From the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning to the Scholarly Institution: A STEM Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.13.50Keywords:
institutional support, teaching focused lecturers, reward and recognition, quality enhancement, scholarly teachingAbstract
There has been a documented increase in SoTL activity, which in the United Kingdom (UK) may be a result of the heightened focus on teaching due to increased regulation and monitoring, competition, changes in the workforce structure, and quality enhancement within the sector. STEM academics specifically face challenges in engaging with SoTL as the methodologies used differ from their discipline training. Offering a STEM perspective, we provide four case studies at the institutional and national level of interventions in STEM teaching to address these challenges, namely: conducting educational research with students as partners, establishing a faculty based SoTL centre, reward and recognition of staff, and the formation of a national SoTL conference for STEM educators. We discuss the extent to which the case studies demonstrate Felton’s principles of good scholarship and propose the concept of a “scholarly institution” as one which systematically nurtures and harvests SoTL research (internal and external to the institution) by establishing structures and cultures that foster evidence-informed teaching and learning practices. We conclude that to truly realise the benefits of SoTL, practitioners not only need support to undertake SoTL inquiries, but that the institutions must commit to using SoTL to inform their policies and procedures as well.
Downloads
References
Advance HE. 2023. “Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Supporting Learning in Higher Education.” 2023. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/teaching-and-learning/psf.
Bell, Adrian R., and Chris Brooks. 2019. “Is There a ‘Magic Link’ Between Research Activity, Professional Teaching Qualifications and Student Satisfaction?” Higher Education Policy 32 (2): 227–48. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-018-0081-0.
Bell, John, Rachel Dicker, Michael Garcia, Eoghan Kelly, Ricarda Streich, Hilda Mulrooney, and Alison F. Kelly. 2019. “Active Learning across Disciplines: Opportunities to Develop Employability Skills and Leadership Potential in Undergraduate Students. A Student and Staff Perspective.” New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences 14 (1). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1231848.
Biggs, John, Catherine Tang, and Gregor Kennedy. 2022. Teaching for Quality Learning at University: What the Student Does. 5th edition. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Bunce, Louise, Amy Baird, and Siân E. Jones. 2017. “The Student-as-Consumer Approach in Higher Education and Its Effects on Academic Performance.” Studies in Higher Education 42 (11): 1958–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1127908.
Calabrese, Gianpiero, Debbie-Leigh M. Leadbitter, Neusa D. S. M. Da Trindade, Ashveini Jeyabalan, Debbie Dolton, and Amr ElShaer. 2022. “Personal Tutoring Scheme: Expectations, Perceptions and Factors Affecting Students” Engagement.” Frontiers in Education 6. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2021.727410.
Canning, John, and Rachel Masika. 2022. “The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): The Thorn in the Flesh of Educational Research.” Studies in Higher Education 47 (6): 1084–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1836485.
Cashmore, Annette, Chris Cane, and Robert Cane. 2013. “Rebalancing Promotion in the HE Sector: Is Teaching Excellence Being Rewarded?” Advance HE. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/rebalancing-promotion-he-sector-teaching-excellence-being-rewarded.
Croucher, Gwilym, and William B. Lacy. 2022. “The Emergence of Academic Capitalism and University Neoliberalism: Perspectives of Australian Higher Education Leadership.” Higher Education 83 (2): 279–96. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00655-7.
Cunliffe, Ann L. 2016. “Republication of ‘On Becoming a Critically Reflexive Practitioner.’” Journal of Management Education 40 (6): 747–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562916674465.
Cunliffe, Ann L. 2020. “Reflexivity in Teaching and Researching Organizational Studies.” Revista de Administração de Emprêsas 60 (1): 64–70. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-759020200108.
Curran, Roisin, and Avril Honan. 2013. “Students as Partners Change Programme Compendium 2012–13: Student Engagement: A Catalyst for Transformative Change.” Higher Education Academy. https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/en/publications/students-as-partners-change-programme-compendium-2012-13-student-.
Department of Education. 2021. “Participation Measures in Higher Education, Academic Year 2019/20.” https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/participation-measures-in-higher-education/2019-20#releaseHeadlines-tables.
Fanghanel, Joelle, Jane Pritchard, Jacqueline Potter, and Gina Wisker. 2016. “Defining and Supporting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): A Sector Wide Study.” Advance HE. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/defining-and-supporting-scholarship-teaching-and-learning-sotl-sector-wide-study.
Felten, Peter. 2013. “Principles of Good Practice in SoTL.” Teaching & Learning Inquiry 1 (1): 121–5. https://doi.org/10.2979/teachlearninqu.1.1.121.
Flavell, Helen, Lynne Roberts, Georgina Fyfe, and Michelle Broughton. 2018. “Shifting Goal Posts: The Impact of Academic Workforce Reshaping and the Introduction of Teaching Academic Roles on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.” The Australian Educational Researcher 45 (2): 179–94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-017-0247-6.
Gretton, Sarah, and Derek Raine. 2017. “Reward and Recognition for University Teaching in STEM Subjects.” Journal of Further and Higher Education 41 (3): 301–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2015.1100714.
Gunn, Vicky, and Anna Fisk. 2014. “Considering Teaching Excellence in Higher Education: 2007–2013.” Advance HE. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/considering-teaching-excellence-higher-education-2007-2013.
HESA. 2024a. “Statistical Bulletin SB267—Higher Education Staff Statistics: UK, 2022/23.” https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/16-01-2024/sb267-higher-education-staff-statistics.
HESA. 2024b. “Statistical Bulletin SB269: Higher Education Student Statistics, UK, 2022/23.” https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/08-08-2024/sb269-higher-education-student-statistics/numbers.
Huet, Isabel, Hendrik van der Sluis, and Steve May. 2016. “Staff-Student Partnerships in Pedagogic Research: The Benefits for Students’ Development of Research Competencies.” In ICERI 2016 Proceedings, 3232–41. Seville, ES: IATED. https://doi.org/10.21125/iceri.2016.1742.
Jackson, Montana T., and Amanda Ooms. 2014. “Student Academic Development Research Associate Scheme—Evaluation Report Academic Year 2013/14.” Kingston University.
Kelly, Niamh, Susan Nesbit, and Carolyn Oliver. 2012. “A Difficult Journey: Transitioning from STEM to SoTL.” International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 6 (1). https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2012.060118.
Khodabandelou, Rouhollah, Khalid Al Saddi, Raja M. R. Hussein, Wan F. W. Mohammed, Mohamed E. Osman, and Mohamed Al-Aghbari. 2022. “Research Trends in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: A Combination of Thematic and Bibliometric Analysis.” Resmilitaris 12 (6): 1430–46. https://resmilitaris.net/issue-content/research-trends-in-scholarship-of-teaching-and-learning-in-higher-education-a-combination-of-thematic-and-bibliometric-analysis-3345.
McDuff, Nona, John Tatam, Owen Beacock, and Fiona Ross. 2018. “Closing the Attainment Gap for Students from Black and Minority Ethnic Backgrounds through Institutional Change.” Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning 20 (1): 79–101. https://doi.org/10.5456/WPLL.20.1.79.
Mulrooney, Hilda M., and Alison F. Kelly. 2021. “Belonging, the Physical Space of the University Campus and How It Is Perceived by Students: A Quantitative Analysis among a Diverse Student Group.” Journal of Learning Spaces 10 (2). https://libjournal.uncg.edu/jls/article/view/2042.
U.K Office for Students. 2018. “New Universities Regulator Comes into Force.” 8 January 2018. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-universities-regulator-comes-into-force.
Page, Nigel, Gary Forster-Wilkins, and Mark Bonetzky. 2021. “The Impact of Student Timetables and Commuting on Student Satisfaction.” New Directions in the Teaching of Natural Sciences 16 (May). https://doi.org/10.29311/ndtps.v0i16.3793.
Plummer, Sarah, Jennifer Sparks, Kimberly Broedel-Zaugg, Daniel A. Brazeau, Kristine Krebs, and Gayle A. Brazeau. 2023. “Trends in the Number of Authors and Institutions in Papers Published in AJPE 2015-2019.” American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 87 (2). https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe8972.
Potter, Michael K., and Erika Kustra. 2011. “The Relationship between Scholarly Teaching and SoTL: Models, Distinctions, and Clarifications.” International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 5 (1). https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2011.050123.
Smith, Susan, and David Walker. 2021. “Scholarship and Academic Capitals: The Boundaried Nature of Education-Focused Career Tracks.” Teaching in Higher Education 29 (1): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.1965570.
Smith, Susan, and David Walker. 2022. “Scholarship and Teaching-Focused Roles: An Exploratory Study of Academics’ Experiences and Perceptions of Support.” Innovations in Education and Teaching International 61 (1): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2022.2132981.
Swann, Nicola, Tia Boddie, Frank Owusu-Sekyere, and Hannah J. Moir. 2021. “Pre-Assessment Support: Is It ‘One Size Fits All?’” In Assessment and Feedback in a Post-Pandemic Era: A Time for Learning and Inclusion, edited by Patrick Baughan. Advance HE. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/assessment-and-feedback-post-pandemic-era-time-learning-and-inclusion.
The Open University. 2023. “Facts and Figures.” About The Open University. 15 February 2023. https://www.open.ac.uk/about/main/strategy-and-policies/facts-and-figures.
Tierney, Anne M. 2016. “‘More than Just a Teaching Fellow’: The Impact of REF and Implications of TEF on Life Science Teaching-Focused Academics in UK HEIs.” PhD diss., Durham University. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11826/.
Tierney, Anne M. 2017. “Threshold Concepts in Academic Practice: Engagement with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.” Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 12 (2): 165–84. https://www.pestlhe.org/index.php/pestlhe/article/view/167.
Trigwell, Keith, and Suzanne Shale. 2004. “Student Learning and the Scholarship of University Teaching.” Studies in Higher Education 29 (4): 523–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/0307507042000236407.
Warnes, Mark. 2021. “Questioning the Impact of Teaching Fellowships on Excellent Teachers.” Postdigital Science and Education 3 (1): 162–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00107-6.
Webb, Andrea S., and Anne M. Tierney. 2020. “Investigating Support for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning; We Need SoTL Educational Leaders.” Innovations in Education and Teaching International 57 (5): 613–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2019.1635905.
Webb, Andrea S., and Ashley J. Welsh. 2021. “Serendipitous Conversations: The 10-Year Journey in Becoming SoTL Scholars and Educators.” International Journal for Academic Development 30 (2): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2021.1964510.
Wilkinson, Louise C., and Mark D. Wilkinson. 2023. “Value for Money and the Commodification of Higher Education: Front-Line Narratives.” Teaching in Higher Education 28 (2): 406–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2020.1819226.
Williams, Neil A., and Audrey Benjamin. 2022. “An Investigation of Students’ Views on Decolonising the Science Curriculum.” Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education 15 (1). https://doi.org/10.21100/compass.v15i1.1258.
Wills, Sandra, Annette Cashmore, David Sadler, Sara Booth, Christine Brown, Chris Crane, Stephen McHanwell, and Sue Robson. 2013. “Promoting Teaching: International Inter-University Benchmarking of Academic Promotion.” Advance HE. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/promoting-teaching-benchmarking-guide.
Yin, Robert K. 2018. Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods. Sixth edition. SAGE Publications, Inc.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Trevor D. Collins, Diane Butler, Sarah N. Gretton, Neil A. Williams
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
