Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

Overview
In the UWSP Faculty Handbook the definition of “scholarship” is expanded as it pertains to our primary mission of teaching excellence. This definition explicitly includes “the scholarship of teaching and learning,” and states:

In 1987, the late Ernest L. Boyer made this point about scholarship:  “Scholarship is not an esoteric appendage; it is at the heart of what the profession is all about.  All faculty, throughout their careers, should, themselves, remain students.  As scholars, they must continue to learn and be seriously and continuously engaged in the expanding intellectual world.  This is essential to the vitality and vigor of the undergraduate college.”  (p. 131) 

Boyer further notes in this same reference that each professor is responsible for “…staying abreast of the profession, knowing the literature in one’s field, and skillfully communicating such information to students.”  (p. 131)

In 1991, Boyer went on to identify four kinds of scholarship: discovery (traditional basic research); integration (research that builds bridges from the discipline to other bodies of knowledge); application (research that may solve specific societal problems and/or benefit society); and teaching (research that supports improvement in teaching and learning.)  More recently, the report of the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land Grant Universities (1999) reinforced the importance of integration, application and teaching scholarship in support of the engaged university.

Traditionally SoTL work is defined by the following questions: 

Design

• What have others done to address similar questions in their teaching?
• What assignments, activities, or other features of your course can help address your question?

Evidence

• What indicators of student learning will be relevant for addressing your question?
• How can you systematically examine these learning indicators?
• How will you make sense of the student learning that you observe?
• How have others examined similar evidence of student learning?

Making It Public

• Who can provide an informed review or critique of your observations?
• How can you make your work available for others to adapt or extend?
• Options for making work public include developing course portfolios for others to review, presenting at campus forums or conferences, and writing for publication.
   

Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. Princeton, NJ: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.