Center for the Advancement of Faculty Excellence (CAFE)

The Cal Poly Pomona Teacher Scholar Model

Teacher Scholars at Cal Poly Pomona are role models who actively promote life-long intentional learning to our students, are actively engaged in advancing their fields of inquiry, and are committed to blending teaching and scholarship into a single synergistic endeavor that results in a creative integration of the two roles.

1. Teaching

Cal Poly Pomona Teacher Scholars apply knowledge from the frontiers of their disciplines and pedagogical scholarships to the development of their courses and the curriculum.

  • Understand current developments in their disciplines, and use this understanding to advance student learning and knowledge,
  • Have knowledge of discipline-specific pedagogical strategies, apply effective strategies to facilitate learning of a diverse student population, use evidence-based assessment of teaching to improve their pedagogy, and evaluate and analyze their pedagogy.

2. Scholarship

Cal Poly Pomona Teacher Scholars engage in the practice of scholarship, which is broadly construed to include the scholarship of discovery, integration, teaching, application and engagement. While the scholarship of Teacher Scholars varies widely across disciplines at Cal Poly Pomona, it incorporates essential elements which define scholarship, including research and/or creative work.

  • Make intellectual and/or creative contributions that extend and/or develop new knowledge or creative inquiry and discover, integrate or apply facts, theories, artistic perceptions, or design,
  • Produce work which is peer reviewed, critiqued, juried and/or judged and results in a publication, presentation, creative work or other product disseminated to a wider audience beyond the Cal Poly Pomona community.

3. Integration

Cal Poly Pomona Teacher Scholars integrate scholarship and teaching to create a synthesis which is greater than both activities.

  • Bring the practice of their own scholarship into the classroom in an appropriate way,
  • Promote a community of inquiry in their role as faculty members, and model and encourage academically rigorous scholarship as appropriate to their discipline,
  • Foster a climate in which faculty/student scholarly, research, or artistic collaboration can take place by:
  • enhancing student learning through meaningful experiences at Cal Poly Pomona as appropriate in their discipline through inquiry based classroom, studio, laboratory, and field activities that are embedded within the curriculum, collaborating with students in a culture of learn-by-doing inquiry, discovery, professional practice and/or creative work through the involvement of students in scholarship outside of regular coursework.