The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) serves as a vital avenue for faculty to explore and improve their teaching practices through systematic inquiry and evidence-based methods. It emphasizes evidence-based inquiry, reflection, and dissemination of findings to contribute to the broader understanding of effective pedagogical methods. This scholarly approach helps faculty members engage in a continuous cycle of improvement, aligning teaching strategies with learning goals while contributing to the collective knowledge base in higher education. For those seeking to embark on SoTL projects, documenting their teaching experiences is often a generative activity.
Over the past five years, the Arts & Science Office of Teaching Excellence has worked with a number of faculty members through our SoTL service, and we’ve emphasized teaching documentation as a starting point that is accessible to most instructors. Many of these projects began through relatively simple ways of sharing teaching and learning practices, such as blogs and online presentations. A wide variety of documentation methods can be useful for beginning SoTL projects, including:
Purposeful Observation and Reflection
Faculty members can begin their SoTL journey by purposefully observing their teaching methods and reflecting on their instructional strategies. By documenting observations—such as class dynamics, student engagement, assessment techniques, and learning outcomes—faculty gain valuable insights into their teaching approaches. The A&S Document Your Teaching Guide offers instructors some ideas for structuring their reflection; it’s also a great resource for instructors assembling contract renewal and teaching philosophy packages.
Collecting and Analyzing Data
Utilizing various methods for data collection, such as surveys, interviews, student feedback, Brightspace data, or classroom assessments, provides tangible evidence for SoTL inquiries. These data points, when systematically analyzed, offer insights into the effectiveness of instructional practices and student learning experiences. We frequently partner with the NYU Learning Analytics Team to help faculty members identify opportunities for data gathering that might lead to findings related to their teaching and learning activities.
Utilizing Technology for Documentation
Leveraging educational technology tools can streamline the documentation process. Platforms for video recording lectures (NYU Stream), digital portfolios (NYU Web Publishing), survey tools (Google Forms or Qualtrics), grading tools (Gradescope), polling software (Poll Everywhere), and learning analytics tools (Brightspace Insights Portal) can assist in capturing and analyzing teaching practices and student interactions.
Collaborative Approaches
Encouraging collaboration among faculty members and learning designers fosters diverse perspectives and methodologies in SoTL projects. Collaborative efforts enable the sharing of best practices, peer review of teaching documentation, and the co-creation of research frameworks. A great example of a collaborative SoTL project is the ongoing research into contract grading methods by a group of faculty in the Expository Writing Program.
Whatever observation and data-gathering approaches are utilized, and at whatever scale or stage of development a project may be, the following considerations are important to bear in mind:
Challenges and Opportunities in Documenting Teaching & Learning
While documenting teaching for SoTL initiatives, faculty may encounter challenges, such as time constraints, lack of expertise in data collection methods, and potential resistance to change in traditional teaching practices. However, these challenges present opportunities for growth and innovation. Faculty can overcome these obstacles by embracing professional development opportunities, seeking mentorship, and gradually implementing new documentation methods into their teaching routines.
The Role of Reflection and Feedback in Teaching & Learning Documentation
Reflection plays a pivotal role in SoTL documentation. By approaching their teaching experiences with an attitude of curiosity rather than judgment, faculty members may find it easier to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. Furthermore, seeking feedback from peers, students, and learning designers can help instructors gain a more comprehensive understanding of teaching practices and of the benefits of collaboration in documenting and enhancing pedagogical methods.
Sharing Documentation Publicly
Initial observations of teaching can be recorded in a private journal or shared publicly in a blog like this one. School and department-based opportunities such as the Arts & Science Teaching Innovation Awards have been the starting point for a number of successful faculty explorations of SoTL projects. TeachTalks provide a university-wide forum for sharing the innovative teaching and learning happening at NYU. These kinds of platforms can lead to projects that contribute to the broader discourse on effective teaching and learning in higher education taking place in SoTL journals and at conferences.
By leveraging these strategies and drawing from established scholarly literature in SoTL, faculty members and instructional designers can embark on meaningful and evidence-based SoTL projects, fostering continuous improvement in their teaching. Often, these more in-depth investigations start out as observations and reflections on classroom activities. This multifaceted approach to documenting teaching can empower faculty to become reflective practitioners, thereby enabling them to continuously adjust to better serve diverse student populations in higher education.
Timothy Schaffer, PhD, is a Senior Educational Technologist in the Arts & Science Office of Teaching Excellence.