There is some debate in the literature over the distinction among excellent teaching, scholarly teaching, and the scholarship of teaching. Foremost among those who distinguish between scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching is Laurie Richlin. Richlin presents a process that begins with a teaching issue or problem, the search for a theoretical and practical solution, and review by students and peers. This process has two possible fulfillments. The first is improved practice (scholarly teaching). What Richlin calls "the scholarship part of the process" is contingent upon the findings being "submitted to an appropriate journal or conference venue" (61).

Most researchers agree, however, that not all excellent teachers are scholarly teachers (see for example Kreber, 2001; Weimer, 1997; Healey, 2000). Hutchings and Shulman express the distinction correctly when they say that the scholarship of teaching and learning is not just excellent teaching, "a responsibility that all teachers share," but rather a situation in which faculty pose and "systematically investigate" questions related to teaching improvement and student learning (11).