In 1990, Ernest L. Boyer, who helped to shape American education as Chancellor of the State University of New York and as President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching viewed the scholarship of teaching as an important academic endeavour to inspire future scholars in the classroom. He redefined the restricted view of scholarship that mainly focuses on basic research to include four separate yet interrelated areas: (i) the scholarship of discovery (acquiring knowledge through disciplined investigation), (ii) the scholarship of integration (acquiring knowledge through synthesis of isolated knowledge into larger context), (iii) the scholarship of application (acquiring knowledge by relating the theories of research to the realities of life) and (iv) the scholarship of teaching (acquiring knowledge on how to make disciplinary knowledge accessible to learners through teaching). Boyer believed the fourth area, now better known as SoTL, is a vital area of scholarship besides the traditional research endeavours. Today, SoTL is recognised by worldwide universities and practised by their academics as systematic, deliberate inquiry into how to improve teaching and students' learning in the specific disciplines that they were trained in as well as to share the scholarship with others.

In line with this, UNIMAS recognises SoTL as a scholarly activity and supports SoTL as a means to move a step forward to achieve excellence in education and training. CALM is pleased to announce that the UNIMAS SoTL Grant for the year 2018 is now open for application to provide funding for SoTL projects. SoTL Grant is a university-funded research grant and is managed by CALM.