Assessment as a Scholarship of Teaching By

Academic institutions are caught in a position of needing continued commitment to assessment and yet dealing with strong faculty sentiment on the subject. This paper proposes that faculty assessment activity be re-conceptualized according to Ernest Boyer's (1990) "scholarship of teaching"--as a scholarly process whose products make a contribution to the broader conversation about teaching and learning in higher education. In making a case for this rightful elevation of assessment activity by members of the academy, the paper first shows that assessment is not "service, " but scholarship. Second, in applying recognized qualities of scholarship, the paper discusses assessment as a legitimate form of research that meets both the definition and spirit of the term. Third, it considers that the fact that much assessment activity is "praxis " (practice, as distinguished from theory) extends its value--and, hence, its value as scholarship--to both scholarly and non-scholarly audiences. Finally, the paper finds that assessment involves a great deal of invention, creativity, development, rigor, and reflection, which moves the activity into the realm of creative and scholarly endeavor and beyond "mere " service. Contains a figure and 31 references. (NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document