Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Welcome to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) website! Here you'll find information about SoTL projects faculty members are conducting on our campus, details about upcoming SoTL events, and ways for you to become involved in SoTL. Check out the "SoTL Resources" section for additional links. I also encourage you to contact me directly to discuss the SoTL program. You can reach me at jgilber2@gustavus.edu or x7552. I look forward to working with you!

--- Julie Gilbert, Faculty Associate for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Our scholarship of teaching and learning program serves faculty who want to incorporate investigations of discipline-specific pedagogy into their scholarly agenda. Most Gustavus faculty already pursue scholarship of teaching and learning projects in the sense that they identify a particular problem in a course, explore various solutions, implement a solution, and observe the consequences. A SoTL project takes this process further by requiring a well-documented process that is shared with others. The college's SoTL initiative brings faculty together in regular discussion to explore common readings, discuss strategies for developing SoTL projects, and provide each other feedback as projects progress.

SoTL Events

SoTL Lunchs, 2009-10

SoTL lunches are for anyone interested in SoTL projects, whether you’re actively conducting a project, contemplating one, or simply interested in the kinds of questions and methods we discuss.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  At most lunches, a faculty member will informally present about his/her SoTL project, followed by questions and lively conversation.  Conversation tends to revolve around both the project’s methodology and results as well as on the classroom issue itself.

Lunch is ont he house; just sign in at the buffet. Bring a friend! Lunch dates for 2009-2010 are:

Friday, Novembver 20, 2009 from 11:30 to 12:30 p.m. in the St. Peter Room (buffet)
* Julie Bartley (Geology) on “What makes a good class perform badly?  Rationalizations, reasons, and interventions.”

Friday, December 11, 2009 from 11:30 to 12:30 p.m. in the St. Peter Room (buffet)
* Jon Grinnell (Biology) and Barbara Kaiser (Provost’s Office, MCS) will discuss inquiry based learning

Friday, February 19, 2010 from 11:30 to 12:30 p.m. in the St. Peter Room (buffet)
* Eric Dugdale (Classics)

Friday, March 12, 2010 from 11:30 to 12:30 p.m. in the St. Peter Room (buffet)
* Kate Knutson, Chris Gilbert (both Political Science) and Julie Gilbert (Library) will discuss research on integrating a library lab component into a research methods course

Friday, April 30, 2010 from 11:30 to 12:30 p.m. in the St. Peter Room (buffet)
* OPEN (contact Julie if you are interested in presenting)

Friday, May 14, 2010 from 11:30 to 12:30 p.m. in the St. Peter Room (buffet)
* Discussion topic: Setting Goals for Your SoTL Project

SoTL Shop Talk

Join us on Friday, March 19 at 4:30 in the Interpretive Center for a special SoTL Shop Talk.  Julie Bartley (Geology) and Kyle Chambers (Psychology) will discuss their SoTL research.  For more information, visit the Faculty Shop Talk website:  http://gustavus.edu/events/shoptalks/

Previous SoTL Events

2008-09 Workshop
2007-08 Workshop

How do I get started on a SoTL project?

There are many resources on campus to help jump start your SoTL project. If you’re just getting started, you might consider skimming SoTL literature to gain a scope of the scholarship being conducted.  A recommended source is The International Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Your discipline may also have a journal or other publications that are fully or partly dedicated to teaching and learning in your field. 

There are plenty of opportunities to network with others on campus who have completed or are conducting SoTL projects.  Consult the list of projects at the bottom of the page to see experienced SoTL participants on our campus.  Attend one of the SoTL Lunches to hear about projects and meet others who are interested in SoTL.  Finally, I am happy to meet with you individually to talk about anything related to SoTL.  Send me an email or give me a call at x7552.

SoTL Resources

The following is a partial list of useful SoTL links, including links to SoTL literature and resources.  If you know of any useful links not included, please email me.

On Campus Resources

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Moodle site:
Includes information about upcoming SoTL events and several SoTL articles

Institutional Review Board:
Information about conducting research on human subjects, including application instructions

Other Resources

Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL):
A major initiative of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.  The website also provides access to articles and presentations.

International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL):
Provides information about the society, as well as numerous links to SoTL publications and conferences

SoTL at Gustavus: Investigating Possibilities

According to the Faculty Development website:“A scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) program serves faculty who want to incorporate investigations of discipline-specific pedagogy into their scholarly agenda. Most Gustavus faculty already pursue scholarship of teaching and learning projects in the sense that they identify a particular problem in a course, explore various solutions, implement a solution, and observe the consequences. A SoTL project takes this process further by requiring a well-documented process that is shared with others. Funded by the Bush Foundation, the college's SoTL initiative brings faculty together in regular discussion to explore common readings, discuss strategies for developing SoTL projects, and provide each other feedback as projects progress.

Michele Rusinko	Theater and Dance	Revising Studies in Dance History course to include more critical thinking, integration, and synthesis; recreated course by considering historical periods through the lenses of race, class, and gender; currently devising assessment strategy.
Matt Panciera	Classics	Investigates active learning techniques in order to alter the dynamic in Roman History course; seeking to engage students more fully and actively.
Denis Crnkovic	Modern Languages and Cultures	Studies the effectiveness of introducing “real texts” (texts that are unaltered from the original) of various types to students in the third and fourth semesters of language study.
Leila Brammer	Communication Studies	Studied the possibilities of service-learning in Persuasion and Applied Communication Research courses; designed new courses to integrate service learning and developed assessment tools.
Casey Elledge	Religion	“Getting to Know Students as Readers: Promoting ‘Close Reading’ Methods in a Biblical Studies Course”. This project focuses on two related tasks designed to help improve the quality of students’ critical reading skills in a Bible survey course: 1) gathering data on student reading skills; 2) using this data to promote three basic, yet valuable reading methods.
Carolyn O’Grady	Education	Exploring the role of teacher expectations in student performance.
Mary Gaebler	Religion	Working to engage students more deeply at the outset of the Business Ethics course; uses role-playing to encourage a better understanding of the human cost when ethically dubious business choices are made. Students will be asked to assume the identities (and to justify the choices) of real persons presently caught up in the Merck/Vioxx case.
Rebecca T. Fremo	English	Working on a book project titled Toward a Rhetoric of Reading that considers the ways that teachers read student-authored texts. Interviewed several groups of former students in order to study their expectations of her as a reader.
Greg Kaster	History	Working with think-aloud methods in the gateway course, Thinking Historically, in order to study the ways that students come to read and understand historical documents; this project involves a longitudinal study.
Pam Kittelson	Biology	Seeking to improve the conceptual understanding of students in sophomore level biology courses, where many students are transitioning from rote memorization to critical thinking and independent analysis.

Ongoing SoTL projects

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Gustavus Adolphus College: SoTL projects and participants projects conducted between 2004-2009

Patricia English and Mariangela Maguire	Communication Studies	Collaborating on "Interpersonal Communication as Practical Reasoning". The project emerged from the central question, "Do students leave Interpersonal Communication with the sense that they have the tools (in the form of course concepts and theories) to exert greater influence on their interpersonal relationships?" The project incorporates practical reasoning exercises to accompany course readings; Maguire and English also analyzed student writing. The project helped students to understand that technical terms could enhance their relationships rather than take the magic out of them.
Priscilla Briggs	Art	Exploring the ways in which students define and develop “conceptual thinking”; the project involves analyzing students’ journal responses from Video Art course.
Margaret Bloch-Qazi	Biology	Using writing assignments to help students in an intermediate-level Zoology course think critically and use discipline-specific vocabulary appropriately.
John Clementson	Education	Developing a SOTL project that seeks to compare the vulnerabilities of teachers and students to those of health-care professionals; this project is linked to a larger collaborative project undertaken by four colleges, all seeking to understand health-care professionals from the region for discussions around "ministry in daily life."
Brenda Kelly	Chemistry/Biology	Development of inquiry-based biochemistry laboratory curriculum using modern equipment and fundamental techniques. The labs develop quantitative skills and allow students to communicate experimental results in oral and written formats.
Leila Brammer & Sarah Wolter	Communication Studies	Public Discourse as impetus for civic engagement: The introductory communication course as transformative dialogue
Barbara Fister	Library	Using Student Writing Samples to Assess Information Literacy Practices
Scott Bur	Chemistry	Lecture versus group problem solving
Colleen Jacks	Biology	Interfering RNAs to Medicago truncatula genes: An undergraduate laboratory in gene cloning and analysis
María Isabel Kalbermatten	Spanish	Becoming an Independent and Effective Writer in Spanish: The Writing Process in Spanish Courses
Julie Gilbert	Library	Library Instruction, Information Literacy, and First Year Students
Mary R. McHugh	Classics	1) Assessing the Role of Prompt Feedback in Second-semester Beginning Greek 2) Implementing Higher-order Assignments in Greek Art & Archaeology Lecture Class
Brandy Russell	Chemistry	Fostering Independence in Advanced Laboratory Classes