ie, by applying the standards used by granting agencies, journals, and conferences.4 Debate over the definition of the scholarship of teaching continues.