Classroom Research
SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) is scholarly inquiry into student learning which advances the practice of teaching by sharing this research publicly.
There are several categories of SoTL (from McKinney, K. 2007)
1. Faculty study how they integrated SL into a particular class (outcomes, process, etc.):
- Focus on the outcome: a specific type of student-learning and development
- Focus on the procedure: a specific instructional activity or practice
(From: Inquiry into the college classroom, 2007) - A problem or opportunity involving student learning
- An innovation (for the users) engaged in order to enhance student learning
- An attempt to change student behavior by adding a new approach, content, assessment, curriculum
- An innovative attempt to better achieve a course learning objective that is currently elusive
(from Cox, M. 2007)
2. Comparisons of courses and of student change across time
3. Synthesis of sets of current SoTL work
4. Reflections on several years of teaching experience
Recommended resources
Assessment books available in the SL Office:
- The Measure of Service-Learning : Research Scales to Assess Student Experiences by Robert G. Bringle, PhD, and Mindy A. Phillips, and Michael Hudson, November 2003. This useful volume provides an extensive compilation of scales for use in studying students in service learning classes. The scales measure a variety of constructs, such as attitudes, moral development, and critical thinking. In addition, the text includes a primer on measurement theory. –APA
- Assessing Service-Learning and Civic Engagement : Principles and Techniques: A toolkit to assist in the assessment of service-learning and civic engagement programs by Sherril B. Gelmon, Barbara A. Holland, Amy Driscoll, Amy Spring, Seanna Kerrigan, Campus Compact: 2001. Offers guidelines for assessing program impact on faculty, students, communities, and institutions.
- Research on Service-Learning: Conceptual Frameworks and Assessment (Vol. 1) by Clayton, P.H. , Bringle, R. G., & Hatcher, J. A, Stylus Publishing, 2012. The authors bring theoretical perspectives from a wide variety of disciplines to bear as they critically review past research, describe assessment methods and instruments, and develop future research agendas.
The Boise State Service-Learning Office maintains a library of the latest methodologies. The Office of Institutional Assessment and the Service-Learning Office have also developed instruments to assess the effects on students, faculty and agency partners. Please contact the office for more details at 426-2380.