What is SoTL?

The scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) is a broad term that encompasses a variety of activities related to teaching and learning in higher education. At its core, it means taking the approaches to and strategies for scholarly work we have developed in our regular academic fields and applying them to our academic teaching practice. SoTL involves:

• • Asking relevant questions about student learning in higher education and about the teaching that supports that learning
  • Looking for ways to gather meaningful evidence and material that can make student learning visible
  • Analyzing your evidence in a credible and rigorous way, both by using validated methods and by relating findings to relevant theory and literature
  • Sharing findings through artefacts that can be made public for an appropriate audience, so that others can learn from and build on them

As with any form of scholarly inquiry, SoTL is an iterative process that cycles through these stages and builds cumulative knowledge with each lap:

 

There are many excellent articles and books that explore and explain SoTL. Here, we will explore a select few to illuminate some important facets of SoTL as it has developed over time and to help you see it from different perspectives.