Kickstart Your Writing Agenda with SoTL

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, or SoTL (pronounced “sō-tul”), is an area of research dedicated to documenting, exploring, and sharing what’s effective in our classrooms. And by effective, I mean the work we do to improve our teaching and to improve student learning. Let’s say, for example, you went to a conference during spring semester and attended a session that was equally devoted to content and pedagogy. Feeling inspired, you decided to try out some of the strategies, assessments, or content delivery methods you heard about.  Teaching two sections of the same course this fall, you decide to use the new methods in one section and continue doing what you’ve always done in the other section with the goal of comparing student persistence or academic success. Making a shift like this in your teaching, documenting what happens, and sharing it with the rest of us is the exact kind of work that comprises SoTL.  

Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning similarly describes SOTL as “faculty (sometimes in partnership with their students) undertaking systematic inquiry about student learning – informed by prior scholarship on teaching and learning – and going public with the results.” In other words, SoTL is an area of research that has us look intentionally at the effectiveness of our teaching, its impact on our students’ learning, and whether it leads to deeper and more meaningful learning or change. 

Sound like something you’d like to add to your research agenda this year? Here are 5 quick steps to get started with a SoTL project of your own:  

1. Begin with questions about your own teaching or the student learning happening in your course or program; how are these experiences mediated by/situated in the USC Upstate context  

2. Identify what types of information you need to gather to answer your question 

3. Choose a methodology that engages your expertise and reveals insights into your data 

4. Design a plan for how you will respond to what you find out  

5. Report and share what you’ve discovered 

The grand challenges include how to develop critical and creative thinkers; how to encourage students to be engaged in learning; the complex processes of learning; how identities affect both teaching and learning; and the practice, use, and growth of SoTL. 

Recent articles engaging these topics include: Self-study in higher education: Its role in productive discussions and learning outcomes (Lim et al., 2024); Higher education students’ conceptions of learning gain (Ilie et al., 2024); Learning problem solving to manage school-life challenges (Burke & Stewart 2022); Team satisfaction, identity, and trust: A comparison of face-to-face and virtual student teams (Mayfield & Valenti, 2022); and Music teachers’ self-reported views of creativity in the context of their work (Schiavio, 2022).  

Several institutions have also developed guides and templates for designing an SoTL project:  

1. California Health Sciences University’s SoTL Proposal Template 

2. David Voelker’s  Templates for Analyzing Learning Problems (topics include Learning to Learn; Feedback and Learning; Inclusive Excellence; and Transfer and Application of Knowledge). 

3. James Madison University’s Developing an SoTL Research Question  

4. University of Calgary’s Designing an SoTL Project (designed like an interactive module) OR Hopscotch Model: Create Your Own Research Design (also interactive)

5. SoTL Grants  

Check out the new SoTL LibGuide or join CAIFS for upcoming SoTL workshops on Tuesday, October 15, 2-3PM and Friday, November 15, 12:30-2PM. Both sessions will be held face to face in the CAIFS Conference Room (Media 234). See you there!