Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) team works with instructors, and occasionally departments and the VPIUE to support research on teaching and learning in U of T’s classrooms. These investigations can take the form of an interest in reading pedagogical research, joining a roundtable discussion on a particular topic or journal article, participating in CTSI SoTL workshops, or specialized programming, applying for one of the University’s teaching and learning grants, or conducting and presenting their own research project. CTSI understands the importance of connecting individuals and divisions across the University to share experiences and research and encourage the rigorous pursuit of pedagogical scholarship.

Thanks to the interest of CTSI and others, SoTL is now part of the University’s Institutional Strategic Research Plan (ISRP).

SOTL PROGRAMMING AND RESOURCES

This past year has been one of reflection and planning as the SoTL team reviewed their contributions to the university community and Canadian higher education. The Peer-to-Peer Mentoring (P2P) for Teaching Pilot Report was published in Fall 2017. Of note, the report highlighted that the majority of participants were highly satisfied with their mentee-mentor relationship and greatly valued the P2P resources (e.g., the CTSI Peer Observation of Teaching Guide). The findings informed the subsequent 2017-2018 P2P Mentoring for Teaching program and resources. The team developed a series of SoTL resources (e.g., tip sheets) that provide both practical and theoretical guidance for instructors engaging in SoTL. Those resources drew on the collective expertise of CTSI staff, librarians and experienced SoTL faculty members. Over the past year the SoTL section of the CTSI website also underwent revisions to align with resource additions.

Ananya Tina Banerjee
Assistant Professor and Associate Program Director, Social & Behavioural Health Sciences, Dalla Lana School of Public Health
“I really appreciate the dialogueI have with the staff at CTSI that exemplifies a shared vision of teaching excellence and enables faculty to advance their scholarly activities related to teaching and learning. I am very new to research on teaching and learning. I received a 2016 LEAF grant to examine the impact of movement breaks in undergraduate classrooms at U of T. CTSI introduced me to the array of evidence-based literature and services that support me to evaluate innovative teaching methods and encourage critical thinking skills.”

2018-19 SOTL COHORT

From January-April 2018, the CTSISoTL team laid the groundwork for the inaugural 2018-19 Scholarship of Teaching & Learning Cohort Program, responding in part to the findings from a CTSI-led SoTL survey and an increased interest from instructors regarding SoTL. The Call for Applicants opened in April 2018 and CTSI received a far greater number of applicants than anticipated – a testament to the interest and commitment to SoTL at U of T. The full-day launch workshop occurred on June 14, 2018.

This program engages 14 continuing appointment faculty across three campuses to develop their own SoTL project from inception through to publicly sharing their inquiry/research experiences.

INTERSECTIONS

CTSI connects with U of T instructors, staff and librarians on SoTL issues through its listserv – now with 279 members. This is an opportunity for the U of T community to share ideas, experiences and information among peers.

The SoTL team worked with other CTSI teams in planning and presenting at the University of Toronto’s Teaching and Learning Symposium (April 30, 2018) and delivering and assessing the second iteration of the P2P Faculty Mentoring for Teaching Program. The team also collaborated with Online Learning Services on the Data Driven Design (D3) Innovation Network Project Final Report (for e-Campus Ontario) and the Data Driven Design (D3) workshops (4 in total). The D3 project highlighted ways to use data in course design.

Members of the SoTL team presented three papers at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) conference in Calgary, Alberta, in October 2017, and also led a webinar on peer mentoring for teaching for the Council for Ontario Educational Developers (COED) in June 2017.