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Spotlight on SOTL

The MacPherson Institute publishes a monthly article summarized from primary literature.

Spotlight on SOTL: How Different Personalities Succeed in an Active Learning Environment

Spotlight on SOTL

April 1, 2026

Students sitting in lecture hall

Spotlight on SOTL: Putting Passive Learning in the Past: Positive Impact on Student Learning through Active Learning in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Spotlight on SOTL

March 11, 2026

Spotlight on SOTL: Exploring Institutional Whiteness and Coloniality Through the Experiences of BIPOC Graduate Teaching Assistants

Spotlight on SOTL

February 4, 2026

Students sitting around table engaging in discussion

Spotlight on SOTL: Harnessing the Power of Collaboration: Psychological Safety and Diversity

Spotlight on SOTL

December 10, 2025

Spotlight on SOTL: Graduate Student Mentorship: How to Avoid Your Students Falling Through the Cracks

Spotlight on SOTL

October 29, 2025

Image of clipboard

Spotlight on SOTL: Reimagining Office Hours: Students vs. Instructors on Office Hours

Spotlight on SOTL

September 3, 2025

Spotlight on SOTL: Game On! A Framework for Designing and Implementing Game-Based Learning Courses

Spotlight on SOTL

July 30, 2025

Spotlight on SOTL: From Visibility to Belonging: Supporting LGBTQ+ Students in Higher Education

Spotlight on SOTL

June 4, 2025

Spotlight on SOTL: Microlearning in Higher Education: Boosting Student Success with Bite-Sized Learning

Spotlight on SOTL

April 23, 2025

Hand typing on Keyboard

Spotlight on SOTL: Building Resilience: A Case for Constructing a Teaching Philosophy

Spotlight on SOTL

March 18, 2025

Four students sitting around a table. The words

Spotlight on SOTL: Exploring a Framework for Challenging Anti-Black Racism in Education

Spotlight on SOTL

February 11, 2025

Spotlight on SOTL: Burn Bright, Not Out: Tackling Student Burnout in Education

Spotlight on SOTL

December 11, 2024

Student participating in online class

Spotlight on SOTL: Transcending Barriers – Strategies for supporting and enhancing trans students’ experiences in the classroom

Spotlight on SOTL

November 20, 2024

Spotlight on SOTL: Second time around - The influence of two-Stage collaborative testing on peer relationships

Spotlight on SOTL

October 16, 2024

Jigsaw puzzle pieces

Spotlight on SOTL: Enhancing Student Experience Through Purposeful Course Design

Spotlight on SOTL

August 14, 2024

Angry teacher yelling in front of chalkboard

Spotlight on SOTL: What not to do in teaching - research on how to be a poor instructor

Spotlight on SOTL

July 10, 2024

Spotlight on SoTL: Supervise to Help them Thrive - Supporting BIPOC graduate students

Spotlight on SOTL

June 5, 2024

Pen resting on Essay

Spotlight on SOTL: Alternatives to Essays - Considerations for new approaches

Spotlight on SOTL

May 1, 2024

Spotlight on SOTL: High-Five for HyFlex

Spotlight on SOTL

April 10, 2024

Spotlight on SOTL: Podcast Pedagogy - A Sound Way to Learn

Spotlight on SOTL

March 6, 2024

Spotlight on SOTL: Being Human in STEM (HSTEM)

Spotlight on SOTL

February 7, 2024

Spotlight on SOTL: Flexible deadlines - Do they work in teaching?

Spotlight on SOTL

December 12, 2023

AI Generated: Color photo of a non - binary racially ambiguous university professor grading 10, 000 exams in a field of wildflowers with a unicorn standing beside them - Midjourney

Spotlight on SOTL: Using AI to Augment Teaching

Spotlight on SOTL

October 31, 2023

A person in a university library wearing a mask and sitting at a table with a computer. He is watching an online lecture.

Spotlight on SoTL: How to Implement an Engaging Learning SPACE for Online Students?

Spotlight on SOTL

October 4, 2023

Graphic image of an orange tshirt.

Spotlight on SoTL: Working together: Gaining a deeper understanding of truth and reconciliation in teaching

Spotlight on SOTL

September 13, 2023

Hands typing on laptop

Spotlight on SOTL: Blessing and a curse: The intersections of artificial intelligence and education

Spotlight on SOTL

July 5, 2023

Empty lecture hall

Spotlight on SOTL: Failure in University: Strategies to Re-Shape Classrooms to Embrace a ‘Pedagogy of Failure’

Spotlight on SOTL

June 6, 2023

Student writing with a pen on paper

Spotlight on SOTL: Getting more out of student reflection essays

Spotlight on SOTL

May 3, 2023

Spotlight on SoTL - Fulsome Feedback: Strategies to increase response rates on course experience surveys

Spotlight on SOTL

April 5, 2023

Spotlight on SOTL: To break or not break – that is the question.

Spotlight on SOTL

March 1, 2023

In a restaurant, a boy wearing a red shirt holds a spoon in front of his chest.

Spotlight on SOTL: Using a Visual Novel Activity to Teach Science Process Skills

Spotlight on SOTL

January 25, 2023

students in classroom using laptops

Spotlight on SOTL - “Nothing About Us Without Us”: Forming collaborative partnerships with disabled students to improve digital accessibility

Spotlight on SOTL

November 29, 2022

Spotlight on SOTL: Want students to benefit from accessible teaching? Check your underlying reasons and motivations.

Spotlight on SOTL

October 26, 2022

Picture of Students walking on McMaster Main Campus

Spotlight on SOTL: Addressing microaggressions experiences by Indigenous students in Canadian universities: What we can do as campus community members

Spotlight on SOTL

September 27, 2022

Photo of Convocation Hall - Exam Set up

Spotlight on SOTL: Back on the Menu: Re-examining Multiple-Choice Assessments in Large Humanities Classes

Spotlight on SOTL

August 31, 2022

Image of geology students at Whitefish Falls conducting field mapping.

Spotlight on SOTL: Bringing the Rocks to the People: The Creation of a Virtual Geological Field Trip

Spotlight on SOTL

July 25, 2022

Image of student looking at laptop screen showing a video file.

Spotlight on SOTL: Meaningful Medium or Muddied Message: Video use in Higher Ed

Spotlight on SOTL

July 5, 2022

Graphic image depicting a checklist and a computer

Spotlight on SOTL: Want to help students stay motivated and on-track? Consider using checklists

Spotlight on SOTL

May 25, 2022

Photo of students working in a study space

Spotlight on SOTL: The Power of Choice in Assessments

Spotlight on SOTL

March 30, 2022

Spotlight on SOTL: Four Reasons Not to Administer Time-Limited Tests

Spotlight on SOTL

March 2, 2022

Kris Knorr

Educational Developer

Scholarly Teaching, Science Key Contact

knorrk@mcmaster.ca