Developing SoTL through organized scholarship institutes

The need to further integrate SoTL into college and university cultures has been discussed relatively frequently in recent teaching and learning literature. While a number of useful strategies to assist in this task have been advanced, one especially promising suggestion is the development of organized, institutionally-recognized scholarship institutes. Centres or units of this sort have been created at higher education institutions in a number of countries, but little published information currently exists about the design of these institutes or the experiences of individuals affiliated with them. To that end, the present study sought to examine the perceived benefits, challenges and design features of teaching and learning scholarship institutes at research-intensive universities worldwide. A website scan and a survey of individuals affiliated with these units were used to collect qualitative and quantitative data of relevance to the research questions. Based on the findings, and on ideas from the existing research institute and scholarship of teaching and learning literatures, a series of recommendations for individuals and campuses interested in developing effective SoTL institutes are provided

Creative Differences: Teaching Creativity Across the Disciplines

Several authors have suggested that educational institutions have a responsibility to foster creativity in their students. Yet, research has shown that creativity is a variable concept that can mean different things in different fields and contexts (Kaufman & Baer, 2005). As a result, generic pedagogical techniques for developing creativity may not be equally appropriate across domains. In light of these factors, this pilot study explored (via an electronic survey of instructors) the ways in which creativity is defined and taught across McMaster University’s six faculties. Results suggested areas of both commonality and difference across disciplines in terms of academics’ understandings of creativity and their stated strategies for developing creativity within their students. In this respect, our data provide preliminary support for the notion that creativity teaching may be at least partially discipline-specific, and suggest that further work in this area is warranted

Teaching Creativity Across Disciplines at Ontario Universities

While a wide variety of publications have suggested that the development of student creativity should be an important objective for contemporary universities, information about how best to achieve this goal across a range of disciplinary contexts is nonetheless scant. The present study aimed to begin to fill this gap by gathering data (via an electronic survey instrument) about how the teaching and learning of creativity are perceived and enacted by instructors in different disciplines at Ontario universities. Results indicated points of both convergence and divergence between respondents from different fields in terms of their understandings of the place of creativity within courses and programs, and in terms of strategies they reported using to enable creativity in their students. We discuss the implications of these findings, including the ways in which the data speak to ongoing debates about the role of disciplines within teaching, learning, and creativity more broadly.  Bien qu’une grande diversité de publications suggère que le développement de la créativité chez l’étudiant devrait être un objectif important pour les universités contemporaines, l’information quant à la meilleure façon d’atteindre un tel objectif parmi tout un éventail de contextes disciplinaires demeure insuffisante. La présente étude vise à commencer à combler cet écart en rassemblant des données relatives aux façons dont l’enseignement et l’apprentissage de la créativité sont perçus et mis en œuvre par les instructeurs de diverses disciplines auprès des universités de l’Ontario. Les résultats ont indiqué à la fois des points de convergence et de divergence entre les répondants provenant de secteurs différents en ce qui a trait à leur compréhension de la place de la créativité dans les cours et les programmes, et en ce qui a trait aux stratégies qu’ils déclarent utiliser pour susciter la créativité chez leurs étudiants.  Nous discutons des implications de ces résultats, y compris de la façon dont les données se révèlent aux débats actuels qui portent sur le rôle des disciplines et, de façon plus générale, sur l’enseignement, l’apprentissage et la créativité

Public pedagogy and representations of higher education in popular film: New ground for the scholarship of teaching and learning

Constructions of teaching, learning, and the university within popular culture can exert an important influence on public understandings of higher education, including those held by faculty and students. As such, they constitute a rich site of inquiry for the scholarship of teaching and learning. Drawing on the notion of film as ‘public pedagogy,’ this article analyses representations of higher education within 11 top grossing and/or critically acclaimed films released in 2014. We identify three broad themes across these texts—the purpose of higher education, relationships between students and professors, and the creation of academic identities—and consider the implications and functions of these representational patterns for teaching, learning, and SoTL. Particular attention is given to the difference between the framing of science and arts and humanities disciplines, and to how this might resonate with the contemporary ‘crisis of the humanities.

Building Capacity for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Using International Collaborative Writing Groups

Objective: To understand participants’ perceptions of the impact of an innovative International Collaborative Writing Group (ICWG) initiative on their individual and collective SoTL capacity. Methods: A mixed method research design included participant surveys (phases 1 and 3), and focus groups and interviews (phase 2). Data from all three phases of research have been triangulated in order to facilitate an in-depth understanding of participants\u27 experiences. Findings: Findings reveal four key themes: mentoring and leadership, the creation of community, diversity of perspectives, and experiential learning and professional skill development. Discussion and Implications: Through the opportunities presented in relation to the four themes, the initiative appears to have helped facilitate the development of SoTL capacity and SoTL scholar identity. Research focusing on the impact of such initiatives on student learning is needed

The ‘Partnership Identity’ in Higher Education: Moving From ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ to ‘We’ in Student-Staff Partnership

Student-staff partnerships in higher education re-frame the ways that students and staff work together as active collaborators in teaching and learning. Such a radical re-visioning of the relationships between students, staff, and the institutions within which they function is both potentially transformational and a significant challenge given the deeply entrenched identities, and attached norms, that form a part of the institutional culture. Explicit examination of the ways in which identity formation and navigation influences, and is influenced by, student-staff partnership is an important but under-explored area in the partnership literature. Drawing on structured reflective narratives focused on our own partnership experiences, we employ collaborative autoethnographic methods to explore this nexus through a social identity lens. Results highlight the need to move away from the labelling of dichotomous student/staff roles and identities in the context of partnership to a more nuanced conception that embraces the multiplicity of identity and diverse dimensions of meaning. We highlight the power of the normative conceptions that we attach to different identities, particularly where dissonance arises should those norms conflict. We discuss how this dissonance was particularly salient for us as we crossed the partnership threshold, only to find that the ethos underlying our new partnership identities contradicted the traditional hierarchical structure of the institutions within which we continued to function. Finally, we highlight the implications of these results for those engaging in student-staff partnerships in higher education and point the way toward potentially fruitful avenues of future research

The Impacts of Platform Quality on Gig Workers’ Autonomy and Job Satisfaction

Gig economy jobs rely heavily on the use of platforms including mobile applications. Even though such platforms are necessary to participate in the gig economy, we know very little about how the quality of these platforms affects gig workers. Drawing from a survey of Uber drivers, in this paper we examine the impacts of platform quality on gig workers’ job autonomy and job satisfaction. Preliminary results suggest that gig workers working in the high quality of platforms are more likely to have greater job autonomy and satisfaction. This study contributes to the literature by identifying platform quality as an important factor of gig workers’ job autonomy and satisfaction and suggesting possible applications of the preliminary findings in future research.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145612/1/cscwp044-kimA.pd