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An open-access, peer-reviewed, international electronic journal, publishing articles in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Published twice a year by the Coulter Faculty Commons for Excellence in Teaching & Learning at Western Carolina University.
Founded in 2001, JoSoTL is a peer reviewed forum for the dissemination of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in higher education for the community of teacher-scholars. Articles are theory-based and supported by evidence and promote effective practices in teaching and learning that add to the knowledge base.
Click Here for Book Review Abstract: How world-class research makes its way into lecture halls and seminar rooms Major research universities expect faculty to conduct significant research but also to excel as teachers. Too often those outside the classroom assume that these two functions have little in common when in fact the best teachers conduct exciting and innovative research that provides students the opportunity to learn by doing. An Illinois Sampler presents personal accounts from faculty members at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and other contributors, about their research and how it enriches and energizes their teaching. Contributors from the humanities, engineering, social and natural sciences, and other disciplines explore how ideas, methods, and materials merge to lead their students down life-changing paths to creativity, discovery, and solutions. As faculty introduce their classes to work conducted from the Illinois prairie to the farms of Africa, from densely populated cities to dense computer coding, they generate an atmosphere where research, teaching, and learning thrive inside a feedback loop of education across disciplines. Aimed at alumni and prospective students interested in the university's ongoing mission, as well as current faculty and students wishing to stay up to date on the diverse work being done around them, An Illinois Sampler offers a rare glimpse into the impact of cutting-edge research on undergraduate education in a rapidly changing world. The book also showcases the best, the most ambitious, and the most effective teaching practices developed and nurtured at one of the world's premier research universities. "The late Ernie Boyer inspired his readers when he wrote about the 'scholarship' of teaching. Years later, the engagement of faculty in the scholarly assessment of what students know and can do and in the exploration of ways in which these outcomes might be improved remains a formidable challenge. This is especially the case in complex research universities. In this timely volume and in fields as diverse as dance, geology, music, medicine, kinesiology, mathematics, engineering, and microbiology we have firsthand accounts of what faculty members are doing to make a better tomorrow. The narratives are as inspiring as they are practical and deserve to be shared and read by those who care about the quality of American universities."--Stanley Ikenberry, President Emeritus of the University of Illinois "The land-grant model is discovery of new knowledge, teaching students, and engaging the broader community. Something is lost when you try to separate the three concepts because they are mutually enriching--discovery comes in part by engaging the community, discovery by faculty and students strengthens education, etcetera. In this time of accountability and scarce resources, the academy must better explain this integration of effort, particularly in connection with the allocation of faculty time and compensation to research and engagement. The stories of scholar-educators from the University of Illinois, one of the great land-grant universities of the country, wonderfully illustrate how this all works."--Peter McPherson, President Emeritus of Michigan State University and President of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (From the Publisher)
An active blog spot supporting "efforts to make public the reflection and study of teaching and learning” — advice and tips for writing the scholarship of teaching. 
Although academic identity has received attention in the literature, there have been few attempts to understand the influence on identity from engagement with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). In this paper, we (a group of eight scholars from five different countries) describe how our interactions with SoTL have impacted the shaping of our academic identities. We have struggled to define the value, purpose, outcomes, and meanings of being a disciplined SoTL scholar, sometimes in addition to and sometimes in opposition to being a disciplinary scholar. Through analysis of our own 100-word reflective narratives, we identify common conflicts and configurations around our experiences of developing a SoTL identity. We describe how navigating among conflicting identities can lead us into a troublesome but deeply reflective liminal space, prompting profound realizations and the reconstruction of academic identity. Drawing on this notion of liminality helps us to understand our journeys as moving through a necessary and important transformational landscape, and allows us to suggest ways to support those engaging with SoTL to develop an integrative SoTL identity.
An early demonstration of the value to teachers (and students) of writing the scholarship of teaching (SoTL) by defining a challenge to classroom learning, a “problem” to be investigated (much as we define a problem for our guild research to address) – in this case: learning goals and student pre-knowledge.
This research explores key features of the scholarship of teaching and learning presented in nine higher education pedagogical journals. In an effort to better understand the domain in which the journal Teaching Sociology resides, descriptive and comparative analyses indicate that there is notable variation in the type of knowledge offered to teacher-scholars in different disciplines and in the patterns of authorship in terms of solo or multiple authors and gender. Teaching Sociology appears to fare well in comparison with other journals for the criteria examined. The critical issue of determining how this knowledge serves us in practice remains.
A bibliography of important essays about the scholarship of teaching, compiled by Kathleen McKinney at Illinois State University in Spring 2013.
Click Here for Book Review Abstract: What does it mean to be authentic? Why should it matter whether or not we become more authentic? How might authenticity inform and enhance the social practice of the scholarship of university teaching and, by implication, the learning and development of students? Authenticity in and through Teaching introduces three distinct perspectives on authenticity, the existential, the critical and the communitarian, and shows what moving towards greater authenticity involves for teachers and students when viewed from each of these angles. In developing the notion of ‘the scholarship of teaching as an authentic practice', this book draws on several complementary ideas from social philosophy to explore the nature of this practice and the conditions under which it might qualify as 'authentic'. Other concepts guiding the analysis include ‘virtue’, 'being', ‘communicative action’, 'power', ‘critical reflection’ and ‘transformation’. Authenticity in and through Teaching also introduces a vision of the scholarship of teaching whose ultimate aim it is to serve the important interests of students. These important interests, it is argued, are the students’ own striving and development towards greater authenticity. Both teachers and students are thus implicated in a process of transformative learning, including objective and subjective reframing, redefinition and reconstruction, through critical reflection and critical self-reflection on assumptions. It is argued that, in important ways, this transformative process is intimately bound up with becoming more authentic. Rather than being concerned principally with rendering research evidence of ‘what works’, the scholarship of teaching emerges as a social practice that is equally concerned with the questions surrounding the value, desirability and emancipatory potential of what we do in teaching. The scholarship of teaching, therefore, also engages with the bigger questions of social justice and equality in and through higher education. The book combines Carolin Kreber's previous research on authenticity with earlier work on the scholarship of teaching, offering a provocative, fresh and timely perspective on the scholarship of university teaching and professional learning. (From the Publisher)
Click Here for Book Review Abstract: Take your great idea to the next level with action research How—and when—can we find time to conduct meaningful action research? Great ideas and thought-provoking questions can only blossom through methodical inquiry. Nancy Fichtman Dana steps in as your action-research coach and leads you on a journey through wonderings to real change in your classroom. From framing your question to presenting your research, this guide will encourage, challenge, and ultimately lead you through the action research process. Teachers, students, and action-research coaches alike will learn how to: • Reframe initial wonderings into pointed inquiries • Creatively analyze both qualitative and quantitative data • Draw action-research topics out of ordinary discussions with colleagues • Share findings with others to help them improve as well With real-life vignettes, self-guided worksheets, and an included DVD, Digging Deeper into Action Research is your go-to guide each time you embark on a new journey toward professional growth. (From the Publisher)