This week’s episode features an article from the open-access International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and considers how successfully the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) balances quality with disciplinary inclusivity.
See our extended show notes for this episode at: https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/high-quality-disciplinary-inclusive-sotl/
This week’s episode features an article from the open-access International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and considers how successfully the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) balances quality with disciplinary inclusivity:
McSweeney, Jill and Schnurr, Matthew A. (2023) "Can SoTL Generate High Quality Research while Maintaining its Commitment to Inclusivity?," International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Vol. 17: No. 1, Article 4. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2023.17104
60-Second SoTL
Episode 37 – High-Quality, Disciplinary-Inclusive SoTL
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0:03
Jessie L. Moore:
How might attention to quality and disciplinary inclusivity intersect to enhance the status of scholarship of teaching and learning? That’s the focus of this week’s 60-second SoTL from Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. I’m Jessie Moore.
0:16
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0:19
In “Can SoTL Generate High Quality Research while Maintaining its Commitment to Inclusivity,” published in the open-access International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Jill McSweeney and Matthew Schnurr share the results of a scoping review of 64 English-language articles published in three SoTL journals between January 2018 and January 2019. They focus specifically on publications identified as research papers, articles, research articles, or essays to explore what methods SoTL scholars used and to assess quality, using a 90-question tool. Their tool draws from 5 standardized tools for measuring quality of quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods research and included 16 sections, such as demographic information, literature synthesis, ethical practices, research design, and conclusions.
1:09
McSweeney and Schnurr share an abundance of statistics to describe the relevance and rigor of the 64 articles. For example, as they consider relevance, the authors share that 81.3% of the articles clearly articulated the rational for their study, and 79.7% grounded their study in contextual literature. Regarding rigor, they note that 50% of the articles used qualitative approaches, 23.4% used quantitative approaches , and 26.6% used mixed methods. Of particular importance to their discussion, they also share that 66.7% of the articles focused on one iteration of one course.
Their article, of course, shares a vast array of additional descriptive statistics about the 64 articles.
1:55
Based on their analysis, McSweeney and Schnurr suggest that SoTL hasn’t yet found a balance between high quality and disciplinary inclusivity and they note that most of the studies in their analysis did not describe the context for their research in relation to disciplines. They also advocate for more triangulation of data, rather than relying on a single data source. This suggestion feeds into one of three culminating recommendations in the article: First, that SoTL would benefit from more intentional, multi-disciplinary partnerships, perhaps inclusive of educational developers; second, that SoTL needs to attend to what constitutes ethical practice; and third, that the SoTL field should encourage triangulation of data to extend potential impact and research standing.
2:37
These recommendations, of course, engage ongoing conversations about “Big Tent” SoTL and comparisons between SoTL and disciplinary-based education research, and the authors thoughtfully address the way their own disciplinary epistemologies shape their analysis. As a result, the article invites a continuing conversation and offers interesting strategies for pursuing data-informed discussions about SoTL’s efforts to balance quality and disciplinary inclusivity.
3:03
To learn more about this study, follow the link in our show notes to read this open access article and to review our supplemental resources for this episode.
3:10
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Join us next week for another snapshot of recent scholarship of teaching and learning on 60-second SoTL from Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. Learn more about the Center at www.CenterForEngagedLearning.org.
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