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SOTL Scholars Network

The new SoTL Network provides opportunities for SoTL Scholars to share knowledge and experiences within an informal space creating possibilities of inquiring about and reflecting upon SoTL practices. The goal of the Network is to build SoTL capacity, exchange ideas, create a repository of resources and develop meaningful partnerships amongst educators. Any McMaster faculty/staff working on a teaching and learning research project or simply interested in learning more about the scholarship of teaching and learning is welcome to join the network.

What is the SoTL Scholars Network?

The new SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) Network brings together members of campus to inquire about, discuss, and reflect upon SoTL practices. We meet 4 times per year for energizing conversations.

We seek to:

  1. Establish a group of colleagues who value teaching and learning scholarship and can help disseminate this scholarship across campus;
  2. Curate a list of relevant SoTL resources for new and advanced SoTL scholars.

We do this by:

  • Welcoming interested newcomers to McMaster’s SoTL community
  • Fostering an informal and collegial space for reading literature, exchanging ideas, seeking feedback, and presenting SoTL-related work
  • Facilitating opportunities for interdisciplinary connection and collaboration among those interested/engaged in SoTL
  • Building excitement, recognition, and capacity for SoTL on campus
  • Creating and sharing a repository of resources related to SoTL
  • Identifying strategies for sharing SoTL work across campus

What is SoTL?

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is an emerging, interdisciplinary area of scholarship where post-secondary educators systematically study teaching and learning in order to improve learning. Scholars often investigate research questions within courses that they teach and/or their own discipline, drawing on a range of methodologies. Some also study cross-cutting teaching and learning issues in higher education (e.g. equity, accessibility, digital technologies).

Who should attend the SoTL Scholars Network?

  • Faculty, sessional instructors, and postdoctoral fellows
  • Staff with education-related responsibilities or interest
  • Administrators seeking to encourage faculty/staff in educational research
  • Graduate students (for example, those interested in/completing a thesis on an education-related topic; students taking an EDU(cation) course who desire to engage in further conversations about SoTL)

Why attend?

  • Gather information, ask questions, and access resources related to SoTL
  • Reduce feelings of isolation common among those engaged in educational research
  • Read and discuss current SoTL research
  • Present and receive feedback on SoTL research projects
  • Expand one’s interdisciplinary network
  • Identify and meet colleagues and potential collaborators