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What is SoTL?

The scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) is the study of effective teaching and learning through research and reflection as well as disseminating findings through publications, presentations, and conferences.

Goals of SoTL

To improve learning among and between individual learners by conducting investigations into the different areas of discipline-specific expertise and best practices (McKinney, 2007). 

Sievers (2015) stated, “basing our teaching practices on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) enables us to move beyond trial-and-error approaches in our teaching...at a more fundamental level, it also enables academics to take seriously—according to the values of the academy itself—the work of teaching.”

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Banner Diagram of showing the components of SOTL..discipline knowledge, Pedagogy, and Research.

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Key Components

  • Engagement with existing knowledge on teaching and learning
  • Self-reflection on teaching and learning in one's discipline
  • Dissemination of ideas about teaching and learning within the discipline

Key Steps

  • Identity the research question
  • Design the study
  • Collect the data
  • Analyze the data and draw conclusions
  • Present and publish findings (Bishop-Clark & Dietz-Uhler, 2012)
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