Transforming Academic Tasks into Scholarly Activities: The Scholar’s 'Boot Camp'

Abstract

Background: Clinician-educators are expected to balance academic tasks (e.g. teaching, committee service, and program implementation) and scholarly activities, often in the face of substantial clinical responsibilities. Many junior faculty lack skills in transforming academic tasks into scholarship. Common barriers to effective transformation are an educator’s; limited knowledge of the scope of educational scholarship, inadequate scholarly approach to transforming academic tasks into scholarship, and lack of engagement with the pertinent educational literature (i.e. theories and best practices). Who should attend: This workshop is intended for both individuals who want to enhance their knowledge and skills to produce scholarship through the transformation of academic tasks as well as educational leaders and Medical Education Unit Directors who seek to develop these same skills in the faculty whom they serve using Boyer’s expanded definition of scholarship (Application, Discovery, Integration, and Teaching) and Glassick’s standards for scholarship. Structure: Employing active learning, reflection and brief didactics, participants will share insights through facilitated case discussion and create an inventory of personal academic tasks and potential scholarly activities. Working in small groups to sort these activities into Boyer’s categories of scholarship, participants will transform one activity into scholarship by: 1) defining the problem and purpose using FINER criteria, 2) identifying conceptual framework(s) and 3) selecting methods that align with goals and resonate with the literature. Intended Outcomes: Using the scholarly approach inventory as a guide, participants will leave with a written plan for transforming their own academic tasks into scholarly activities. This will serve as a scholarly framework for discussion and reflection to use for further refinement once they return to their home institutions. Participants will also leave with a toolkit of resources which includes an overview of conceptual frameworks, resources for effective scholarly dissemination and techniques/tools to enhance the scholarly process.