1. Getting Started in SoTL
Jennifer Friberg, Ed.D.
Bradley University Fall Forum
August, 2015

2. Goals for this session:
Participants will:
Learn how to construct a SoTL research question
Review methods to collect data on measurable outcomes
Discuss ways to share SoTL work
Consider value of SoTL work for meritorious purposes

3. Quick Introductions BRIEF introductions  Name Department
Experience with SoTL

4. Calibration: What is SoTL?
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Systematic examination
Focused on improving teaching or learning
Disseminated beyond researcher

5. Where Do SoTL Questions Come From?
Your own teaching and learning questions, quandaries, and wonderments
Published SoTL research
From application or questioning of relevant theory.
From reflections and conversations with others.

6. Common Questions Answered by SoTL (Hutchings, 2000)
What is questions investigate the student experience.
How do students perceive their experience in a service learning project?
What works questions investigate the effectiveness of various pedagogical approaches.
Does the use of directed journal reading help students comprehend research better?
Visions of the possible relate to wonderments about “what if I tried this?”
How can student voices be better represented in SoTL?

7. Writing a SoTL Research Question
What in your current teaching life could serve as the basis for a SoTL research project?
Are your reflections based on:
Change in teaching over time?
Assessing similarities or differences across disciplines in terms of teaching and learning?
A desire to assess the effectiveness of a curricular program?
Are your concerns based on:
an individual course?
a sequence of courses?
interactions across courses?
Perceived student needs?

8. Let’s draft a SoTL research question…
Do you have a reflection or concern to harness as a potential research question?
Take a moment and record an idea or two to build on…
Share your topic/question with those around you

9. How do we measure SoTL research outcomes? (McKinney, 2013)
indirect static single existing quantitative direct growth measures multiple methods organic qualitative

10. What sort of data can be used with SOTL research?
Specific data sources could include:
Course portfolios
Specific assignments/projects/assessments (or artifacts therein)
Interviews
Focus groups
Questionnaires/surveys
Content analysis
Multi-method studies

11. Revisiting your SoTL question…
What method or methods could help you collect the best data to answer your question?
How might your eventual audience impact your decision to utilize a particular methodology to address your SoTL question?

12. SoTL Dissemination Outlets
Most common outlets include:
Cross-disciplinary SoTL research journals
e.g., International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Disciplinary pedagogical journals
e.g., Journal of Marketing Education
SoTL and disciplinary research conferences
e.g., Lilly conferences, ISSOTL, AERA
SoTL/pedagogical blogs
e.g., The Teaching Professor, The SoTL Advocate, Learning with Metacognition

13. Considerations for New SoTL Researchers
IRB construction/approval
Exempt/non-exempt status
Confidentiality/anonymity
Coercion
Teacher as researcher
Need for advocacy

14. Valuable SoTL Resources
Carnegie Foundation
Illinois State University SoTL website
Twitter/Facebook
Chronicle, Inside Higher Ed
Blogs
Conferences
Local, regional, national, international
Colleagues 

15. What are your questions about SoTL after our time together today?