Catalyzing Teaching:
The Scholarship of Teaching
and Learning (SoTL)
Regan A. R. Gurung
A Brief Introduction adapted from a talk
given at the 2006 American Psychological
Association.
The Study of Teaching

Teaching Research
– Action Research

Scholarly Teaching
– Informed teaching

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
– bring to teaching the recognition and
reward afforded to other forms of
scholarly work.
The Basic Idea



Teacher-researchers raise questions
about what they think and observe
about their teaching and their
students' learning.
…, they also see student work as data
to analyze in order to examine the
teaching and learning that produced it"
Maclean & Mohr (1999).
Basic Definitions


Scholarly Teaching- Teaching that entails certain
practices of classroom assessment and evidence
gathering; teaching that is informed not only by the
latest ideas in the field but by current ideas about
teaching generally and specifically in the field; and
teaching that invites peer collaboration or review.
(Indiana University Bloomington SoTL tutorial).
Scholarship of Teaching- Work on teaching that
is public, is critically peer reviewed and evaluated,
and used and on by colleagues.
A Teaching Hierarchy: Where
are YOU?
SoTL
Scholarly Teaching
TEACHING
Going Through Motions
WHY Do SoTL?





Solve mysteries
Understand
Gain perspective
Inform the Public/Administration
CATALYZE your teaching
– Implicit indicator of teaching focus
– Involve students in their own learning
Getting Starting


What’s my question?
What’s been done?
– What’s missing?




Replicate or Innovate?
Design, Conduct, Assess.
Implement
Share
The Big
Picture
Ask the
Question
Scrutinize
Teaching
and Learning
Implement
(& Publish)
Check the
literature
Design a study
Collect Data
What Do I Focus On?


Someone teaches Something to Someone else
Somewhere (Schwab, 1973)
Teacher
– Scrutinize your assignments
– Evaluate your interactions

Material
– Textbook evaluations
– Lesson study assessments

Students
– How do students study?


Context
PICK ONE OF THE ABOVE
Challenges - Definitions


What is good teaching?
What is learning?
– Exam scores
– Perceptions
– Applications
Major Measures

Learning
– Enjoyment
– Perceived learning
– Actual learning
Multiple choice
 Essays


Teaching course evaluations
Research Design
Correlational
Descriptive
Are students learning?
Qualitative
What’s associated
with better learning?
Quantitative
Experimental
If I do X will
students learn better?
Basic Design
Basic --------- ------ ----- Assess
Up a Notch
notch
1
Basic
Activity Assess
------- ------
-----
Post
only
Assess
Up another notch: Pre-Post
Notch Assess1 Activity Assess2
2
Notch
1
Activity Assess1
PrePost
Experiments
Gp1 Assess1 Activity Assess2
XXXXX
Assess3
Gp2 Assess1 XXXX
Activity
Assess3
Assess2
Remember to check if:

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You have measured correctly
(construct validity)
You have factored in all possible
influences (internal validity)
Generalizable (external validity)?
– SoTL does not subscribe to the same
rules….(see next slide)

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The teaching and learning that happens in
our classrooms is often more qualitative
that quantitative.
When we study people inside their own
culture, we don’t try and generalize from a
large population. We don’t look for what is
replicable, reliable, or statistically valid.
Rather we look for what’s singular,
particular and unique.

(Chiseri-Strater & Sunstein, 2006, pp.21).
Challenges
– Time
– Coercion
– Observer effect
– ‘Students as lab rats’
– Randomization
Teacher Research is Unique
It uses Naturally occurring groups
 No random assignment
 No comparison group

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No random sampling

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Use same test items over consecutive years
Use similar test items over time
Compare across different instructors
entire sample used
No pretest

Control key factors
What Do You Do With It?
Ask the
Question
Scrutinize
Teaching
and Learning
Implement
(& Publish)
Share it with
colleagues,
publish it, or
just use it to
teach better.
Check the
literature
Design a study
Collect Data
Sharing can be Informal: The KEEP Toolkit
Conclusions


Teacher
research/SoTL is
pragmatic
pedagogy
Scrutinizing your
teaching and
student learning
can be invigorating