Talk:Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

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)

Selected article for our discussion:

• Felten, P. (2013). Principles of good practice in SoTL. Teaching and Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal, 1(1), 121-125.

Some pointers for discussion:

Q1.Do you support the author's premise that: "For the scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) to be understood as significant intellectual work in the academy, SoTL practitioners need to identify shared principles of good practice"? Why or why not? Is there value in having shared principles for SoTL work? Why or why not?

Q2. Do you think that the author's five espoused principles for SoTL work (inquiry into student learning, grounded in context, methodologically sound, conducted in partnership with students, and appropriately public) fully encompass the diverse field of SoTL? Why or why not? What principles would you alter or add? Why? What makes the author's five espoused principles for SoTL different or unique from good research principles?

Q3. In a discussion of the principle of SoTL being methodologically sound, the author cites the work of Bass & Linkon, 2008, in mentioning "arguments in favor of discipline-specific methods continue to resonate" (p. 123). Do you agree that there should be discipline-specific SoTL methods? Why or why not? What would these look like as distinct from other research methods?

Q4. In a discussion of the principle of SoTL being conducted in partnership with students, the author states: "While full partnership may not be practical or appropriate in all SoTL projects, good practice requires engaging students in the inquiry process" (p. 123). From your own experience, do you think that engagement of students in SoTL inquiries (in full or in part) actually occurs? If so, can you provide some examples? If you don't think it occurs, why not?