Jennifer Friberg, Ed.D.
Bradley University Fall Forum
August, 2015

Participants will:
 Learn how to construct a SoTL research question
 Review methods to collect data on measurable outcomes
 Discuss ways to share SoTL work
 Consider value of SoTL work for meritorious purposes

 BRIEF introductions 
 Name
 Department
 Experience with SoTL

Systematic examination
Focused on improving teaching or learning
Disseminated beyond researcher
Scholarship of Teaching and
Learning

Where Do SoTL Questions Come From?
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 Your own teaching and learning questions, quandaries, and wonderments
Published SoTL research
From application or questioning of relevant theory.
 From reflections and conversations with others.

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Common Questions Answered by SoTL
(Hutchings, 2000)

What is questions investigate the student experience.
How do students perceive their experience in a service learning project?

What works questions investigate the effectiveness of various pedagogical approaches.
Does the use of directed journal reading help students comprehend research better?

Visions of the possible relate to wonderments about “what if I tried this?”
How can student voices be better represented in SoTL?

Writing a SoTL Research Question
 What in your current teaching life could serve as the basis for a SoTL research project?
 Are your reflections based on:
 Change in teaching over time?
 Assessing similarities or differences across disciplines in terms of teaching and learning?
 A desire to assess the effectiveness of a curricular program?
 Are your concerns based on:
 an individual course?
 a sequence of courses?
 interactions across courses?
 Perceived student needs?

Let’s draft a SoTL research question…


Do you have a reflection or concern to harness as a potential research question?
Take a moment and record an idea or two to build on…
 Share your topic/question with those around you

How do we measure SoTL research outcomes? (McKinney, 2013) indirect growth measures static multiple methods single organic existing qualitative quantitative direct

What sort of data can be used with SOTL research?
 Specific data sources could include:
 Course portfolios
 Specific assignments/projects/assessments (or artifacts therein)
 Interviews
 Focus groups
 Questionnaires/surveys
 Content analysis
 Multi-method studies

Revisiting your SoTL question…
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What method or methods could help you collect the best data to answer your question?
How might your eventual audience impact your decision to utilize a particular methodology to address your SoTL question?

SoTL Dissemination Outlets
 Most common outlets include:
 Cross-disciplinary SoTL research journals
 e.g., International Journal for the Scholarship of
Teaching and Learning
 Disciplinary pedagogical journals
 e.g., Journal of Marketing Education
 SoTL and disciplinary research conferences
 e.g., Lilly conferences, ISSOTL, AERA
 SoTL/pedagogical blogs
 e.g., The Teaching Professor, The SoTL Advocate,
Learning with Metacognition

Considerations for New SoTL
Researchers

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 IRB construction/approval
 Exempt/non-exempt status
 Confidentiality/anonymity
 Coercion
Teacher as researcher
Need for advocacy

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Carnegie Foundation
Illinois State University SoTL website
Twitter/Facebook
 Chronicle, Inside Higher Ed

Blogs
Conferences
 Local, regional, national, international
Colleagues 