Scholarship of Teaching & Learning
The Office of Faculty Development strives to support faculty members in all of their research goals, including research in the area of SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning).
What is SoTL?
The University Standing Committee on the Evaluation of Teaching endorsed the following definition:
“The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is creative sharing of disciplinary knowledge and enhancing of student learning that is peer-assessed; communicated outside the traditional teacher/student interaction; and reflectively critiqued.
SoTL is a systematic study of teaching and learning that is documented in a public forum and is available for peer review. The goals of SoTL are to enhance student learning and to improve instructional practices in higher education.”
SoTL involves:
- systematic study through the use of evidence-based methods and reflection
- creation of rigorous knowledge about teaching and learning
- public sharing of this knowledge and building on knowledge cumulatively over time
- documentation in a public forum and availability for peer review
Sharing your research
There are many avenues to share your SoTL research with your peers, both at NC State and scholarly community at large. Information on conferences, journals, NC State projects and other initiatives can be found below.
SoTL Journals
This is a sampling of general SoTL journals. Most disciplines also have discipline-specific journals devoted to SoTL.
- College Teaching
- International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
- Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
A more comprehensive list of journals that include topics related to SoTL can be found here.
SoTL Professional Organizations
This a sampling of professional organizations focused on SoTL. Many discipline-specific professional organizations have interest areas or groups devoted to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
- International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning
- International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
SoTL Conferences
- International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Annual Conference
- The SOTL Commons
- Conference of the International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning
- LILLY conferences
Funding SoTL Research
Illinois State University has provided an excellent list of funding opportunities for SoTL work.
Past and Present SoTL Projects at NCSU
These SoTL projects offer the opportunity to see this type of research in action. If you know of a SoTL project not listed here that you’d like to publicize, please contact the OFD staff.
- TH!NK Program: An on-campus initiative designed to cultivate students’ higher order skills in critical and creative thinking.
- STEM: A large, interdisciplinary group of faculty from the STEM disciplines and various education fields who study teaching and learning.
- LITRE: “Learning in a Technology-Rich Environment” (LITRE) was an empirical research program aimed at enhancing the extensive learning with technology opportunities available at North Carolina State University.