By Jacky Deng
How do we know if our teaching is going well? How do we know if students are learning? How can we share what we learn with others?
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) offers a powerful way for instructors to answer these questions. Defined as the systematic, deliberate and methodological inquiry into teaching (behaviours/practices, attitudes, and values) to improve student learning, SoTL transforms teaching from a personal practice into a scholarly endeavour that requires careful planning, evaluation, and dissemination (Potter & Kustra, 2011). Grounded in disciplinary contexts, SoTL relies on a combination of rigorous methodologies and disciplinary norms, practices, epistemologies.
There are three main SoTL objectives:
- To improve student learning by finding better, more engaging ways to teach.
- To engage in scholarly study of what takes place inside the classroom, asking questions, and collecting evidence on the effectiveness of different methods of teaching.
- To make the results of this analysis readily available to other scholars, inviting their comment and review, and contributing to knowledge on student learning
For many already balancing heavy teaching, research, and service responsibilities, getting started in SoTL can often feel intimidating or out of reach. Drawing from my own experiences leading SoTL projects and supporting faculty with SoTL as an Educational Developer, here are five tips to help you get started in SoTL.
- To improve student learning by finding better, more engaging ways to teach.
- To engage in scholarly study of what takes place inside the classroom, asking questions, and collecting evidence on the effectiveness of different methods of teaching.
- To make the results of this analysis readily available to other scholars, inviting their comment and review, and contributing to knowledge on student learning
1. Start with a question you already care about
A misconception I’ve often encountered in consultations with faculty is that for a SoTL project to be impactful and publishable, it necessitates a focus on major re-designs and/or evaluations of courses, activities, or assessments. This no doubt feels and sounds daunting to those who are already stretched thin for time and resources.
In reality, sometimes the most impactful SoTL projects are the ones grounded in everyday questions we likely all encounter in our teaching:
- Why might students struggle with this particular concept?
- How do students experience this assignment or assessment?
- What changes when I try this new instructional strategy?
Here are some examples of project questions from SoTL scholars here at TMU:
- How can different pedagogical approaches support student success and mental health in statistics courses? (Prof. Alyssa Counsell, Psychology)
- How does sustained engagement with AI disclosure practices influence students’ perceptions of professional responsibility, authorship, and disciplinary norms in journalism (Prof. Angela Misri, Journalism)
- What are effective design and social interventions to improve studio culture? (Prof. Terri Peters, Architectural Science)
One rule of thumb is that if a teaching challenge keeps showing up in your courses or in conversations with colleagues, it’s probably a good candidate for a SoTL project. In addition to keeping your SoTL project tied to questions that will resonate with other instructors, starting with a question that genuinely matters to your teaching and your students’ learning can help make the work feel more purposeful and meaningful.
Lastly, Prof. Diane Bunce’s article on “Constructing Good and Researchable Questions” has been a helpful guide for me when designing research questions for my own SoTL work. Ask yourself:
- What issue do you want to address? Why is it important?
- Is it feasible? What is known?
- Who/what will be studied?
- How will it be investigated?
- What is the potential take-home message?
2. Keep the scope small and focused
Not every SoTL project needs to be large-scale, multi-course, or institution-wide. While those projects certainly exist, they are definitely not the norm, especially for people new to the field.
Instead, consider honing in on and studying just one element of your teaching, such as:
- A single course
- A single assignment/assessment
- A single learning outcome
- A single pedagogical approach (either new or existing)
- A single instructional change
Amidst busy schedules, a tightly scoped and clearly bounded project is more feasible, easier to analyze, and more likely to be completed successfully. And just because your project is small does not mean it’s not publishable. In fact, most published SoTL studies begin as modest studies that are thoughtfully and rigorously designed, and grounded in questions that emerge from one’s teaching practice. As you build your SoTL skillset and capacity through smaller initial projects, you’ll also have more opportunities, resources, and momentum to lead future studies that build on your findings.
3. Ground your work in existing SoTL literature
SoTL is a rich and growing scholarly field with its own theories, methods, and conversations, and there is a strong chance that versions of the questions guiding your SoTL project have been explored and/or articulated by other scholars. Spending time with existing literature can therefore help you refine your question and project, as well as situate your work within a broader scholarly context. It also helps you get a sense of the stylistic and structural norms associated with SoTL journals, including how to frame your questions, describe methods and theoretical frameworks, and discuss implications for teaching practice.
You don’t have to read everything. I’d recommend starting with a few leading SoTL journals, such as:
- Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- Teaching and Learning Inquiry
- International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Also: explore Discipline-Based Educational Research (DBER) journals. Unlike SoTL, which is discipline-agnostic, DBER explores teaching and learning within a specific academic discipline. DBER researchers draw on both disciplinary expertise and educational research methods to study and improve disciplinary teaching and learning. For many just getting started with SoTL, DBER journals can be a helpful starting point to ground your thinking and learning about educational research within familiar disciplinary contexts, content, and questions. Many disciplines have a DBER journal; for example, chemistry has the Journal of Chemical Educationand Chemistry Education Research and Practice. Check out this great list of journals from the University of Saskatchewan’s Library.
4. Plan ethics and methods early
Because SoTL often involves studying students and their learning, ethics review is often required. Even if your project feels low-risk, it’s important to ask early on in your project:
- How will student consent be handled?
- Does this require research ethics board (REB) approval?
For folks at TMU, one valuable document to review is TMU’s Guide on Research Ethics in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, which details the ethical considerations and questions one should consider as they prepare for and carry out their SoTL project.
It’s also important to think carefully about the methods you will use to collect evidence in relation to your project questions. SoTL projects can draw on quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods, with common sources of data including student work, surveys or questionnaires, written reflections, interviews, focus groups, and classroom observations.
To keep your project both manageable and ethically sound, the methods you choose should not only align closely with your questions, but also take into account your existing skills, available time and resources, and any research ethics requirements. Mapping all of this out early on in your ideation and planning processes may feel like overkill, but in the long-term, it will help you identify any blind spots and ensure that your project can be completed successfully, rigorously, and ethically.
5. Find community and talk about your work with others
“It’s not scholarship until it’s shared.”
– Prof. Brett McCollum (former Editor-in-Chief, CJSoTL)
SoTL is not meant to be done in isolation. Connecting with others about your ideas can be an essential part in helping you clarify your thinking, stay motivated, and see your work as part of a collective scholarly endeavour.If you’re reading this, you’re probably teaching, and all of us—regardless of discipline—have questions about our teaching. If you are curious about exploring SoTL in your own teaching, consider starting with one of the guiding questions mentioned above in a course you are teaching and discuss it with colleagues (or me!). Even informal conversations with colleagues can be meaningful and highly generative, leading to collaborations that can help make the work more impactful, feasible, and sustainable.
Keeping up the momentum…
Perhaps this piece is one of your first steps in your SoTL journey. Congratulations!
Getting started in SoTL doesn’t require you to become an expert overnight, or to add an entirely new research agenda to your portfolio. Like any field of inquiry, SoTL is about being curious, reflective, and systematic—qualities that you likely already bring to your work.
By grounding your project in questions that matter to you; starting small; thinking early about existing literature, ethics, and methods; and connecting with a community, I hope that SoTL can become a meaningful and rewarding part of your academic portfolio and repertoire.
Here are some opportunities at TMU (and beyond) to keep up the momentum:
- Design a SoTL project at TMU’s SoTL Retreat
- Apply to funding opportunities at TMU
- Engage with SoTL community, including through journal clubs and group chats
- Develop your SoTL skills and knowledge through our workshops, resources, and events
- Attend a conference or symposium focused on teaching and SoTL
- Connect with SoTL leaders at TMU, including TMU’s Teaching Fellows, as well as those highlighted on the SoTL Showcase
- Book a meeting with me! As an Educational Developer and SoTL researcher, I’m always happy to chat about and support you with SoTL.
Jacky Deng, PhD (he/him) is an Educational Developer at the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, where he leads the Teaching Fellows program and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) programming. Prior to his time at TMU, Jacky was a Vanier Scholar led national and international projects focused on improving and studying equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in education and research. He is an Associate Editor for the Canadian Journal for the Scholarship for Teaching and Learning (CJSoTL)
