Knowledge for teaching, knowledge about teaching: exploring the links between education research, scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) and scholarly teaching

AbstractThe relationship between education research and the scholarship of teaching and learning(SOTL) is still debated, while a distinction has been made between scholarly teaching andSOTL. This study compares and contrasts two programmes of work that took place in aparticular 2nd year engineering course, both led by the author. The first programme was aneducational research project investigating student learning in the course. The secondprogramme was a period of teaching, leading to some SOTL output. Analysis of theknowledge drawn on in teaching, confirms that good university teaching is not a directapplication of research findings but rather draws on a broad and largely tacit practical baseof knowledge. The article also offers a deliberation on whether it is productive to maintainthe distinction between education research and SOTL

Strategies for Embedding Scholarship in the Educational Experiences of Engineering Technology Undergraduate Students

The hallmark of Engineering Technology (ET) programs is its student-centered curriculum and hands-on approach to teaching. Many institutions with ET programs now require scholarship of their ET faculty in addition to their teaching duties. In many institutions that have always emphasized scholarship and research, undergraduate student education has often times taken a back seat to research. The question that arises for ET programs as we begin to engage in scholarly activities is: how do we insure that ET scholarship is student-centered similar to ET teaching and curriculum? The benefits of scholarship to ET students include enhancement of their critical thinking, innovative, lifelong learning skills, skills that many ET employers today are looking for in our students. In this paper, the author examines issues relating to the importance of scholarship to ET undergraduate students, barriers to ET student scholarship, mechanisms for embedding scholarship in the ET curriculum, resources required to facilitate ET student scholarship, and feedback from ET student scholars who recently worked on a scholarly project with the author. The author concludes that embedding scholarship in the ET curriculum is very desirable and suggests some ways and means to facilitate and nurture student scholarship in ET

Developing scholarship through collaboration in an online roleplay-simulation: Mekong eSim, a case study

Mekong e-Sim was designed to create an authentic learning environment in which students from different disciplines work together to learn about the complexities of environmental decision-making. The version of Mekong e-Sim that is reported here involved students of the subjects Asia-Pacific Development (geography), Technology Assessment (technological developments and impacts in engineering) and Environmental Engineering. During the Mekong e-Sim, students collaborated to adopt different stakeholder roles and initiate and respond to major events relating to economic and environmental development in the Mekong region. Key tasks included responding to topical news events, making submissions to public planning inquiries, writing reports and debating development issues in the Mekong region. Through their participation in Mekong e-Sim, students developed understanding of the complexities of decision-making, appreciation of the range of perspectives associated with environmental management and developed subject specific skills and understandings. A description of the design and evaluation of the Mekong e-Sim is provided in McLaughlan et al. (2001). The development of the teaching project was a collaborative, cross-institutional teaching development that brought together staff with a range of skills and expertise. Despite the fact that there has been increasing attention to scholarly values in universities in recent years there has been little consideration of what this might look like. This paper uses the case of the development and teaching of Mekong e-Sim to investigate scholarly teaching, particularly the process and practice of scholarship and teaching in a team situation

Disseminating scholarship of teaching and learning: Using grass roots networking to share research and influence teaching practice

Background Most mathematicians develop their teaching practice through a combination of on the job experience and guidance from colleagues. However this preparation may not be sufficient to equip them to face the many challenges of teaching undergraduate mathematics, such as diverse first-year cohorts, incorporation of new teaching technologies and student disengagement. However due to research priorities and high workloads, most academics do not have the time or capacity to actively seek out information or assistance in developing their approach to teaching (Cretchley, 2009; Probert, 2014). There is an active research community in undergraduate mathematics education who disseminate their research findings and teaching innovations through workshops, conferences, articles and websites. However the impact of these activities can be limited to those already engaged in scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) and may not reach the wider audience of teaching academics. This second group is more likely to be interested in practical information and advice relating to implementation of teaching innovations, which is not generally presented in formal academic sources (Southwell, Gannaway, Orrell, Chalmers, & Abraham, 2010). Purpose The First Year in Maths project (FYiMaths) identified many challenges for those teaching first-year mathematics, including limited access to information about teaching practices in mathematics at other universities and limited engagement with current research in SOTL. This motivated further investigation to identify mathematician’s information needs, their preferred methods of information seeking and how these factors relate to the way information about learning and teaching is disseminated. Methodology This qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews with thirteen mathematicians and statisticians teaching in undergraduate programs in Australian universities. Using a phenomenological approach to analysis, the interviews were coded to identify the main themes in relation to information seeking and teaching practice. Conclusions The study found that mathematicians needed discipline specific, practical and evidence-based information and advice about teaching, but that there were a number of barriers to them finding relevant information. Time pressures and past difficulties in locating useful information, meant they did not actively search traditional academic journals, the internet or libraries. The main sources of information were trusted colleagues, local presentations and seminars on teaching initiatives, mentors and institutional working groups. These information seeking methods were largely passive, involving referral of information from trusted sources and accidental discovery. Their natural information-seeking behavior reflected a strong interest in networking and accessing shared discipline knowledge. This study indicates that there is potential for grass roots discipline networks and communities of practice for improving access to information to support the development of scholarly teaching. The findings indicate that dissemination of research and teaching innovations should involve a program of targeted presentations, engagement with disciplines networks and development of connections with target academic faculties and schools to successfully engage with peers. Cretchley, P. (2009). Are Australian universities promoting learning and teaching activity effectively? An assessment of the effects on science and engineering academics. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 40(7), 865-875. Probert, B. (2014). Why scholarship matters in higher education. Discussion paper 2. Sydney: Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. Southwell, D., Gannaway, D., Orrell, J., Chalmers, D., & Abraham, C. (2010). Strategies for effective dissemination of the outcomes of teaching and learning projects. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 32(1), 55-67

Laying the Foundation for Education 4.0: Access, Value and Accountability

The complexity of the global problems engineers are working to solve has long been discussed in both engineering and engineering education circles. The Grand Challenges for Engineering are grand because of the complexity of the challenges. While the challenges stand over a decade later, the speed at which the terms in which they are described, the shift from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0, has been slow. As the world becomes more deeply connected, as the internet of things becomes more commonplace in all parts of our lives, as technologies like machine learning and cyber physical systems become accessible to even small businesses, the potential solutions to the current and future grand challenges change in ways we cannot yet predict and will require language to describe what we have not yet invented. Engineering education is living in a similar period of tumult. Many of the engineering tools and methods we have been relying on and teaching are of limited use in the Industry 4.0 and 5.0 worlds. Over the past few years, a sprinkling of scholarship has begun to define Engineering Education 4.0 in terms of teaching Industry 4.0 concepts and/or as pedagogical techniques such as video-based internet accessible instruction and collaborative virtual learning environments. This paper advances engineering education through laying out a a series of questions of what Engineering Education 4.0 means beyond a bundle of tools. This foundation includes the themes of access, value, and accountability. Access considers how Engineering Education 4.0 has the potential to increase equitable access to engineering education at all levels and varieties, including formal education, continuous lifelong learning, and informal learning within society. Value describes the benefits to the student, the learning environment (including the teacher), the institution, and society from the activities and results of engineering education. Value is generated through every course or set of micro-credentials in Engineering Education 4.0 and is explicitly articulated as part of the learning process. Accountability is the need at all units of analysis to demonstrate appropriate stewardship of resources to achieve the access and value promise of Engineering Education 4.0. Accountability is part of the credentialing process as well as part of the faculty and institutional evaluation systems. These three foundations will form the core of a paradigm that is intended to begin a scholarly dialogue to define Engineering Education 4.0

Characterizing the University of California's tenure-track teaching position from the faculty and administrator perspectives.

Teaching faculty are a potential mechanism to generate positive change in undergraduate STEM education. One such type of faculty is the Lecturer with Potential Security of Employment (L(P)SOE), a tenure-track faculty line within the University of California (UC) system. As a foundation for future studies, we sought to characterize individuals in the L(P)SOE position in terms of their background training, job expectations, and resources available for their success. Data were collected through an online survey completed by over 80% of STEM L(P)SOEs across the UC system, as well as interviews with over 20 deans and chairs in STEM departments at three UC campuses. From this work, we found that the majority of current L(P)SOEs were formally trained within their disciplines and not in an education field; however, they possessed substantial education experience, such as classroom teaching or participation in professional development opportunities. Expectations for time spent on teaching, research, and service are aligned between individuals within varying ranks of the L(P)SOE faculty and between L(P)SOEs and administrators. L(P)SOEs and administrators are also in agreement about what constitutes acceptable professional development activities. Interestingly, we identified differences that may reflect changes in the position over time, including increased start-up funds for more recently hired L(P)SOE faculty and a differing perspective on the role of discipline-based education research and scholarly activities between non-tenured and more senior L(P)SOEs. Overall, these data provide a snapshot of the L(P)SOE position that will aid in future work to identify the potential institutional impact of these individuals

Linkages between research, scholarship and teaching in universities in China

Linkages between research, scholarship and teaching are a topic of contemporary interest in UK universities, driven by pressures such as traditional views of the nature and purpose of universities, reputation, student expectations of their teachers, educational enhancement through up-to-date research and scholarly input, and personal ambitions and satisfaction. The paper describes a study of these linkages at the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) during 2006 within the Sino-UK Higher Education Leadership Development Programme, which allows for senior academics from China and the UK to study a particular management issue to identify good practice which they can apply in their institution. The activities included a preliminary workshop in the UK, a two-week visit to BIT and a workshop in Beijing. My study was conducted through a semi-structured interview programme with a wide range of academics and administrators. It was enlightening to find that a leading Chinese university, which operates within quite different systems and cultures from the UK, nevertheless has similar issues, imperatives and problems. My overall conclusion is that there is international agreement that research and scholarly performance underpins the credibility of academic staff to teach at a university, which in turn attracts good students and research staff

Reclaiming scholarship as an integrating dimension of academic work for the impact of research on teaching and learning in higher education

This paper offers reflections on Ernest Boyer’s conceptions of scholarship which were first outlined twenty years earlier. It considers the ways in which such conceptions have become meaninglessness as part of a wider process of reductionism and how this relates to policy discussions on curriculum, competence and teaching. It argues for the central place of research in, and the central place of, Higher Education in the professional education of teachers. It proposes that in order to develop cultures of inquiry in Higher Education we need to do so in ways that integrate research, teaching and learning. The integration process is seen to be achieved through an understanding of the nature of wholes and through a process of seeing, and therefore thinking and acting, holistically. It is argued that this is part of a wider struggle over values which the academic community needs to advance by reclaiming the meaning of scholarship

Christian Academics Need to Increase their Publishing: A Study of CCCU Teaching Faculty and Librarians

This is the second of two articles that explains the results of an in-depth research study of teaching faculty and librarian scholarship within the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). The first article examined the nature and extent of that scholarship and this article examines its necessity