By Tasha Randall, OSU College of Health
As teaching faculty, we are often interested in what might make our teaching more effective or improve the experiences of our students. To achieve these goals, we may focus on refining our course content, designing effective assignments, engaging our students, and assessing their learning. These are all valuable activities, but what if we approached these efforts as scholarly inquiry?
This work to become a better educator is the foundation of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). It is a broad term, which incorporates many different approaches, but can be generally defined as a systematic, research-informed approach to examining how teaching impacts student learning (Bishop-Clark & Dietz-Uhler, 2012). SoTL incorporates a critically reflective process where the teacher carefully examines their values as an educator and the teaching practices they utilize, then uses what they learn to inform the direction of their research (Potter & Kustra, 2011). It involves asking meaningful questions about teaching practices, as well as collecting and analyzing evidence (such as student work, feedback, or classroom observations), with a goal of improving student learning. An important component of SoTL is that findings are shared publicly for critique by other educators/researchers and to improve educational outcomes (Potter & Kustra, 2011). It has been suggested that this work “should be an integral part of every academic’s life” and demonstrates a commitment to effective teaching (Gurung & Wilson, 2014, p.9). Ultimately, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning is not just about being a good educator, it’s about making high-quality teaching visible by openly sharing our methods for evaluation and improvement.
While students are at the heart of SoTL, because the focus is on enhancing their learning, another benefit of engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning is that it can transform teaching from a routine task into a rewarding scholarly practice. By investigating what works in our classrooms and why, we can gain deeper insight into student learning, which supports the use of more intentional and effective teaching strategies. This process fosters a sense of professional growth and purpose, thereby making teaching more intellectually stimulating and personally fulfilling. It is also likely to make our classes more enjoyable for students, which generally makes our work as educators feel more rewarding.
Engaging in SoTL helps educators move beyond the intuition and anecdotal evidence that guides many of our teaching practices so that we can ground our decisions in research and reflection. For example, in my own courses I noticed that many students were sharing that they are navigating mental health concerns and/or personal challenges that impact their well-being and academic success. I wanted to do what I can to support them, while also maintaining a manageable workload for myself. I was curious to find out if there were ways to incorporate teaching practices that would support all students and thereby reduce the individual requests for extensions. I learned more about what other educators had found effective, or students had described as valuable, then incorporated some of those practices into my own courses. I found that the number of requests for extensions was reduced by having more flexible policies throughout the entire course. The value of this practice was further validated by survey and focus group data collected by the OSU Mental Health Task Force earlier this year.
SoTL also connects us to a broader community of teaching faculty who are asking similar questions and seeking to utilize more effective methods. I have been privileged to share what I learned about the ways that teaching practices can better support student mental health both with colleagues here at OSU and at a national teaching conference. Whether you’re redesigning a course or a specific assignment, trying some new teaching strategies, or assessing student outcomes, SoTL provides a framework for documenting and analyzing your techniques. Once you have done that, sharing what you learned with other faculty helps them—and their students—benefit from your findings.
Curious about where to start? Consider exploring SoTL journals, such as Teaching & Learning Inquiry, Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (JoSoTL), or the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning. Learn more about SoTL, or brainstorm ideas for a research project you could conduct related to your own teaching, by scheduling a consultation with the faculty support team at the Center for Teaching and Learning.
References
Bishop-Clark, C., & Dietz-Uhler, B. (2012). Engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: A guide to the process, and how to develop a project from start to finish. Routledge.
Gurung, R.A.R., & Wilson, J.H. (2014). Advancing scholarly research on teaching and learning. In R. A. R. Gurung & J. H. Wilson (Eds.), Doing the Scholarship of Teachingand Learning: Measuring systematic changes to teaching and improvements in learning (New Directions for Teaching and Learning, Number 136, pp. 9-15). Jossey-Bass. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/osu/detail.action?docID=1589138.
Potter, M. K., & Kustra, E. (2011). The relationship between scholarly teaching and SoTL: Models, distinctions, and clarifications. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2011.050123
About the author: Tasha Randall is an Assistant Professor of Teaching and the Human Services Internship Coordinator in HDFS. She especially enjoys helping students pursue experiential learning opportunities that align with their strengths and passions, and she actively cultivates a culture of care in her classes to help all students feel welcome and supported. In addition to teaching, she is a CTL Faculty Fellow, where she works with faculty who want to learn more about supporting their students’ mental health and well-being, as well as those interested in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
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