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The Open University

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in STEM

The Open University via OpenLearn

Overview

This free course, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in STEM, provides a toolkit for conducting Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). SoTL involves educators using their disciplinary knowledge to investigate a question about learning and teaching, gather evidence in a systematic way, submit their findings for peer review and make the findings public for others to build upon. The course will help you plan, conduct, and evaluate a SoTL inquiry. In this video, Diane Butler, Associate Dean (Academic Excellence), Faculty of STEM, The Open University, UK, welcomes you to the course.TranscriptEnrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they're a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career, and to provide evidence of continuing professional development.Once you are signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from My OpenLearn. In addition, you can download and print your OpenLearn statement of participation – which also displays your Open University badge.The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our start-of-course survey. Once you complete the course we would also value your feedback and suggestions for future improvement, in our end-of-course survey. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.This course is accredited by the CPD Standards Office. It can be used to provide evidence of continuing professional development and on successful completion of the course you will be awarded 24 CPD points. Evidence of your CPD achievement is provided on the free Statement of Participation awarded on completion.Anyone wishing to provide evidence of their enrolment on this course is able to do so by sharing their Activity Record on their OpenLearn Profile, which is available before completion of the course and earning of the Statement of Participation.

Syllabus

  • Introduction and guidance
  • Introduction and guidance
  • What is a badged course?
  • How to get a badge
  • Thinking about notetaking
  • Acknowledgements
  • Session1Session 1: Engaging with SoTL
  • Introduction
  • 1 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
  • 1.1 Distinguishing SoTL from scholarly teaching
  • 1.2 Distinguishing SoTL from discipline-based education research
  • 2 Principles of SoTL
  • 3 Reflection, critical reflection and reflexivity
  • 3.1 Reflection in SoTL
  • 3.2 Critical reflection in SoTL
  • 3.3 Reflexivity in SoTL
  • 4 Stages of a SoTL inquiry
  • 5 This session’s quiz
  • 6 Summary of Session 1
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Session2Session 2: Getting started with SoTL
  • Introduction
  • 1 Motivation for conducting SoTL
  • 2 Collaboration in SoTL
  • 3 Mentoring in SoTL
  • 3.1 Facilitating SoTL research
  • 3.2 Supporting SoTL networking
  • 3.3 Mentor–mentee relationship
  • 4 Supporting SoTL through communities
  • 4.1 A collaborative SoTL inquiry
  • 4.2 Communities of practice that support SoTL
  • 5 Learning analytics
  • 5.1 Learning analytics and SoTL
  • 5.2 Use of learning analytics in SoTL
  • 5.3 Ethics of using learning analytics in SoTL
  • 5.4 Influence of learning analytics on SoTL practice
  • 6 This session’s quiz
  • 7 Summary of Session 2
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Session3Session 3: Formulating a SoTL inquiry
  • Introduction
  • 1 Starting your SoTL inquiry
  • 2 Stakeholder analysis for a SoTL inquiry
  • 3 Formulating aim and research questions for a SoTL inquiry
  • 3.1 Aim of the inquiry
  • 3.2 Research questions for a SoTL inquiry
  • 3.2.1 Areas of investigation in SoTL
  • 4 Designing a SoTL inquiry
  • 4.1 Collaborative SoTL inquiry
  • 5 Literature review for a SoTL inquiry
  • 5.1 Conducting a literature review
  • 5.2 Searching for literature
  • 5.2.1 Planning your search
  • 5.2.2 Where to search: databases and Google Scholar
  • 5.2.3 Evaluating information and making notes
  • 5.2.4 Organising information in a reference management tool
  • 5.3 Writing a literature review
  • 6 This session’s quiz
  • 7 Summary of Session 3
  • References
  • Further reading
  • Acknowledgements
  • Session4Session 4: Students as partners and ethical considerations in SoTL research
  • Introduction
  • 1 Students as partners in SoTL
  • 1.1 Involving students as partners in SoTL
  • 1.2 Advantages of educator-student partnerships
  • 1.3 Challenges of involving students as partners
  • 1.3.1 Engaging a full range of student voices
  • 1.3.2 Establishing the partnership
  • 1.3.3 Maintaining and sustaining the partnership
  • 2 Three ethical criteria
  • 2.1 Informed consent
  • 2.2 Right to privacy
  • 2.3 Protection from harm
  • 3 Ethical considerations in a SoTL inquiry
  • 3.1 Involvement of students
  • 3.2 Dual role as educator and researcher
  • 3.3 Making SoTL results public
  • 4 Planning ethical considerations in SoTL inquiry
  • 4.1 Seeking ethical approvals
  • 4.2 Where to look for help
  • 5 This session’s quiz
  • 6 Summary of Session 4
  • References
  • Acknowledgements
  • Session5Session 5: Planning and conducting SoTL research
  • Introduction
  • 1 The nature of SoTL research
  • 1.1 SoTL and educational research
  • 1.2 SoTL and ‘methodologically sound’ research
  • 1.3 SoTL and methodological concerns
  • 1.3.1 Control groups in SoTL research
  • 1.3.2 Generalisable results in SoTL
  • 1.4 Action research
  • 2 Research design
  • 2.1 Refining the aim and research questions of the SoTL inquiry
  • 2.1.1 Using disciplinary knowledge to narrow a research question
  • 2.1.2 Significance of the aim and research questions
  • 2.2 Research methods for SoTL
  • 2.2.1 Quantitative and qualitative data
  • 2.2.2 Mixed methods research approach
  • 2.2.3 Triangulation
  • 2.2.4 Mixed methods research design
  • 2.3 Choosing your data collection research methods
  • 2.3.1 Research data management
  • 2.3.2 Seeking ethical approvals
  • 3 Data collection, preparation, analysis and interpretation
  • 4 Presenting your findings
  • 5 This session’s quiz
  • 6 Summary of Session 5
  • References
  • Further reading
  • Acknowledgements
  • Session6Session 6: Making SoTL public and impact evaluation of SoTL
  • Introduction
  • 1 Making SoTL public
  • 1.1 Strategies for confronting the challenges to making SoTL public
  • 1.2 Considerations when making SoTL public
  • 2 The impact of SoTL
  • 2.1 The impact of SoTL: A case study
  • 2.2 The impact of SoTL on the practitioner
  • 2.3 Evaluating for impact
  • 2.4 Planning for impact
  • 2.5 Strategies for planning for impact
  • 2.6 An action agenda for SoTL to make an impact
  • 2.7 Measuring impact
  • 3 Supporting and sustaining SoTL
  • 4 This session’s quiz
  • 5 Summary of Session 6
  • 6 Course conclusion
  • Where next?
  • Tell us what you think
  • References
  • Further reading
  • Acknowledgements

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