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SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning)

Innovations in Teaching and Research Grant

The purpose of this grant is to:

Transform the teaching and learning experience at UBC's Okanagan campus
Promote sharing and adoption of research results
Promote teaching and learning innovation
Advance the scholarship of teaching and learning at UBC's Okanagan campus

Innovations in Teaching and Research Grant Application Materials:

2012 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR THE SOCIETY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Centre Mont-Royal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 19 - 22, 2012 www.mcgill.ca/stlhe2012sapes

The Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) invites proposals for presentations at its 32nd Annual International Conference - "Learning without boundaries? Apprentissage sans limites?"

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Feminist Scholars Group

A group of faculty are meeting monthly to discuss feminist research, scholarship, theory, teaching and survival in academia. Interested people are invited to join.

Contact Susan Hillock, School of Social Work, at susan.hollock@ubc.ca or call 7-8701 for more information.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Defining SoTL: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning is...

The study of teaching and learning to inform practice
Scholarly inquiry into student learning
Researching teaching
Researching learning
Rigorous study of student learning

Goal : Understanding and improving student learning.

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) movement grew out of Ernest Boyer's work in the early 1990s around multiple areas of scholarship. Boyer and others argued that we need to move beyond traditional divisions between research, teaching and service and towards more multilayered, interconnected, and interactive conceptualizations of faculty work. Boyer's initial conceptualization of multiple scholarships (teaching, discovery, engagement, integration) has continued to evolve over the past twenty years-primarily through the leadership of scholars at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL), the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), and a wide range of discipline-based and interdisciplinary teaching and learning conferences and publications. Now, in Canadian universities, SoTL centres are beginning to emerge.

The scholarship of discovery refers to what we typically call "traditional research". The scholarship of integration focuses on making connections within/across disciplines to generate new insights. It typically includes syntheses and meta-analyses. The Scholarship of engagement/application involves applying knowledge to respond to significant social issues. It typically includes service learning and clinical learning; The scholarship of teaching and learning focuses on a systematic study of teaching and learning, the peer review of this work and its public availability for others to use and build on.

There are many definitions of SoTL. Some common elements of these definitions are the systematic study of teaching and learning, peer review of this work and the public dissemination of this knowledge.

Scholarly Teaching is evidence- based teaching, informed practice (theory guided).

"Both scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching are vital to the life of the academy. The purpose of scholarly teaching is to affect the activity of teaching and the resulting learning, while the scholarship of teaching results in a formal, peer-reviewed communication in appropriate media or venues, which then becomes part of the knowledge base of teaching and learning in higher education." (Laurie Richlin and Milton D. Cox, 2004. p. 127-128)

Scholarly teachers are interested in knowing how, why and when their students are learning. They are interested in finding out what works (or doesn't work) in their classrooms and why. Scholarly teachers regularly reflect on their teaching and learning practices, read disciplinary and pedagogical literature to expand their knowledge about teaching and learning and/or discuss teaching and learning issues with colleagues. They get feedback from students and/or colleagues to improve practices and enhance learning experiences in their classrooms. They participate in teaching and learning workshops and try to integrate (where appropriate) new ideas about teaching and learning into their everyday practice in classrooms.

Doing SoTL:
The following phases are adapted from the University of Wisconsin SoTL Leadership Site:

Identify a significant teaching and learning question to explore
Build on work of others by consulting existing pedagogical literature
Select appropriate methods to collect evidence to answer your question
Submit project for ethics review and approval
Collect and analyze the evidence
Communicate results with peers and invite critical commentary and evaluation
Make project findings publicly available for others to use & build on

The UBC Okanagan Academic Plan states that "we will research the core activity of our community - student learning - and value the scholarship of teaching".

"Both scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching are vital to the life of the academy. The purpose of scholarly teaching is to affect the activity of teaching and the resulting learning, while the scholarship of teaching results in a formal, peer-reviewed communication in appropriate media or venues, which then becomes part of the knowledge base of teaching and learning in higher education." (Laurie Richlin and Milton D. Cox, 2004. p. 127-128)

See pictures and presentations from the 2011 CTL Research Week Event!

Publish Your Research:

Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning
Academic Exchange Quarterly
International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

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This community of practice is designed to foster cross-disciplinary inquiry focused on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Regular seminars are held to provide an opportunity to discuss/present SoTL research projects and cross-disciplinary collaborations.

The scholarship of teaching and learning can be defined as a type of scholarship in which faculty study the impact of their own teaching practice on student learning, respond to the results and disseminate their findings. Julie Christensen Hughes, former STLHE President, University of Guelph.

SoTL Research Database

A scholar of teaching undertakes research that will contribute to literature pertaining to teaching and learning. A scholarly approach to teaching means that teaching is treated in the same scholarly way as one’s area of research. It involves defining a question, investigating the question through research and drawing conclusions. It also involves peer review and publication.

Meet our Community of Researchers

	Sandy Hilton, Ph. D Faculty of Management Sandy.Hilton@ubc.ca 250.807.9640 Research Interests in Teaching & Learning: Teaching and evaluating professional attributes and skills, Examining effective peer review of individual work, identification of, and teaching strategies for threshold concepts
	Patricia Lasserre, Ph. D Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Computer Science patricia.lasserre@ubc.ca 250.807.9502 Research Interests in Teaching & Learning: Team-based learning Developing new technology to improve classroom learning and facilitate teaching
	Ramon Lawrence, Ph. D Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Computer Science ramon.lawrence@ubc.ca 250-807-9390 Research Interests in Teaching & Learning: Automated assignment and marking systems Use of technology in labs and in the classroom *Innovative methods for teaching Computer Science
	Philip L. Balcaen, Ph.D Faculty of Education philip.balcaen@ubc.ca; 250-807-8530 Research Interests in Teaching & Learning: Critical Thinking across the curriculum Critical Thinking in math, science & environmental education Critically Thoughtful e-learning Collaborative approaches to educational change
	Jan Cioe, Ph.D., R.Psych. Faculty of Arts & Sciences: Psychology jan.cioe@ubc.ca 250- 807-8732; 250- 763-1225 Research Interests in Teaching & Learning: Podcasting Clicker Technology in Large Classes Development of Effective Communication Skills
	Blane Després, Ph.D Faculty of Education 250- 807- 8122 Research Interests in Teaching & Learning: Education and learning vs schooling; home education; systemic thinking (and chaos & complexity) applied in education; business-education partnerships; trades & technology.
	Dr. Nancy Evans Faculty of Education nancy.evans@ubc.ca 250- 807-8121 Research Interests in Teaching and Learning: Research Project 2005 - 2007: "Spontaneous Literacy: An Examination of the Communicative Competencies of First Year Teacher Education Students at Two Canadian Universities" Research Interests: Admission standards for prospective Faculty of Education students; censorship of children's literature; the creative writing process in teacher education; curriculum integration.
	Vicki A. Green, Ph.D. Faculty of Education vicki.green@ubc.ca 250- 807-8107 Research Interests in Teaching and Learning: a) Inquiry Questions for independent project based learning. b) Interdependent group strategies for multiple course sections.
	Nina Langton Department of Critical Studies nina.langton@ubc.ca 250- 807-9395 Research Interests in Teaching & Learning: CALL (computer assisted language learning); language acquisition; construction of gender in an online environment.
	Dr. Karen Ragoonaden Faculty of Education : Français langue première et langue seconde karen.ragoonaden@ubc.ca ; 250-807-8113 Research Interests in Teaching & Learning: Second language acquisition, pedagogical techniques steeped in a communicative experiential approach to language learning, strategies which integrate World Wide Web based technology into language teaching and last but not least, culture and diversity in education.L’apprentissage d’une langue seconde, des techniques pédagogiques ancrées dans une approche communicative expérientielle, l’intégration de la technologie interactive d’Internet dans des cours de langue et en dernier lieu, la culture et la diversité au sein de la pédagogie contemporaine.
	Brian Rasmussen, Ph.D Social Work brian.rasmussen@ubc.ca; 807-8740 Research Interests in Teaching & Learning: The role of emotions in learning. Teaching related publications: Rasmussen, B. & Mishna (in press). A fine balance: Instructor self-disclosure in the classroom. Journal of Teaching in Social Work. Rasmussen, B., & Mishna, F. (2003). The relevance of contemporary psychoanalytic theories to teaching social work. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 74, 1, 31-47. Mishna, F. & Rasmussen, B. (2001). The learning relationship: Working through disjunctions in the classroom. Clinical Social Work Journal, 29(4), 387-399.
	Dr. Alwyn Spies Critical Studies, Japanese Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies alwyn.spies@ubc.ca ; 807-8126 Research Interests in Teaching & Learning: Telecollaboration and intercultural communication skills; student multimedia production and project-based learning; community service learning; teaching, learning and identity politics.
	Robert Whiteley, Ph.D Faculty of Education robert.whiteley@ubc.ca; 807-8108 Research Interests in Teaching & Learning: Interprofessional Education Neo-liberal Educational Reform in the K-16 system [accountability, managerialism, privatization etc.] Corporatization in Post Secondary Institutions Infusion of critical thinking throughout teaching and learning. *Professional Development [mentorship, teaching squares, problem based learning, reflective practice, etc]
	Teresa Wrzesniewski, Ph.D Faculty of Arts & Sciences: Chemistry & Physics Departments teresa.wrzesniewski@ubc.ca; 807-9571 Research Interests in Teaching & Learning: Introducing new teaching technologies into teaching introductory level physics courses. Teaching strategies applicable to large classes (200+)