Introduction to SoTL: Finding a Starting Point

Facilitators:  
Cora McCloy, PhD, Faculty Liaison Coordinator, SoTL, CTSI
Kyle Turner, MSc, Faculty Liaison, Teaching and Learning, CTSI

The scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) helps us avoid what Shulman (1999) described as “pedagogical amnesia,” the many things about our teaching we forget from one term to the next. SoTL enables us to capture insights into our teaching in a way that allows us to revisit them time and again.

This virtual, interactive session serves as an introduction and launch to the Fall-Winter 2022-23 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) webinar series. In Part I of the session, we cultivate a way of thinking about teaching inquiry, beginning with curiosity/inquiry questions and ideas that you currently have about your teaching and learning context. We will discuss a range of data sources that you can draw on to inform your questions(s). We discuss possible strategies to transform conceptual research ideas into concrete research questions.

In Part II we address ways to get into a mindset of inquiry, by creating a space to launch your journey from one of reflective teaching to the initial stages in research design. We will discuss project planning, resources available to you, and research ethics considerations. Participants will have opportunities to learn and gain advice from facilitators and colleagues during breakout groups to cultivate discussions on these topics.

By the end of this session, you will have:

• Identified a curiosity/inquiry question and/or area of research interest 
• Mapped out key research concepts, phrases, and ideas in a Webinar Worksheet to carry forward to the next webinar in the SoTL Series: Searching the SoTL Higher Education Literature (Jan. 30, 2023)
• Considered sources of data to draw on to examine your research on teaching question(s) further
• Gained an awareness of key research ethics and SoTL considerations at U of T
• Mapped out your early research design plans
• Participated in building a community of teaching and learning researchers at U of T
• Learned about the upcoming CTSI-SoTL programming and other supports.

This webinar is open to instructors of all SoTL experience levels.