Why SoTL? Why Now?
The Scholarship of Teaching and
Learning as an Opportunity
for Growth and Reflection
Jennifer
Friberg, Ed.D.
Bradley
University Fall
Forum Keynote
August 2015
Goals for this morning:
 Define and explain the scholarship of
teaching and learning (SoTL)
 Contrast the concepts of good teaching,
scholarly teaching, and the scholarship of
teaching and learning
 Explore the benefits of SoTL for individual
courses, academic programs/departments,
and the Bradley University community atlarge
The Evolution of SoTL:
Boyer’s Four Scholarships
Discovery
Integration
Application
Teaching
(Boyer, 1990)
The Teaching Continuum
Good
Teaching
Teaching that
promotes
student
learning and
other desired
student
outcomes
( M c Ki nney, 2 0 07 )
Scholarly
Teaching
Scholarship
of Teaching
and Learning
Teaching that
is supported
by a body of
research to
increase
effectiveness
Combination
of reflection
and
knowledge
which yields
questions
about
teaching for
study
Working within the continuum
How might teachers at different points along
this continuum handle the following situation:
In an introduction to psychology class at a lar ge
Midwester n univer sity, the cour se instr uctor
notices that her students tend to be reluctant to
engage in whole-class discussions.
What might the good teacher do?
What might a scholarly teacher do?
How could this be studied in a scholarly manner?
What is SoTL?
 Poses a problem related to teaching and
learning
 Problem is operationalized into a research
question
 Problem is studied using methods
appropriate for specific disciplinary
epistemologies
 Work is peer reviewed
 Results are applied to practice
(McKinney, 2007)
Contemporary Conception of SoTL
Focused on
improving
teaching or
learning
Disseminated
beyond
researcher
Systematic
examination
Scholarship
of Teaching
and
Learning
Why Engage in SoTL?
 To develop a report on an aspect of one
particular course
 To describe the interaction of several courses or
the student experience across courses
 To reflect on teaching practices/pedagogical
choices from teaching (perhaps over time)
 To investigate interdisciplinary commonalities
 To synthesize existing SoTL work
 To propose or test new learning theories
Why engage in SoTL: To improve PCK
Disciplinary
Content
Knowledge
PCK
General
Pedagogical
Knowledge
(Pedagogical Content Knowledge ; Schulman, 2004)
How to SoTL: Potential Data Collection Tools
 Course portfolios
 Specific course artifacts (e.g.,
assignments/projects/assessments)
 Interviews
 Focus groups
 Questionnaires/surveys
 Content analysis
 Multi-method studies
How is SoTL Disseminated?
SoTL is disseminated in ways consistent with
your disciplinary expectations:
 Internal/external publications
 traditional research papers/research notes




book
blog
wiki
creative endeavor
 documentary
 artistic representation
Benefits of SoTL: Individual Course Level
 To better understand how your students learn
 To identify ways to deal with unique
situational constraints
 To determine the impact of an assignment,
project, or assessment technique
 To compare and contrast pedagogical
approaches
Benefits of SoTL: The utility of teaching
problems
Bass (1999)
posits that
teaching
problems aren’t
shameful… they
are actually
opportunities for
faculty.
From Vanderbilt
University’s CFT
Homepage
Benefits of SoTL: Academic Unit





Curriculum review
Curriculum development
Accreditation
Program review
Formative/summative assessment
Benefits of SoTL: Institutional Level
Budget
Accreditation
Curriculum
Redesign
Assessment
SoTL
Strategic
Planning
Program
Review
Student
Affairs
Future Directions For SoTL
(Hutchings, 2015)
1. SoTL needs to be a part of regular practices of
teaching so that any/all pedagogical choices are
evidence-based.
2. SoTL needs to be more integrated into institutional
policies and agendas to ensure a greater impact
into new and ongoing formative and summative
assessment efforts.
3. SoTL needs to engage students, more fully, as
research associates and collaborators to encourage
a reflective/metacognitive focus up on their
learning and the learning of their peers.
Why Is Now A Good Time For SoTL?
Bradley University Core Curriculum
 Implementation is planned
 Core Outcomes can be measurable at class, program,
or institutional levels
 Critical and creative thinking
 Effective communication
 Multidisciplinary integration
 Practical application
 Social awareness
Critical And Creative Thinking
 Bradley graduates will think critically,
independently and creatively, and will employ
evidence-based decision-making to solve
problems and build new knowledge.
How can this outcome be measured?
 Track problem solving processes over a semester or
academic year for innovation
 Measure the frequency that students access
research to make evidence-informed decisions
 Determine the level of critical thinking rigor
required of students to complete core practice
activities
Effective Communication
Bradley graduates will be effective oral,
written and non-verbal communicators as well
as active readers and listeners.
How can you measure this outcome?
 Measure changes in peer-peer communications
during collaborative activities
 Measure changes in peer-teacher communications
in structured and unstructured situations
Multidisciplinary Integration
Bradley graduates will approach learning in an
integrated manner, connecting knowledge and
skills across multiple disciplines.
How can this outcome be measured?
 Assess how able students are to generalize
information from one course to the next
 Determine the success of cross-curricular projects
 Ascertain student perceptions of how well
integrated their curriculum is from their perspective
Practical Application
Bradley graduates will apply knowledge and
skills from the classroom in real-world
situations.
How can this outcome be measured?
 Measure how well students are able to apply some
aspect of their course curriculum to solve a “real
world” problem with the help of professionals
outside academia
 Determine the impact of engaging practicing
professionals to teach critical aspects of a
discipline
Social Awareness
Bradley graduates will understand and act
ethically upon their connections to larger
communities.
How can this outcome be measured?
 Determine if case studies are impactful in teaching
about professional ethics
 Measure the impact of civic engagement in the
development of a world knowledge, compassion, or
learning
Your View of the Possible…
REFERENCES
Bass, R. (1999). The scholarship of teaching: What’s the
problem? Invention: Creative Thinking About Learning and
Teaching, 1 (1), 1-10.
Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the
Professoriate. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Ginsberg, S. M., Friberg, J. C., & Visconti, C. F. (2012).
Scholarship of teaching and learning in speech -language
pathology and audiology: Evidence -based education. San
Diego: Plural Publishing.
McKinney, K. (2007). Enhancing learning though the scholarship
of teaching and learning: The challenges and joys of juggling.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey -Bass.
Shulman, L. S. (2004). Teaching As Community Proper ty . San
Francisco, CA: Jossey -Bass .