Teaching and learning researchers often distinguish between good teaching, scholarly teaching, and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).
You can learn more about how others have articulated this distinction by reviewing the resources below.
The Center for Engaged Learning produced this article, SoTL vs. Scholarly Teaching which features a video (see below) with interviewed SoTL scholars offering key distinctions between Scholarship of Teaching and Learning vs. Scholarly Teaching.
The MacPherson Institute, formerly the Center for Leadership in Learning at McMaster University has produced the Research on Teaching & Learning Guidebook which provides an introduction to SoTL research.
There are also emerging conversations about the similarities and differences between the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and Educational Research, Disciplinary-Based Educational Research, Learning Science, Health Professions Education, and several other terms for research into teaching and learning in postsecondary education. McMaster University uses the term ‘research on teaching’ to describe this work. Read Research on Teaching and Learning at McMaster University: A Discussion for the rationale for this term.
- Learn more about these overlaps and distinctions by reading SoTL, ER, and DBER: Thoughts Inspired by a Twitter Conversation, a blog posted on The SoTL Advocate, written by Jennifer Friberg, the Cross Endowed Chair in SoTL and Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Illinois State University.
Note: While this module uses the language of SoTL, you may hear other terms within your discipline and among colleagues.
After reviewing the above material, reflect on the following questions:
- How would you distinguish good teaching, scholarly teaching, and the scholarship of teaching and learning?
- Where might your current teaching approach/practice fit within these categorizations?
- What might motivate you to further engage in scholarly teaching and/or scholarship of teaching and learning?