Developing a Researchable Question

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Dewar
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Disciplinary Knowledge ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
What Works ◽  
Educational Literature ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
And Mathematics

Chapter 2 describes how to convert a problem or question about teaching or learning into a researchable question. It uses a taxonomy of scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) questions—What works? What is? What could be?—derived from the work of Carnegie scholars to guide the framing of a question. Since initially, most SoTL questions are quite broad, the chapter considers several methods for refining questions. It discusses how to conduct searches of educational literature and why they are valuable when developing a question. It shows how to use disciplinary knowledge and situational factors to refine a question. It describes how identifying underlying assumptions and considering feasibility can help to further refine or perhaps reformulate SoTL research questions. Multiple examples from and references to published SoTL studies of teaching and learning in science engineering and mathematics are provided.

Evidence: From Surveys

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Dewar
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
What Works ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Course Material ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Knowledge Survey

Chapter 5 describes the use of surveys in scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) studies. Topics include how to design a survey, the reliability and validity of surveys, and response rates and how to improve them. The chapter also includes a detailed discussion of a special type of survey called a knowledge survey that is used to measure students’ confidence in their knowledge of disciplinary content. Multiple uses for knowledge surveys are described: a means to assess changes in student learning, a way to improve course organization and coordination across multiple sections, and as guide through the course material for students. The importance of a survey being a good match for the type of research question—What works? What is? What could be?—is emphasized. Many examples are given of studies of student learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields that employed surveys.

Gathering Evidence: The Basics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Dewar
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Numerical Data ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
What Works ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Gathering Data

Chapter 4 provides an introduction to gathering data for scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) investigations, including the importance of triangulation, that is, collecting several different types of evidence. Examples are given of typical kinds of quantitative (numerical) and qualitative (non-numerical) data that might be used in a SoTL study. That quantitative and qualitative data are more closely related than it might seem at first is discussed. The taxonomy of SoTL questions—What works? What is? What could be?—provides a starting point for considering what type of data to collect. Suggestions are offered for ways to design assignments so that the coursework students produce can also serve as evidence, something that benefits both students and their instructor.

scholarly journals Breaking Boundaries: Pressing Issues in Equity, Computing, and Problem-Solving in STEM Undergraduate Education

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-12
Author(s):  
Anna Bargagliotti ◽  
Dorothea Herreiner ◽  
Jefrey A. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Undergraduate Education ◽  
National Science Foundation ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
The Common ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Education Conference

The April 2017 National Science Foundation-funded Breaking the Boundaries in STEM Education conference brought together Southern California science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) faculty to explore equity, problem-solving, and computing in an interdisciplinary manner. Two main research questions guided the overall scope of the conference: (1) What are the common threads across disciplines to approach the teaching and learning of skills that are relevant in STEM? (2) What are the challenges and barriers that need to be overcome in order to foster collaboration across disciplines to impact the teaching and learning of skills relevant in STEM? We describe the background of the conference and provide an overview of the questions addressed.

scholarly journals Chasing impact: The tale of three SoTL studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-107
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Pechenkina
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Innovative Teaching ◽  
What Works ◽  
Shared Goal ◽  
The Impact

This article queries the notion of impact in studies of teaching and learning located within the field of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Grounded in literature focused on measuring and challenging the impact in SoTL, and primarily on the “what works” question, the author proposes a rubric by which to judge various levels and dimensions of impact achieved in SoTL-focused projects. To operationalize it, the rubric is applied to three completed projects, which while differing in their initial scope and intended outputs were united by a shared goal of improving learning by the means of innovative teaching. By using the rubric to analyze these projects’ outputs, strengths and weaknesses of each project’s design and evaluation methodology are revealed. Diverse levels and dimensions of impact are identified and discussed. The author invites scholars of teaching and learning to use, test, and critique the rubric in the context of their completed or in-progress studies.

Re–Valuing Constructed Knowledge

2014 ◽  
pp. 170-186
Author(s):  
Damon Cartledge
Keyword(s):  
Technology Education ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Clear Definition ◽  
Disciplinary Knowledge ◽  
Educational Structure ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Curriculum Model ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
And Mathematics

In this chapter, two issues are discussed that impact teaching and learning in technical and technology education. The issues are bound together by a concept of constructed knowledge and its inherent value. Knowledge constructed and operationalized in non–academic contexts is not well recognized in universities as having intellectual value. Developing knowledge that may be out of context from discipline homes can be misunderstood as lacking depth, when in fact they are highly complex arrangements of interdisciplinary constructed knowledge. The second issue is about how to conceptualize an educational structure in which this complex inter-disciplinary knowledge can be better recognized across educational divisions and strata. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is a well-established curriculum model that gives both clear definition/delineation (and cohesive purpose) to the interdependent discipline strands of the constructed knowledge under discussion. The chapter closes with an argument for a STE(A)M model, articulating the inclusion of an additional-alternative component for the Artist, Artisan, Artificer, Alchemist, Architect, and so forth, as a model to access, create, and re-value the construction of knowledge within universities of the 21st century.

What Should Students Understand After Taking Introduction to Sociology?

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 300-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Hodges Persell ◽  
Kathryn M. Pfeiffer ◽  
Ali Syed
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Introductory Sociology ◽  
Introductory Course ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
Teaching Award ◽  
Research Questions

Sociologists have long reflected on what should be taught in sociology. In recent years, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has produced several important publications on key principles and learning goals for the introductory course. However, little current work has systematically examined what peer-recognized leaders in the field deem important for introductory sociology. This paper is an effort to fill this research gap. Our research questions include: What do leaders think students should understand after an introduction to sociology course? Do the goals of Teaching Award winners differ from those of other leaders? How do the leaders' goals compare with those expressed in leading SoTL publications? To address these questions, we interviewed a sample of 44 leaders in 2005-2006. Using qualitative content analysis, we systematically coded, analyzed, and compared their goals.

scholarly journals The Importance of Making-While-Reading for Undergraduate Readers: An Example of Inductive SoTL

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-44
Author(s):  
Ingie Hovland
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Class I ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Empirical Generalization ◽  
What Works ◽  
Inductive Research

This paper gives an example of an inductive Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) process, adapting Anthony Ciccone’s five conditions of a meaningful SoTL question. Presenting a study on pre-class reading in an undergraduate religion class, I describe how my question went through five life stages. I began with nine different pre-class reading assignments. Students judged the “map” assignment to be most helpful. This led to a further question: why maps? In a close reading of students’ reading reflections, two themes stood out: students experienced maps as helping them create a mental overview of the reading, and maps facilitated greater ownership of the act of reading. In conclusion, I argue that humanities instructors who wish to teach advanced reading skills can start by providing pre-class assignments that allow for making-while-reading, and that this making should not be merged with other reading steps. In an epilogue I reflect on the inductive research process. I suggest that SoTL scholars who use this process may reach an impasse when deciding how to present meaningful answers because their conceptual answers will stand in tension with SoTL’s practical orientation. I propose focusing on conceptual generalization (rather than empirical generalization), while still foregrounding a balance between “what works” and “what is.”

scholarly journals The Importance of Making-While-Reading for Undergraduate Readers: An Example of Inductive SoTL

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-44
Author(s):  
Ingie Hovland
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Class I ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Empirical Generalization ◽  
What Works ◽  
Inductive Research

This paper gives an example of an inductive Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) process, adapting Anthony Ciccone’s five conditions of a meaningful SoTL question. Presenting a study on pre-class reading in an undergraduate religion class, I describe how my question went through five life stages. I began with nine different pre-class reading assignments. Students judged the “map” assignment to be most helpful. This led to a further question: why maps? In a close reading of students’ reading reflections, two themes stood out: students experienced maps as helping them create a mental overview of the reading, and maps facilitated greater ownership of the act of reading. In conclusion, I argue that humanities instructors who wish to teach advanced reading skills can start by providing pre-class assignments that allow for making-while-reading, and that this making should not be merged with other reading steps. In an epilogue I reflect on the inductive research process. I suggest that SoTL scholars who use this process may reach an impasse when deciding how to present meaningful answers because their conceptual answers will stand in tension with SoTL’s practical orientation. I propose focusing on conceptual generalization (rather than empirical generalization), while still foregrounding a balance between “what works” and “what is.”

Understanding the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Dewar
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Junior Faculty ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Undergraduate Teaching ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Scholarly Teaching ◽  
And Mathematics

Chapter 1 describes the origins of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) movement and explores the distinctions among SoTL, good teaching, and scholarly teaching. It also discusses the development of discipline-based education research (DBER) into undergraduate teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Since this varies by discipline, the chapter provides some details and additional references for the origins of DBER in physics, biology, chemistry, and engineering. It then examines in more depth the distinctions between SoTL and education research in the discipline of mathematics. The chapter discusses the critical issue of how to evaluate SoTL work. It acknowledges the spectrum of possibilities for how the work is valued for tenure and promotion, and closes with a discussion of implications for junior faculty who wish to engage in SoTL.

Designing a Research Study

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Dewar
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
What Works ◽  
Group A ◽  
And Control

Chapter 3 examines basic considerations of education research design, such as whether or not to have experimental and control groups. Because many scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) questions arise in situations where it is not possible to have a control group, a number of other options are presented. The taxonomy of SoTL questions—What works? What is? What could be?—and frameworks such as “decoding the disciplines” and “threshold concepts” are used to suggest different ways to conduct an investigation. The importance of aligning the evidence with the research question and choosing an appropriate measure of change are also considered. The chapter closes with a discussion of the requirement to obtain human subjects clearance in order to make the results of a SoTL study public.

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