Rising to the pedagogical challenges of the Fourth Industrial Age in the university of the future: an integrated model of scholarship

Abstract

A challenge for higher education, in the context of the ‘Fourth Industrial Age’, is to prepare students for uncertain futures. Proposed is a model of integrated scholarship drawing on, and developing, Boyer’s scholarship (discovery, teaching, integration and application). We argue that such a model provides a connecting thread between the idea of a university as conceptualised in the 19th century, making links between the university of the past, present and future. Through reference of a case study example of the links between teaching and research presented in the 2017 UK Teaching Excellence Framework, we draw upon Boyer’s scholarship as a conceptual lens to examine institutional texts which articulate teaching excellence. Our findings indicate that current judgements about effective linkages between teaching and research vary greatly with few examples or evidence. Our integrated scholarship model joins together institutional learning communities to discover, communicate and apply new knowledge across disciplines.