SoTL Journal Club (July 9, 2013)

Selected article for our discussion

• Weimer, M. (2008). Positioning scholarly work on teaching and learning. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 2(1). Permalink

Some pointers for discussion:

Q1. In what ways do you agree or disagree with the authors arguments?

Q2. The author states "Most of this literature is isolated and idiosyncratic" (p. 1, para.7). This is an argument that could be made about many areas of research. Is this an inevitable outcome of the necessity for focused journals or are there aspects to the problem that are unique to instructional issues?

Q3. The author states that there is a "widely held assumption that teaching in every discipline is unique" (p.2, para.3). Do you know of any research that either supports or challenges this claim?

Q4. Can you identify standards for rigorous research in your discipline that do or don't apply to pedagogical scholarship? (reference to the argument the author makes on page 3, para. 2)