As we develop, embed, and sustain the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) within institutional contexts, challenges emerge. Faculty can be discouraged by heavy workloads (Brew, 2010), and an undervaluing of teaching and teaching-related inquiry (Chalmers, 2011). For many, becoming a SoTL scholar also means cultivating a new sense of academic identity and navigating unfamiliar epistemologies, methodologies, and scholarly communities (Simmons et al., 2013). Strategies for actively supporting SoTL scholars and integrating their work into institutional fabrics are thus paramount (Marquis, 2015).
Our team will present the results of the second phase of a participant-led research process exploring the impact of a unique institutional SoTL initiative (facilitator-led Research Fellows) on departments, teaching and learning, and researcher identity.
In the first year of the program, participants developed a collaborative research project exploring their perceptions and experiences of the Research Fellows’ model. Initial findings suggested both strengths and challenges of the program in relation to developing community, cultivating identity, navigating institutional structures, and bridging various campus units. Second-phase results draw from data gathered through responses to a co-developed survey and a focus group with participants.
Outcomes:
Participants will consider a model of SoTL support, including question prompts and survey questions, for possible adaptation and exploration in their own contexts.
References:
Brew, A. (2010). Transforming academic practice through scholarship. IJAD, 15(2), 105–116.
Chalmers, D. (2011). Progress and challenges to the recognition and reward of the scholarship of teaching in higher education. HERD, 30(1), 25–38.
Simmons, N., Abrahamson, E., Deshler, J. M., Kensington-Miller, B., Manarin, K., Morón-García, S., Oliver, C., Renc-Roe, J. (2013). Conflicts and configurations in a liminal space: SoTL scholars’ identity development. TLI, 1(2): 9-21.
Marquis, E. (2015). Developing SoTL through organized scholarship institutes. TLI 3(2), 19-26.
