Dean’s Message

WELCOME TO THE FIRST EDITION of SPARK! This edition is devoted to our rock star researchers who have been highly productive for the past year. Even during this pandemic, research is alive and well at Humber and we continue to grow our research culture. Our purpose in the Office of Research and Innovation is to support/coach/ mentor research activity—in simple terms, being curious about what might make education more relevant, more engaging, etc. We pursue research for the discovery of new ideas and methods; for the integration of knowledge with innovative critical thinking; for the scholarship of being current, and mentoring within our role in student teaching; and for the scholarship of application to life and our community. It is within the promotion of a research agenda that these principles are actuated. This theoretical model includes four categories that together, constitute what Boyer believes to be the work of teaching professors.

Boyer ’s Model of Scholarship (1996)

Boyer’s model outlines that the scholarship of discover y is based in pure, original research that discovers truth in existing beliefs and in new idea generation, and that advances our knowledge base.

The scholarship of application is the practical application or engagement of external par tners in the community at large, which may verify the discover y as usable and sustainable over time. The scholarship of integration has implications for cross-disciplined investigation and across timelines for a longitudinal lens.

The scholarship of teaching and learning is a natural result of both the discovery and application of knowledge. In Boyer’s model, the sharing and dissemination of knowledge in a public format allows evaluation by others.

As a polytechnic institution and as practitioners, Humber focuses on what is called phenomenon-driven research or PDR. That is what separates us from our university colleagues. We solve real-world problems—whether in the classroom or in the workforce.

So, no matter where your ‘curiosity’ resides, there is a place for you in our Humber Research and Innovation culture. Welcome to our community!

- Ginger Grant, PhD Dean, Research and Innovation

References

Schwartz, G. & Stensaker, I. (2014). Time to take off the theoretical straightjacket and (re) introduce phenomenon-driven research. The Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, 50(4), 478-501. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886314549919

Boyer, E.L. (1996). From scholarship reconsidered to scholarship assessed. Quest, 48(2), 129-139. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.1996.10484184