2001—2002 SOTL Introductory Messages
A Message from Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
and Dean of the Faculties Moya L. Andrews
I am glad to send to you the schedule for the third year of our Scholarship
of Teaching and Learning Initiative at IU Bloomington. During the first
two years of the program, twenty-two percent of our tenured and tenure-track
faculty members attended at least one event, and 108 campus units, including
seventy-four academic departments or programs, were represented. These
numbers underscore the commitment to excellence and inquiry on our campus.
More and more faculty want to find out not just what but also how students
are learning in their classes. The SOTL program for this new academic
year includes a series of events focused upon emerging issues that are
important to all of us within our academic community.
This year’s presenters come from all ranks of the faculty and from
diverse disciplines, and their presentation topics are equally wide-ranging.
We will have the opportunity to learn about classroom research projects
in all stages of development from outstanding IU scholars. Our kick-off
event brings Bloomington’s four award-winning Carnegie Scholars together
to talk specifically about their current teaching and learning research
projects, and more generally about their perspectives on the challenges
we face as teachers at a major research university like IU Bloomington.
And we can look forward to presentations from several notable visiting
researchers, nationally recognized for their contributions to the scholarship
of teaching and learning.
Because of faculty interest, one SOTL theme this year will be how teaching
with new technology impacts student learning. Rapid developments in computers,
web based learning, and electronic communication are changing the ways
we teach, the ways students learn, and what we expect from each other.
These new media and the resources committed to them raise serious questions
about the role of technology in teaching and learning. Do the new tools
of our information age change what we teach or how we teach? How do we
know when instructional technology effectively fosters student learning?
Many of the presentations in this year’s series should add to our
understanding of the use of electronic media in higher education.
A second theme that will run through our SOTL presentations this year
is how we evaluate learning in a comparative context. This year's program
will pay special attention to the ways in which quantitative and qualitative
data can be used in conjunction to evaluate hypotheses about teaching
and learning, illustrating the synergy between different types of assessment
strategies. Related to this theme, look for workshops held throughout
the year, developed through our Course Portfolio Initiative — a research
collaboration between IU faculty and others from a consortium of five
research universities and supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts. This
project seeks to help faculty develop rich documentation of their teaching
practice and scholarship in a form accessible for peer review.
At Indiana University we are fortunate to have a tradition of excellence
in teaching. Last year Lee Shulman, president of the Carnegie Foundation
for the Advancement of Teaching, addressed the Bloomington SOTL community
and praised IU as one of the leading universities engaged in the scholarship
of teaching and learning. This reputation is deserved, and a tribute to
our faculty. The intellectual resources of our faculty are our most precious
commodity and the hallmark of a great university. We all benefit when
faculty research skills also inform our teaching.
Please join your colleagues from across campus at this year’s SOTL
events. Your participation is important because it helps foster interdisciplinary
knowledge and strengthens the campus-wide sense of community that has
always been one of Bloomington’s most valued assets.
Moya L. Andrews
Moya L. Andrews is professor of Speech & Hearing Sciences and
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculties. Born in
Australia, she graduated from Queensland University in Brisbane, completed
a masters degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and earned
a doctorate from Columbia University. She is a Fellow of the American
Speech Language & Hearing Association and also a Fellow of the Society
of Ear, Nose, and Throat Advances in Children. Her work on voice disorders
and her clinical protocols are used worldwide. The author of six books,
she has also published extensively in the research journals. She founded
the voice clinic at Indiana University which she directed for twenty years.
She is active in national and state professional organizations and is
associate editor of the Journal of Voice. In 1997 she was honored
by the Indiana Speech & Hearing Association for outstanding professional
achievements, in 1999 she was awarded the Distinguished Scholar Award
from the IU Office of Women’s Affairs, and in 2001 she received the
Honors of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association.
A Message from the Vice President for Research
and Dean of the Graduate School
One thing all university faculty constantly struggle with throughout
their academic careers is trying to balance the three traditional components
of their jobs—teaching, research, and service. Sometimes these three
areas are seen in conflict with one another, and certainly even the most
experienced professors get “stressed out” at times in trying
to divide their time, energies, and creativity among the three areas.
The beauty of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning initiative at Indiana
University is that it affords us a unique opportunity to integrate all
areas of the academic enterprise in a new and exciting way, so in fact
the supposed teaching/research dichotomy disappears—as it naturally
should since both are ways of facilitating learning and developing a learning
community.
When I spoke to the Indiana University community about two years ago
I noted that it had been said that research is what you do and scholarship
is what you think about what you do. Scholarship is more reflective. Research
can be essentially learning to use big widgets to get certain kinds of
data, or learning certain kinds of techniques—learning to use a hammer.
Scholarship is the kind of thing that keeps you from seeing everything
as a nail, once you’ve learned to use a hammer. So there is a reflectiveness
associated with scholarship that complements or goes beyond research,
but they are still tied together. I believe that the Scholarship of Teaching
and Learning emphasizes this philosophy.
As a result of the efforts spearheaded by our Academic Affairs and Dean
of Faculties office and Research and the University Graduate School (RUGS),
we at Indiana University have “put our money where our mouth is”
by providing funds for those engaged in the scholarship of teaching and
learning on exactly the same basis as we provide funds for research in
any other academic area—and we have all already benefitted from it
and will find increasing benefits in the future. We have the same high
expectations for SOTL projects that we have for disciplinary research.
Specifically RUGS will continue to provide matching funds for external
funding on the scholarship of teaching from federal, private, and individual
donors. Secondly, we will continue to invite Summer Faculty Fellowship
proposals in the area of research in teaching.
If we rejoice in the gifts of great teachers, and I believe we do in the
community that I’m proud to be part of, then it is all the more important—in
fact, it’s essential—for us to learn more about great teaching.
And that requires research, and then a body of research and reflection.
The scholarship of teaching and learning is the means to that end, and
therefore is a vital endeavor for a great university.
The good news is that there is broad interest nationally in the area
of scholarship of teaching and learning and that Indiana University is
seen as a pioneer in this important endeavor. The better news is that
this issue is so important to our society and our democratic civilization
that the scholarship of teaching is going to flourish—it’s just
a matter of how long it will take and whether or not it will be on our
watch. The best news is that you personally as scholars and mentors are
going to have a profound and satisfying positive influence on generations
of learners by your efforts in this area—long after your specific
teaching, research, and administration has been outdated, the mentoring
you have carried out in this area (when you didn’t even know it and
thought you were doing other things) will profoundly affect those who
come into contact with you without time and space limitation.
George E. Walker
George E. Walker is Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate
School at Indiana University and Senior Scholar, Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching, where he directs the “Rethinking the
Doctorate” program. He has been a Professor of Physics at IU since
1970. He has published widely in refereed physics journals, delivered
many invited talks at international conferences and workshops and served
on numerous regional and national advisory boards. Current appointments
include Association of American Universities (AAU) Task Force on Graduate
Education, AAU Council on Federal Relations, Graduate Record Examinations
Board, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Physics and Space Technology
Directorate Advisory Committee, National Association of State Universities
& Land Grant Colleges Board of Directors, National Research Council
Committee on Methods of Forecasting Demand and Supply of Doctoral Scientists
and Engineers, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission
of Institutions of Higher Education, and the Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL) Policy Council.
IU SOTL Initiative Begins Third Year
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning program in Bloomington has now
drawn almost 800 individuals into its community. Involving all ranks and
disciplines, the participation numbers continue to grow, demonstrating
broad interest in public discussion and disciplined study of teaching.
To my mind, SOTL has relevance even beyond bridging the gap between disciplinary
scholarship and instruction and fostering collegiality across disciplines
based on the common pursuit of teaching. SOTL also acknowledges the ethical
and engaged nature of teaching. At minimum, teaching involves communication,
and at best dialogue, between instructor and students. The project of
studying one’s own teaching foregrounds the relationship between
the partners in that dialogue. It values students and how they participate
in the enterprise of teaching and learning and also instructors and how
they exercise their intellectual acuity and inventiveness in that project.
In short, this kind of scholarship acknowledges the complex and interpersonal
nature of teaching and learning and accords respect to its processes and
participants.
Following on excellent attendance during years one and two of the initiative,
the summer of 2001 saw several well-attended workshops on the topics of
course portfolios and student misconceptions. The response to these hands-on
events suggests that more and more Bloomington faculty members are ready
to begin study of their own teaching. As a result, the 2001–02 SOTL
series will increase the support for faculty research and publication
in this area through three types of programs.
We will continue the familiar large-scale presentations of SOTL
research projects by IUB scholars and visiting scholars with late-afternoon
receptions and not-too-early breakfasts in the Indiana Memorial Union.
These expositions both publish significant findings about teaching and
learning that are applicable across a range of disciplines and provide
the peer review so crucial to the inquiry process.
The series will also include toolbox events that will help participants
develop the skills and knowledge necessary to conduct their own research
into teaching. These events will operate on a smaller, workshop-style
format so that the discussion can be tailored to the research interests
of those attending. Among these will be hands-on sessions about funding,
human subjects considerations, and documentation. A number of these workshops
will be part of the Pew funded Peer Review of Teaching Course Portfolio
Project, which provides support for an innovative means of documenting
the intellectual work of teaching.
Finally, this year participants will have more opportunities to work
closely with each other on specific topics of interest through scholarship
of teaching and learning working groups. You will have the chance
to sign up for these small, faculty-driven groups as they coalesce around
particular topics. The organization and focus of these groups will be
determined by the participants: they may decide to investigate applications
for findings presented at SOTL main events, devise further testing of
presenters’ hypotheses, or collaborate in development of new lines
of inquiry. A model for this kind of group gathered last spring and summer
around the subject of student misconceptions. This working group explored
misconceptions in their own disciplines, looked for links among them,
and finally participated in a summer series with visiting scholar Joel
Michael.
A special event in the coming year will be the keynote address for the
20th annual Spring Symposium. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning pioneer
Richard Light will share his latest research on students’ strategies
for academic success and his recommendations to faculty and administrators
for affecting retention and persistence. In addition to Professor Light’s
talk, the Spring Symposium for a third year will include a SOTL strand
of papers as well as other presentations on student affairs by members
of the IU system. Please consider submitting your own proposal for the
scholarship of teaching and learning strand by the February 1, 2002, deadline.
The SOTL program at IUB seeks to be responsive to faculty interests and
needs. If you have suggestions, comments, or interests you would like
to pursue, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly, at jenmetar@indiana.edu
or 812-855-9023, or to speak to a member of the SOTL Advisory Council.
Jennifer Meta Robinson
Chair of the SOTL Advisory Council
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