scholarly journals Why do we bother? Exploring biologists' motivations to share the details of their teaching practice

F1000Research ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Graham Scott
Keyword(s):  
Career Paths ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Research ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Do So

There exists in the UK (and across the global HE sector) a community of practitioners who define themselves as biologists but who are more than that. They are reflective educators involving themselves in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). In this paper I explore the motivations of these individuals to disseminate the detail of their teaching practice. I reflect upon my own experience and my observations of the experiences of others and in doing so I explore common enablers/disablers to engagement with SoTL. I discuss the prime importance of a supportive disciplinary SoTL community and of inspirational individuals (peers and managers alike). I reflect upon the tensions that exist between teaching and research focused career paths and I consider the possibility that this tension is of variable significance. I conclude that the barriers to individual engagement with SoTL can be overcome and that the individual drive to do so is a powerful one.

scholarly journals Supporting SoTL Development through Communities of Practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 32-52
Author(s):  
Anne M. Tierney ◽  
Dorothy Aidulis ◽  
Julian Park ◽  
Katherine Clark
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Home Institution ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Insight Into

Increasingly, academics are engaging with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). However, within United Kingdom higher education, the definition of and activities that constitute SoTL remain open to debate. In this article, we explore SoTL through four career histories that give insight into how SoTL has developed and played a role in the careers of four life sciences-based, teaching-focused academics in UK universities at different points in their careers. The recurring themes in the career histories include collaboration; professional development; sharing and dissemination; and funding. The career histories also highlight aspects of and the importance of communities of practice. We reflect on the role of communities of practice in supporting SoTL and discuss how communities of practice external to one’s home institution can play a role in developing SoTL and teaching practice. Internationally there is a growing focus on SoTL, and although the four career histories presented here are authored by academics based in UK institutions and focused on the UK context, the themes they reveal are widely applicable.

Framework for Evaluating Math Educational Materials for Constructing Early Number Concept

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-60
Author(s):  
Chrysanthi Skoumpourdi ◽  
Antonia Matha
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Educational Material ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Educational Materials ◽  
Number Concept ◽  
The Social ◽  
Early Number ◽  
The Individual

Teaching and learning of mathematics, due to their abstract nature, are enhanced, especially at an early age, using educational materials. The wide variety of the available math’s educational materials requires teachers to evaluate them in order to incorporate them to their teaching practice. Contributing to this field, the purpose of this paper is dual. Firstly, it intends on defining the factors that could be included in a framework for evaluation of math educational material. Secondly, it aims on using this framework to evaluate specific educational materials that are used for the construction of early number concept. The results showed that the factors that could compose a framework of evaluating math educational materials could be related with 1. Evaluation of the material itself, independently of its context of use, 2. Evaluation of the material in the social context of its use, as well as 3. Evaluation of materials’ acceptability to the general educational community. From the evaluation of specific educational materials that are used for the construction of early number concept it seemed that no material itself could be considered, as suitable for teaching all the individual constructs of the number concept in early years’ mathematics, according to the developed framework.

scholarly journals Professional norms guiding school principals’ pedagogical leadership

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulf Leo
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Formative Assessments ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Professional Norms ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Do So

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the professional norms surrounding school development, with a special emphasis on school principals’ pedagogical leadership. Design/methodology/approach – A norm perspective is used to identify possible links between legal norms, professional norms, and actions. The findings are based on answers given by 974 school principals in a web-based questionnaire. The design of the study and the findings are structured around three questions used to identify professional norms: what tasks principals prioritize as pedagogical leaders, where the external expectations on principals are derived from, and with whom school principals communicate regarding issues related to their pedagogical leadership. Findings – The most evident professional norms identified in this study are that principals should: be present and close to the teaching and learning processes; involve teachers in quality development; enhance the development of formative assessments; engage in teacher development; develop the internal organization of the school to promote learning. Originality/value – The norm perspective and the findings of this study could be used by principals, principal trainers, and researchers to reflect on pedagogical leadership in different contexts. A challenge for principals is to become aware of the professional norms that guide them, and to close the gap between their “desirable” norms and their actions. Action alternatives and professional norms become visible through discussions emanating from questions about what leaders do, how they do so and why they do what they do, which is a way to strengthen both the profession and the individual principals.

scholarly journals Investigación sobre la práctica docente en las universidades

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (17) ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
Martha E. Báez
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Practice Elements ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University

La investigación sobre la práctica docente (ISPD) en el contexto universitario es un estudio crítico de la docencia que busca reflexionar sobre esta para mejorar su incidencia en la calidad del aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Este artículo se basa en la experiencia de académicos anglosajones con este tipo de investigaciones, abordando los fundamentos conceptuales y metodológicos que la caracterizan y su importancia para el desarrollo individual e institucional de la docencia. Sin pretender hacer una presentación comparativa, se muestran elementos que asemejan y distancian la ISPD de la investigación tradicional.AbstractScholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in the university context is a critical study of teaching aimed at reflecting on its impact improving the quality of student learning. This article is based on the experience of Anglo-Saxon scholars on this type of study. It addresses the conceptual and methodological characteristics of this practice and its importance to the individual and institutional development of the teaching practice. Elements that relate and distant the SoTL from the traditions research are shown.

scholarly journals From isolation to cross-cultural collaboration: My international PhD journey as tō iwi

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 228
Author(s):  
Amrit Melissa Dencer-Brown
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Early Career Researcher ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Difficult Times

This reflective piece is about my journey as an international PhD candidate from the UK to Aotearoa (New Zealand). I speak about my search to try and find a sense of belonging as an outsider and some of the challenges in doing community-focused research as an early career researcher from elsewhere. This piece includes key challenges of building networks, collaboration and overcoming the death of my father, half-way through my PhD. I speak about a toolkit of strength and resilience I had to create and now use in the support of my students and peers as a lecturer in education during the pandemic. This piece is about finding kindness and compassion in myself and receiving it from others to help with isolation in difficult times.   Keywords: Reflection, Resilience, Compassion, Kindness, Networks, Community, IsolationHow to cite this article:Dencer-Brown, A.M. 2020. From isolation to cross-cultural collaboration: My international PhD journey as tō iwi. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South. 4(2): 228-234. https://doi.org/10.36615/sotls.v4i2.142.This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

scholarly journals Drawing on the Principles of SoTL to Illuminate a Path Forward for the Scholarship of Educational Development

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha Kenny ◽  
Celia Popovic ◽  
Jill McSweeney ◽  
Kris Knorr ◽  
Carolyn Hoessler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Educational Development ◽  
Scholarship Of Teaching ◽  
Seven Principles ◽  
The Individual

There has been growing discourse related to the importance of the scholarship of educational development (SoED), but less discussion related to clearly defining principles for guiding engagement in SoED or contextualizing SoED within literature related to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Expanding upon Felten’s (2013) principles for SoTL, as well as evolving discourse related to principles of educational development (e.g., Gibbs, 2013; Taylor & Rege Colet, 2010; Timmermans, 2014), this paper presents seven principles for SoED. Two additional principles (transforming practice and reflective practice) are added to Felten’s principles to further contextualize SoED in relation to educational development and SoTL. Three cases are provided to illustrate educational development, SoTL, and SoED within the context of these principles. The interrelationships between educational development, SoTL, and SoED are complex. While SoED offers many opportunities for further legitimizing the individual and collective practices in educational development, it also presents many additional tensions and questions for further research. On parle de plus en plus de l’importance de l’avancement des connaissances en pédagogie (ACP), mais on parle moins d’une définition claire des principes qui guident l’engagement en ACP ou de la contextualisation de l’ACP dans les publications de la recherche consacrée à l’avancement des connaissances en enseignement et en apprentissage (ACEA). Pour élargir la portée des principes pour l’ACEA présentés par Felten (2013), ainsi que celle du discours évolutif lié aux principes de la pédagogie (voir Gibbs, 2013; Taylor & Rege Colet, 2010; Timmermans, 2014), cet article présente sept principes pour l’ACP. Deux principes supplémentaires (transformation de la pratique et pratique réflective) sont ajoutés aux principes de Felten afin de contextualiser davantage l’ACP par rapport à la pédagogie et à l’ACEA. Trois cas sont présentés pour illustrer la pédagogie, l’ACEA et l’ACP dans le contexte de ces principes. Les relations entre la pédagogie, l’ACEA et l’ACP sont complexes. Alors que l’ACP offre de nombreuses possibilités pour rendre plus légitimes les pratiques individuelles et collectives en pédagogie, il présente également de nombreuses tensions et des questions supplémentaires qui pourront faire l’objet de davantage de recherche.

scholarly journals Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice Editorial 8.3

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 2-4
Author(s):  
Geraldine E. Lefoe ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
New Directions ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

Welcome to the third and final issue of Volume 8 of the Journal of University Teaching and Learning (JUTLP) in 2011. As the year draws to a close we are seeing some striking changes to the higher education sector internationally. In England budget cuts have seen the closure of the twenty-four Higher Education Academy subject centres at the same time as the establishment of student fees. In Australia the cap has been lifted across the board on the number of students that can be enrolled in universities with the resultant projected increased student numbers. The focus in Australia is on social inclusion yet in England the concern for the introduction of fees is just the opposite, these will be the very students who may now be excluded. The changes in both countries see new measures of accountability and more complex regulations put in place. Will this cause people to rethink the way we teach and the way students learn? For the Higher Education Academy in the UK, new directions see the hosting of a summit on learning and teaching with a focus on flexible learning, an indicator of new directions for many institutions. In Australia, we see a renewed opportunity to investigate such changes through the opening of the Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) and its role of recognising the importance of learning and teaching through grants and awards schemes. We hope in 2012 we’ll hear more from our authors about the impact of these transformations, as well as those changes occurring in other countries around the world, on teaching practice in our universities.

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