Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

P: Public Invitation to the Campus Community
An essential aspect of an interconnected campus community is that there is multidisciplinary diversity in its membership (Pleschová et al., 2021; Maslach et al., 2001). Any faculty that teaches, coaches, and mentors students, regardless of their rank, professional series, and disciplinary background, should be invited to become a part of this SoTL community of care. To build a rich “colleagueship” (O’Meara et al., 2008) among the community constituents, a public and open invitation to the campus community is needed.

E: Engaged and Supportive Peers and Mentors
To encourage and facilitate professional growth, an integral aspect of the scholarly community should be peer support and mentorship. As evidenced by previous studies that demonstrated the importance of peer support (McEwan, 2021; Bossu, 2022; Jenab, 2021; Tierney et al., 2020), a network of like-minded scholars with whom trustful relationships and cross-disciplinary partnerships can be made serves to increase a sense of belonging as well as practitioner well-being (Pleschová et al., 2021; Lawrence & Herrick, 2019). Therefore, having regular, consistent, and meaningful engagement with peers in the program is critical to building a thriving community.

O: Ongoing Center Leadership and Guidance
In aligning the SoTL community with the institutional initiatives, active leadership from the teaching and learning centers is crucial (Schroeder, 2007; Botnaru et al., 2021; Simmons, 2016; Kenny et al., 2016). Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) should provide not only administrative and logistical support in building and sustaining the scholarly community, but also ongoing guidance for the SoTL community members through workshops, seminars, and consultations. The center should be the “hub” by providing space and opportunity for campus members to come together and create an institutional cultural change; the “incubator” by reaching the wider campus community as a result of the SoTL community; the “temple” for members of the SoTL community to engage in thoughtful conversations on teaching and learning; and the “sieve” by modeling evidence-based, data-informed approach in SoTL to developing and implementing impactful teaching practices (Stevens et al., 2008; POD Network, 2017). In this manner, the CTLs should be at the center of the scholarly SoTL community whose main focus is on teaching and learning.

P: Purposeful Conversations
For members of the SoTL community to engage in thoughtful, reflective, and meaningful conversations, the curriculum for the SoTL community should be intentionally and carefully developed. These conversations also serve to deepen the connections faculty members have with the mission and the purpose of the career they have chosen by prioritizing their commitments to students and student learning, making their work in the classrooms even more purposeful (O’Meara et al., 2008), which also enhances practitioner well-being (Lawrence & Herrick, 2019).

L: Learning Community
One of the core natures of the SoTL community is that it is a scholarly learning community that is comprised of faculty members with shared beliefs, interests, and missions in systematically exploring teaching practices and student learning. As evidenced by previous successes in having a faculty centered SoTL learning community, particularly in terms of peer social support, collaborative thought partnerships, and effectively building a network of SoTL practitioners across campus (Jenab, 2021; Tierney et al., 2020; Kim et al., 2021; Fisher et al., 2014), an integral part of a thriving SoTL community is centered on the group identity of a scholarly learning community. Being engaged in a fellowship program that raises awareness on evidenced-based teaching and classroom research practices, community members partake in professional development that goes beyond their disciplinary expertise; members of the learning community can serve as the change agents for their departments/units regarding the culture of SoTL, which in turn influences the institutional narratives on a data-informed and research-based approach to teaching practices (Henry et al., 2014; Harvey & Jones, 2021).

E: Engagement in Public Dissemination
SoTL is characterized by its nature of public scholarship (Chick, 2022). As public scholars, SoTL practitioners engage in the public dissemination of their finding, so that the completed work not only benefits the students that the practitioner directly engages in, but also contribute to the greater academic community such as that of the discipline, as well as the SoTL community. In amplification of SoTL findings, an effective SoTL community should have the outlets built into the program so that the presentation of their findings is a public, community celebration of SoTL work. This could be achieved by holding a SoTL research conference that is open to all members of the campus and surrounding communities, and by providing logistical support in SoTL manuscript preparations and publication at the conclusion of the community member’s SoTL research projects.