What is SoTL?
What is SoTL?
Ernest L. Boyer introduced the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) in 1990 to increase awareness and the importance of scholarship related to the discovery, integration, and application to teaching. His goal was to provide value and promote SoTL work as a foundation to research universities.
SoTL is the systematic process of innovation, analysis, and reflection of classroom practices to enhance the discipline of teaching and learning through providing evidence-based practices to inform teaching and strengthen student learning.
USM’s Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation defines SoTL as the systematic investigation of student learning, instruction, and/or teaching innovations and the dissemination of findings so as to contribute to a broader knowledge community. SoTL projects at their essence aim to improve student success by providing an evidence base to help inform course design and instructional decisions undertaken by faculty and programs (Kirwan Center, 2022)
What does SoTL Involve?
According to Vanderbilt University’s Center for Teaching, SoTL
- asks meaningful questions about student learning and about the teaching activities designed to facilitate student learning,
- answers those questions by first making relevant student learning visible as evidence of thinking and learning (or mis-learning), and then systematically analyzing this evidence, and
- shares the results of that analysis publicly to invite review and to contribute to the body of knowledge on student learning in a variety of contexts, and
- aims to improve student learning by strengthening the practice of teaching (one’s own and others’).
What is the purpose of SoTL?
Trigwell (2013) and Booth & Woollacott (2015) say the purpose of SoTL is
- To enhance university teaching
- To assess the quality of teaching, departments or programs
- To enhance student’s experience of learning
- To stimulate interest in teaching and learning
- To further empower and build communities of practice associated with teaching in higher education
The ultimate goal of SoTL is to transform teaching and learning in higher education, and that can take many forms of scholarship including creative inquiry and reflection. It is a way to increase the quality of teaching and value of learning, while providing a means to create purpose and meaning to faculty work.
Below is the language of the reliance agreement that provides guidance for faculty.
USM SYSTEM-WIDE RELIANCE AGREEMENT FOR SOTL
In Fall 2021, the Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation partnered with the Human Research Protection Program in the UMCP Division of Research to develop a Systemwide Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol for USM faculty engaging in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research projects that pose minimal risk to participants. The Kirwan Center oversees the standing SoTL IRB protocol that has been approved by UMCP’s IRB.
The University of Baltimore has entered into this reliance agreement. With this agreement, faculty can propose specific SoTL projects that pose minimal risk to participants using a streamlined amendment form that will go to the UMCP IRB for expedited review.
All SoTL research that presents minimal risk can use this new process, although you may choose to submit to the UBalt IRB.
Examples of SoTL Research from USM Kirwan Center
Instructors and programs at USM institutions that are pursuing educational interventions need to understand the impact of those interventions, whether on the faculty who engage in them, the staff who support them, or the students who experience them. There are a variety of ways to study the impacts of education interventions, such as:
Studies Involving Students and/or Student Record Data
These kinds of studies may involve researchers seeking to understand the impact of interventions, such as a new pedagogical technique, on the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, or skills of students, or on their grades or performance on other assessments. These kinds of studies may also involve researchers seeking to understand the perceptions or lived experiences of students regarding the classroom environments, course designs, pedagogies, or co-curricular activities they experience or the introduction of teaching and learning innovations into their educational experiences. These kinds of studies may also include researchers seeking to understand the impact that factors outside the teaching and learning experience, such as institutional policy or outside responsibilities of students, have on students vis-à-vis the teaching and learning experience.
These kinds of studies may involve researchers collecting and analyzing data that stems from assigned activities that all students must complete as part of a course or program (e.g., concept inventories, assignments, papers, projects, quizzes, or exams). These kinds of studies may involve researchers collecting and analyzing data that does not stem from assigned activities that all students complete as part of a course or program (e.g., a survey instrument related to student self-efficacy in mathematics). These kinds of studies might also include the use of data that exists outside of a course, such as demographic data, grades in previous courses, etc.
NOTE: Studies that include students should be sure to consider FERPA stipulations with respect to the gathering or use of student information, as well as parental consent or waiver of parental consent if any study participants are under age 18.
Studies Involving Faculty and/or Staff
These kinds of studies may involve researchers seeking to understand the impact of interventions, such as participation in professional development opportunities, on the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, or skills of faculty and/or staff. These kinds of studies may also involve researchers seeking to understand the perceptions or lived experiences of faculty members or staff regarding their classroom environments, course designs, or pedagogies or the introduction of teaching and learning innovations into their practice. These kinds of studies may also include researchers seeking to understand the impact that factors outside the immediate teaching and learning experience, such as institutional policy or non-teaching responsibilities of faculty and/or staff, have on faculty and/or staff vis-a-vis the teaching and learning experience.
What do you do if you want to submit SoTL research under this new Reliance Agreement?
Complete the streamlined amendment form that will go to the UMCP IRB for expedited review along with an up-to-date CITI Training record for each study team member, plus all relevant supporting documents including: consent forms, information sheets, recruitment materials (letters, telephone scripts, advertisements, etc., instrumentation (surveys/questionnaires, interview protocols, etc.), and any other material that will be presented to, viewed by, or read to human subject participants). Once an amendment form is completed and associated documentation compiled, the faculty member should submit their amendment package to sotlresearch@umd.edu.
For More Information & Questions
For an overview of the project, visit the Kirwan Center’s IRB for SoTL webpage.
USM Faculty interested in proposing a study under the umbrella protocol should consult the “Systemwide IRB – Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL) Resources” on the UMCP Investigator Support and Resources page.
Questions related to the USM Reliance Agreement may be directed to Nancy O’Neill, Acting Director, USM Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation, at cai@usmd.edu.
If you have questions, would like SoTL research support, or would like to discuss whether your research is SoTL work, please contact Director of Teaching and Learning Excellence in CELTT and we will be happy to help!
References:
Booth, S & Woollacott, L. (2015). The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: On Its Constitution and Transformative Potential: Vol. First edition. African Sun Media.
Boyer, E.L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Stanford, CA: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Trigwell K. 2013. Evidence of the impact of scholarship of teaching and learning purposes.
Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 1(1):95-105