SoTL at Northwestern

SoTL at Northwestern offers instructors the opportunity to engage in the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching. Participants work with a Searle Center facilitator and faculty peers to design and implement a research project on a course that they teach or program that they teach in. This involves developing a research question, collecting and analyzing data, and presenting the findings at a conference or in a journal.

Overview

SoTL at Northwestern aims to provide a supportive environment to assist instructors as they design and conduct a research project on their own teaching. Participants work with a facilitator from the Searle Center who has expertise in research and evaluation to design and implement their project. They will share their research journey with other Northwestern instructors in the program, sharing ideas and challenges and giving and receiving feedback on their research studies.

Participants will address a research question related to their own teaching. The range of questions is limitless but may encompass questions about the impact of a particular teaching activity or teaching innovation on student learning, students’ experience in the course or issues related to equity and inclusion. Participants will read research literature and work with the SoTL program facilitator and their peers to formulate their research question. They will use qualitative, quantitative or mixed-methods to answer their research question.

This program is currently in its pilot the phase. Participants in the inaugural cohort will carry out a research project related to inclusive teaching. Faculty who took part in Northwestern’s Inclusive Teaching Practicum will be invited to participate. Participants will take part in the SoTL program for at least one quarter. However, as they may participate in two or three quarters; designing the project in one quarter, collecting data in the next quarter and analyzing and writing up the results for dissemination in the third quarter.

The program consists of both in-person and online sessions.

Structured sessions focus on:

Identifying a research question
Choosing research methods
Collecting data
Analyzing data
Disseminating findings

Peer-feedback sessions will provide participants with the opportunity to receive feedback at every stage of the research progress. The sessions are designed to provide support, help participants overcome research challenges and celebrate progress.

Eligibility

Faculty, including tenure track faculty, professors of instruction and adjunct faculty who have the capacity to conduct a research project on their teaching. This could involve designing a study for a course that is currently being taught or will be taught in the future. It could also involve designing a study for a course that has already been taught. In this case, participants will analyze data (e.g., assessments, student assignments, other student work products) that were gathered when the course ran. The program does not require any prior experience in the scholarship of learning and teaching or education research.

Application or Registration

New cohorts commence in spring and summer quarters. Please check back for information about upcoming opportunities to participate.

Objectives

The goal of the program is for instructors to conduct a research project on their teaching and to disseminate the findings.

Program participants will:

Develop a knowledge of the field of the scholarship of learning and teaching.
Read the research literature on pedagogy in the discipline they teach in.
Design a research study to answer a research question(s) related to their own teaching.
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative research methods used in the scholarship of learning and teaching.
Collect and analyze quantitative and/or qualitative data.
Share study results in the form of a conference presentation or journal article.
Increase confidence in their ability to conduct research.
Contribute to the research literature on learning and teaching in their discipline.

Time Commitment and/or Schedule

Instructors will participate in the program for at least one quarter. As it takes time to collect and analyze data, the program will be very flexible. Participants may participate in the program for 3 or even 4 quarters.

The first quarter time commitment will involve three 1-hour meetings and at least one individual consultation with the program facilitator. During subsequent quarters, participants will take part in two peer-feedback sessions to receive feedback on their research work, address challenges and provide feedback for peers in their cohort.

Collecting and analyzing data takes time. Participants will be encouraged to design a research project that is manageable for them. That is, a research project that they can carry out within the time constraints that they have inside and outside the classroom.

Contact Us

Denise Drane, Senior Associate Director, Research & Evaluation
d-drane@northwestern.edu