58 The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) applies a systematic, evidence-based approach to examining and improving student learning in higher education. By asking researchable questions, gathering and analyzing data, and sharing findings, SoTL fosters a culture of inquiry, reflection, and collaboration among educators.
This chapter explores the difference between SoTL and Scholarly Teaching, highlighting how Scholarly Teaching applies existing research, while SoTL generates new knowledge through formal study. It also provides guidance on formulating meaningful SoTL research questions, choosing appropriate methodologies, and integrating findings into teaching practice.
With support from institutional resources like the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE), faculty at ETSU can engage in SoTL through writing groups, interdisciplinary collaborations, and structured research programs, contributing to both their own professional development and the broader field of teaching and learning scholarship.
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL, pronounced “sō-tul” in the US) integrates teaching, learning, and research to examine and enhance education in higher education. It brings a scholarly lens—rooted in curiosity, inquiry, rigor, and disciplinary diversity—to what happens in classrooms, whether in-person, online, or in co-curricular contexts.
At its core, SoTL is about improving teaching and learning through evidence-based practices. It involves:
- Asking Questions: Formulating meaningful, researchable questions about student learning and the teaching activities designed to facilitate that learning.
- Gathering and Analyzing Evidence: Making student learning visible through evidence of thinking and learning (or mislearning) and systematically analyzing this evidence.
- Sharing Findings: Publishing or presenting results to invite peer review and contribute to the broader knowledge base on teaching and learning in diverse contexts.
- Enhancing Teaching Practices: Using insights from SoTL to improve teaching and strengthen student learning outcomes, both in one’s own practice and across the academic community.
SoTL stands out for its deliberate and systematic approach to teaching and learning. By starting with intellectual curiosity, grounding itself in evidence and analysis, and sharing results for peer review, SoTL supports a reflective, research-driven approach to education. It not only enhances student learning but also fosters a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration among educators.
SoTL vs. Scholarly Teaching
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and Scholarly Teaching share a commitment to improving teaching and learning, but they differ in focus and scope. While both are essential to fostering a culture of evidence-based and reflective practice in education, they represent distinct approaches:
Scholarly Teaching
- Focus on Application: Scholarly teaching involves consuming, using, and applying scholarship about teaching, learning, and disciplinary knowledge to improve classroom practices.
- Literature-Informed: Scholarly teachers consult research on teaching within their field, incorporating evidence-based practices to enhance student learning.
- Collaborative and Resource-Driven: They seek advice and resources from colleagues, teaching and learning centers, and professional development opportunities.
- Personal Growth: Scholarly teaching primarily impacts the individual teacher’s practice and their immediate classroom.
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
- Focus on Creation: SoTL involves producing original research about teaching and learning through systematic inquiry.
- Research-Driven: SoTL scholars ask meaningful questions about student learning and teaching, gather evidence, and analyze it rigorously to generate new insights.
- Community-Oriented: SoTL aims to make research visible to a broader audience—whether within an institution or through peer-reviewed publications—and invites critical review.
- Replicability: Research in SoTL is shared with enough detail to allow others to replicate or build upon it.
- Broader Impact: SoTL contributes not only to the individual scholar’s teaching but also to a larger community of practice, ultimately supporting scholarly teaching across the institution and beyond.
The Relationship Between SoTL and Scholarly Teaching
Faculty often move between these two activities throughout their careers. Scholarly teaching is foundational; it prepares educators to apply and adapt evidence-based practices in their classrooms. Engaging in SoTL builds on this foundation, allowing educators to contribute new knowledge to the field of teaching and learning, which, in turn, supports and informs scholarly teaching for others.
By embracing both approaches, educators can continuously enhance their teaching practices while advancing the collective understanding of how students learn.
Getting Started with SoTL: Framing Your Inquiry
Embarking on a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project begins with curiosity about teaching and learning. Formulating the right questions is key to guiding your research and ensuring it aligns with your goals and context. SoTL inquiry often falls into the following categories, each offering a distinct lens for investigating student learning and teaching practices:
1. “What Works” Questions
These questions investigate the effectiveness of specific teaching practices or pedagogical approaches. They are often comparative and focus on measurable outcomes related to learning gains, engagement, or mastery.
Example
- Do students learn more when they have to teach the content to their peers than when they only have to summarize it for their own use?
- Do students demonstrate more mastery of content in a flipped class than they do in a lecture-only class?
Getting Started:
- Identify a practice or strategy you are already using or considering for your classroom.
- Define success: What outcomes will you measure, and how will you know if the strategy works?
- Collect baseline data from existing practices to compare with your intervention.
2. “What Is” Questions
These descriptive inquiries focus on understanding the current state of learning, students’ prior knowledge, or the characteristics of a specific teaching approach or classroom challenge.
Examples
- What prior writing knowledge do my students bring to my first-year writing course?
- What characteristics do literature classes, which require students to read outside of class in preparation for discussions, share with video-based flipped classes?
Getting Started:
- Observe and document classroom dynamics or review student work to identify patterns or trends.
- Use surveys, interviews, or pre-tests to better understand your students’ backgrounds, skills, and attitudes.
- Explore qualitative methods like thematic analysis to capture nuanced insights.
3. Visions of the Possible
These questions imagine new approaches and ask, “What if?” They often involve testing innovative strategies or creating new learning experiences.
Examples
- What would happen if I used a Reacting to the Past game to help students understand the social-political context of ancient Greece?
- How might a systematic reflection activity completed when I return graded work prompt students to apply the feedback they receive to future class assignments?
Getting Started:
- Brainstorm creative teaching techniques or approaches you are curious to explore.
- Design a pilot study or small-scale implementation to test the idea.
- Be open to unexpected outcomes, as these can inspire further inquiry.
4. Formulating New Conceptual Frameworks
These questions aim to develop or test models and frameworks that help to explain phenomena in teaching and learning. They often lead to broader questions and deeper understanding.
Examples
- What themes emerge from studies on reflection that might help us understand students’ development of metacognitive awareness?
- What might systematic analysis of student bottlenecks tell us about troublesome knowledge in the discipline?
Getting Started:
- Synthesize existing research to identify gaps or patterns that need further exploration.
- Collaborate with colleagues to analyze shared data across multiple contexts.
- Use findings to create conceptual models or principles that can guide future studies.
Tips for Developing SoTL Inquiry Questions
- Align with Your Goals: Start with a challenge, opportunity, or curiosity in your own teaching.
- Stay Focused: Narrow your questions to specific, actionable elements of teaching or learning.
- Consider Context: Tailor your questions to your discipline, student population, and course objectives.
- Collaborate: Discuss potential questions with colleagues, teaching centers, or learning communities to refine and focus your inquiry.
- Start Small: Pilot your inquiry in one class or with one assignment before expanding to larger studies.
By framing your SoTL inquiry with thoughtful and meaningful questions, you not only open new pathways for understanding student learning but also contribute to the broader community of educators striving to enhance teaching in higher education.
SoTL Inquiry Methods: Choosing the Right Approach
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) draws on a variety of research methods to explore questions about teaching and learning. Your choice of methods should align with your research question and build on the expertise you bring—or are willing to develop—in your SoTL work. Whether qualitative, quantitative, or a mix of both, the methods you choose should provide the most meaningful insights into your teaching and learning inquiry.
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Methods
As Kathleen McKinney (2007) explains, each approach offers unique advantages:
Quantitative Methods:
- Represent data in numerical form, allowing for statistical analysis.
- Useful for larger samples to explore relationships between variables, subgroup differences, or trends.
- Common analyses include descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and model testing.
- Ideal for answering questions that require measurable outcomes or generalizable findings.
Qualitative Methods:
- Focus on rich, detailed data in textual, verbal, or visual form.
- Employ naturalistic and interpretive strategies, emphasizing participants’ perspectives and meanings.
- Effective for identifying emergent themes, understanding processes, and capturing individual voices.
- Particularly valuable for exploring student experiences, perceptions, and reflective insights.
Many SoTL inquiries benefit from combining these methods, providing a comprehensive view of student learning. For example, quantitative methods might measure the impact of a new teaching strategy, while qualitative methods uncover students’ experiences and perceptions of that strategy.
Examples of SoTL Methods
A diverse array of methods can be adapted to fit your SoTL project:
- Case Studies
In-depth explorations of a single course, assignment, or instructional strategy. - Content/Discourse/Text Analysis
Analyzing student assignments, journals, reflections, or portfolios for patterns, themes, and evidence of learning. - Reflective Practices
Using teacher reflections, teaching portfolios, or student journals to capture insights into the learning process. - Video or Audio Recordings
Observing classroom interactions and dynamics through recorded sessions. - Experiments and Quasi-Experiments
Testing the effectiveness of instructional strategies by comparing outcomes between groups. - Focus Groups and Interviews
Collecting in-depth qualitative data from students about their learning experiences. - Longitudinal Tracking
Monitoring student progress over time to evaluate long-term impacts of instructional practices. - Observational Research
Documenting classroom interactions and behaviors through systematic observation. - Surveys and Questionnaires
Gathering quantitative data about student perceptions, behaviors, or experiences. - Secondary Analysis of Institutional Data
Leveraging existing data sets, such as NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement) results or alumni surveys. - Think-Aloud Protocols
Capturing students’ thought processes as they complete tasks or solve problems.
Encouraging Methodological Collaboration
As Pat Hutchings (2000) notes, the richness of SoTL work often lies in borrowing methods from other disciplines and collaborating across fields. Cross-disciplinary methodological conversations can lead to more innovative approaches and sophisticated insights into teaching and learning.
Getting Started with SoTL Methods
- Start with Your Question: Your inquiry method should directly align with the type of question you’re asking. For instance, “What works?” questions might lend themselves to experiments, while “What is?” questions might be better suited to interviews or observational research.
- Build on Your Expertise: Consider which methods resonate with your disciplinary background and research skills. Don’t hesitate to explore new methods with support from colleagues or teaching centers.
- Collaborate and Iterate: Partner with colleagues who bring complementary expertise, and be open to refining your methods as your project evolves.
- Leverage Institutional Support: Consult resources such as your Center for Teaching Excellence to access tools, training, and mentorship in SoTL methods.
By selecting the right methods for your SoTL inquiry, you can contribute meaningful insights to the broader academic community while fostering deeper understanding and innovation in your own teaching practice.
CTE Resources to Support SoTL at ETSU
The Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) at ETSU is committed to fostering faculty engagement in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), a field that integrates research and teaching to enhance instructional practices in higher education. SoTL research not only informs best practices but also contributes to the broader academic community by examining and sharing insights about effective teaching and learning.
Faculty at all stages of their SoTL journey—whether exploring initial ideas, conducting studies, or preparing manuscripts for publication—can find comprehensive support through the CTE. Our resources and programs are designed to create a vibrant community of SoTL scholars dedicated to advancing teaching excellence.
SoTL Scholars Co-op
The SoTL Scholars Co-op brings together interdisciplinary teams of up to five faculty members each year to collaboratively design, conduct, and publish research on teaching and learning in ETSU classrooms. This program includes stipends and offers participants structured support and mentoring as they work through their SoTL projects. Applications open each November for the following academic year. Learn more about this unique opportunity on our SoTL Scholars Co-op page.
SoTL Writing Group
To support ongoing SoTL projects, the CTE hosts a monthly SoTL Writing Group throughout the academic year. These scheduled Zoom sessions provide dedicated time for faculty to focus on their SoTL writing or project development. Each session begins with participants sharing updates on their progress and goals. Afterward, cameras are turned off for focused work, with CTE staff available for one-on-one consultations as needed. At the end of the session, participants reconvene to discuss their accomplishments and next steps.
The writing group fosters a supportive and collaborative environment, offering accountability and encouragement for faculty as they advance their SoTL research and writing. This initiative is open to all faculty and requires no prior registration—simply join to work alongside peers invested in enhancing teaching and learning at ETSU.
Explore ETSU SoTL Contributions
Discover examples of SoTL research conducted by ETSU faculty in the Digital Commons repository, showcasing the innovative work being done to advance teaching and learning across disciplines.
Through workshops, consultations, interdisciplinary collaborations, and focused writing groups, the CTE empowers faculty to engage in SoTL, enriching both their instructional practices and the broader academic community.
Sources and Attribution
Primary Source
This section is informed by and adapted from:
- Center for Engaged Learning. What is SoTL?
- Available at: Center for Engaged Learning Website
For a full list of references and additional resources, please follow the link above.
Use of AI in Section Development
This section was developed using AI-assisted drafting to synthesize and clarify key insights from the source material. ChatGPT (OpenAI) was used to:
- Summarize and structure best practices for understanding and applying the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL).
- Clarify strategies for conducting SoTL research and integrating findings into effective teaching practices.
- Enhance readability and coherence, ensuring that the discussion on SoTL is research-supported and practically applicable.
While AI-assisted drafting provided a structured foundation, all final content was reviewed, refined, and aligned with evidence-based recommendations to ensure accuracy, effectiveness, and adherence to best practices in SoTL.
