Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) movement grew out of Ernest Boyer’s work in the early 1990s around multiple areas of scholarship. Boyer and others argued that we need to move beyond traditional divisions between research, teaching and service and towards more multilayered, interconnected, and interactive conceptualizations of faculty work. Boyer’s initial conceptualization of multiple scholarships (teaching, discovery, engagement, integration) has continued to evolve over the past twenty years-primarily through the leadership of scholars at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL), the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), and a wide range of discipline-based and interdisciplinary teaching and learning conferences and publications. Now, in Canadian universities, SoTL centres are beginning to emerge.

The scholarship of discovery refers to what we typically call “traditional research”. The scholarship of integration focuses on making connections within/across disciplines to generate new insights. It typically includes syntheses and meta-analyses. The Scholarship of engagement/application involves applying knowledge to respond to significant social issues. It typically includes service learning and clinical learning; The scholarship of teaching and learning focuses on a systematic study of teaching and learning, the peer review of this work and its public availability for others to use and build on.

There are many definitions of SoTL. Some common elements of these definitions are the systematic study of teaching and learning, peer review of this work and the public dissemination of this knowledge.

Scholarly Teaching is evidence- based teaching, informed practice (theory guided).

“Both scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching are vital to the life of the academy. The purpose of scholarly teaching is to affect the activity of teaching and the resulting learning, while the scholarship of teaching results in a formal, peer-reviewed communication in appropriate media or venues, which then becomes part of the knowledge base of teaching and learning in higher education.” (Laurie Richlin and Milton D. Cox, 2004. p. 127-128)

Scholarly teachers are interested in knowing how, why and when their students are learning. They are interested in finding out what works (or doesn’t work) in their classrooms and why. Scholarly teachers regularly reflect on their teaching and learning practices, read disciplinary and pedagogical literature to expand their knowledge about teaching and learning and/or discuss teaching and learning issues with colleagues. They get feedback from students and/or colleagues to improve practices and enhance learning experiences in their classrooms. They participate in teaching and learning workshops and try to integrate (where appropriate) new ideas about teaching and learning into their everyday practice in classrooms.

The following phases are adapted from the University of Wisconsin SoTL Leadership Site:

• Identify a significant teaching and learning question to explore
• Build on work of others by consulting existing pedagogical literature
• Select appropriate methods to collect evidence to answer your question
• Submit project for ethics review and approval
• Collect and analyze the evidence
• Communicate results with peers and invite critical commentary and evaluation
• Make project findings publicly available for others to use & build on

The UBC Okanagan Academic Plan states that “we will research the core activity of our community – student learning – and value the scholarship of teaching”.

“Both scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching are vital to the life of the academy. The purpose of scholarly teaching is to affect the activity of teaching and the resulting learning, while the scholarship of teaching results in a formal, peer-reviewed communication in appropriate media or venues, which then becomes part of the knowledge base of teaching and learning in higher education.” (Laurie Richlin and Milton D. Cox, 2004. p. 127-128)

Behavioural Research Ethics Board (BREB) Application Guide  (UBC Office of Research Ethics website)

Research Office Contact:
Lisa Shearer
Associate Manager, Behavioural Research Ethics Board
Tel: 250.807.8289
Email: lisa.shearer@ubc.ca