What is SoTL?
“SoTL differs from scholarly and reflective teaching in that it not only involves questioning one’s teaching or a teaching strategy, but also formally gathering and exploring evidence, researching the literature, refining and testing practices, and finally going public. The purpose of SoTL is not just to make an impact on student learning, but through formal, peer-reviewed communication, to contribute to the larger knowledge base on teaching and learning (Bishop-Clark and Dietz-Uhler, 2012).”
SoTL at Georgia Southern
Founded in 2007 under the leadership of Dr. Alan Altany, “SoTL at Southern” was established to support faculty in developing research-informed teaching practices. Its foundational pillars include:
- The SoTL Commons Conference
- The ijSoTL Journal
- Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs)
These three pillars have positioned Georgia Southern as a leader in faculty development and pedagogical research.
SoTL programs are sponsored, supported, and facilitated by Georgia Southern’s Faculty Center. One of the most significant ways the Faculty Center helps advance professional development is through supporting faculty research in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The Faculty Center supports the SoTL Learning Community (FLC) for beginners and a competitive, funded Mentorship Program that conducts innovative SoTL research.
The Georgia Southern SoTL Advisory Board is composed of Georgia Southern faculty who are actively engaged in SoTL at the local, national, and international level. Its primary purpose is to collaborate with the Faculty Center in guiding, supporting, and assessing the “SoTL at Georgia Southern” initiative.
Launched in 2007, ijSoTL is Georgia Southern’s peer-reviewed, open-access journal. It allows faculty to publish and review rigorous SoTL research with global reach. As of April 2024, the journal has:
- 88,725 downloads
- Contributions from 22,407 institutions worldwide
Held annually since 2007, the SoTL Commons Conference brings together educators from around the world to present innovative research in teaching and learning. With attendees from over 90 institutions and 12 countries, the conference fosters global collaboration and practical insight into classroom success.
This Hopscotch Model by I.M. Jorrin-Abellán & Hillary Steiner outlines a SoTL Research Project in nine steps
- Who I am as Faculty SoTL-Researcher?
- What is the problem/need I want to study in my classroom?
- Evidence supporting the problem/need I want to study in my classroom.
- How I will study the problem/need?
- What questions will be driving the study of the problem/need?
- What data I will collect?
- How will I analyze the collected data?
- How I will ensure the trustworthiness of the process?
- What ethical principles will be guiding my study?
Much has been written about starting a SoTL research project. We recommend that faculty who are new to SoTL Research first start with the Hopscotch 4 SoTL model.
“Hopscotch 4 SoTL” by I.M. Jorrin-Abellán & Hillary Steiner is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
“(SoTL has made me) much more aware of the effectiveness of the teaching strategies I use.”
– Dr. Adrienne Cohen