September 2011: What is SoTL?

September 2011: What is SoTL? 

This is my first opportunity to read and reflect upon literature pertaining to Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). A natural and seemingly innocuous question is to ask: what is  SoTL? The answer to this simple question depends on whom you ask.

Hutchings et al (2011)  nicely summarized the results of a survey conducted by Carnegie Academy of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) among the participants of Leadership and Affiliates program on various facets of  SoTL.  From that one gathers that  many faculty see SoTL as “.. an approach to teaching that is informed by inquiry and evidence (both one’s own, and that of others) about student learning.” Further more  one learns that SoTL is “… not so much a function of what particular pedagogies faculty use. Rather, it concerns the thoughtfulness  with which they construct learning environment they offer students….” These two quotes, to me, summarize the mechanics of SoTL: evidence based (scientific) development of teaching to enhance student learning and a scholarly critique of teaching practises in the context of literature.

Kreber (2007) proposes to view SoTL as “an authentic practice.” Drawing on earlier works of Parker Palmer (1998) and Taylor (1991) she explores the notion of authenticity. What is authentic teaching, then? See my subsequent post on this.

For someone like me–totally new to educational research literature–I found the article by Mia O’Brein (2008) on “Navigating the SoTL Landscape: A compass, Map and Some Tools for Getting Started” to be more useful. This article delineates four distinctive attributed of SoTL: a) an overarching concern for students and their learning, b) deliberate design for how teaching may proceed based on the concern, c) systematic implementation, analysis and evaluation of design with reference to the central concern for student learning, d) contribution to SoTL knowledge and practice.

In summary, I understand that SoTL can be viewed as a reflective framework to postulate, test and refine approaches to classroom teaching and learning based on evidence. I also understand that SoTL is a tent big enough to invite and accommodate teachers from different disciplines, and, at the same time a tent with a challenging entrance which I look forward to navigate.

References

1. Hutchings, P., Huber, M.T., Ciccone, A., 2011, Getting There: An Integrative Vision of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp.1-14.
2. Kreber,  C., 2007, What’s it really all about? The Scholarship of  Teaching and Learning as an Authentic Practice, International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Vol. 1, No.1, pp. 1-4.
3. Palmer, P., 1998, The courage to teach. Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
4. Taylor, C., 1991, The ethics of authenticity. Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press.
5. O’Brien, M., 2008, Navigating the SoTL landscape: A Compass, Map and Some Tools for Getting Started, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 1-20.