Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
"Teaching begins with what the teacher knows. Teachers must be well informed. It continues by educating and enticing students through transmitting knowledge as well as transforming and extending it." -Boyer, 1990
- What is Scholarship of Teaching and Learning?
- Why is it important?
- What does engaging in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning look like?
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at UOPX
- Additional Resources
What is Scholarship of Teaching and Learning?
The scholarship of teaching and learning is the study of teaching models and practices to achieve optimal learning through: 1) general pedagogical development, 2) classroom research, and 3) pedagogical content knowledge. It is the transferring of knowledge from the expert to the novice, building bridges between what is known between the educator and the student’s level of knowledge, or evaluating teaching models to achieve maximum level of learning.
Common examples of the scholarship of teaching and learning are the development of new or substantially revised courses, curricula; creating innovative teaching strategies; projects funded by external or internal grants to support instructional activities; production of teaching materials and resources, and sharing the results of classroom action research.
Why is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning important?
The purpose of the scholarship of teaching and learning is to study and improve teaching models and practices to achieve optimal learning.
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning benefits students' educational experience directly, but there is added value to the institution and faculty. Innovation in teaching and learning is central to improving as an educational institution. Reciprocal benefits between faculty and students can emerge; interactions in the classroom may inspire scholarship of teaching and learning. The scholarship of teaching and learning is most common, historically, at the University of Phoenix. Valuing good theory and best practices as a way to reach and teach students and aspiring scholars and practitioners.
What does engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning look like?
Scholars engaging in the scholarship of are working on projects that are answering broad questions, such as:
- How can knowledge best be transmitted to others and best learned?
- How can knowledge best be used to cultivate critical and creative thinking?
- How can knowledge best be modeled or engaged in for learning?
Answering these questions requires involvement in the classroom. Classroom action research may occur to identify and test new strategies or resources. Faculty are engaged in providing feedback to their institutions on the performance and successes of their students.
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at UOPX
Here are examples of our faculty completing scholarship of Teaching and Learning:
Allison, C.E. (2015). Disability as diversity: A socio-linguistic construct for the new millennium. Reflections: Narrative of Professional Helping, 5(4), 47-51.
Florian, T.P., and Zimmerman, J.P. (2015). Understanding by design, Moodle, and Blended Learning: A secondary school case study. Journal of Online Teaching and Learning, 11(1), 120-128. http://jolt.merlot.org/vol11no1/Florian_0315.pdf
Green, T., and Allen, M. (2015). Professional development urban schools: What do teachers say? Journal of Inquiry & Action in Education, 6(2), 53-79. http://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/jiae/vol6/iss2/5/
Laurencelle, F., Scanlan, J., and Brett, A.L. (2016). The meaning of being a nurse educator and nurse educators’ attration to academia. Nurse Education Today, 39(4), 135-140. http://www.nurseeducationtoday.com/article/S0260-6917(16)00056-3/fulltext
Lewinson, T., and Bryant, L. (2015). There’s no fresh air here: Narratives of first, second, and third hand smoke exposure in economy, extended-stay hotels. Health and Social Work, 40(2), 77-83. http://hsw.oxfordjournals.org/content/40/2/77.abstract?sid=b23b4e35-0a69-44a8-ab44-85d06ec06e0d
Proudfoot, D.E. (2016). The effect of a reading comprehension program on student achievement in mathematics. The International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education, 4(2), 39-48. http://ijcrsee.com/index.php/ijcrsee/article/view/207/361
Whitworth, J., Jones, S., Deering, T., and Hardy, S. (2016). Hiring quality teachers: The devil is in the details. The Professional Educator, 40(1). http://wp.auburn.edu/educate/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/whitworth-spring_16.pdf
https://research.phoenix.edu/samuel-b-hardy-iii/publication/hiring-quality-teachers-devil-details
Resources
Find Support at UOPX:
Four of the University Research Centers focus on areas relevant to the scholarship of teaching and learning: the Center for Learning Analytics Research, the Center for Educational and Instructional Technology Research, the Center for Leadership Studies and Educational Research, and the Center for Professional Responsibility in Education.
The Office of Scholarship support run the Teaching and Learning Fellowship, directly aligned with the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Additional Resources:
There are many organizations specifically focused on the SoTL:
- Educause
- The International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (ISSOTL)
- Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
- Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (JoSoTL)
Read more: Professional and Academic Articles about Teaching and Learning:
Resource text by Wiley: Optimizing Teaching and Learning: Practicing Pedagogical Research
Resource text by Stylus Publishing: Engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Sanford teaching and learning report on their undergraduate education: http://web.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/sues/SUES_Report.pdf
Sanford's report as an example of a teaching and learning publication: http://web.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/sues/SUES_Report.pdf
Have a resource to add? Contact us at researchhub@phoenix.edu