SoTL Chat

These are exciting times at the University of Saskatchewan, where two new graduate programs in SoTL—a professional certificate and a master's degree (M.SoTL)—were recently approved.  Both will begin in the 2021-22 academic year. Jay Wilson is the department head of Curriculum Studies, which will host the programs through the Jane and Ron Graham School for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. But they are envisioned and designed as interdisciplinary, inclusive, and pan-Canadian. Jay joins the podcast today to tell us all about it.  For more info, contact [email protected] or [email protected].

Sean Maw and Ryan Banow make good things happen with whatever they touch. In this episode we hear about inTREEg, a group Sean developed and they both support to share ideas about teaching that has evolved into a SoTL mini-community. And they talk with us about some outstanding design research they've done in SoTL, creating and studying a virtual reality environment to teach about trusses in engineering. For a complete presentation of results, go to https://tinyurl.com/maw-banow2020

Our peripatetic academic friend, Diane Janes, is spreading enthusiasm for SoTL to the SAIT campus and across Canada (and the globe). She's worked with wonderful people during her journey to SoTL, and has experienced SoTL as a practitioner, mentor, and leader.  Among several other things, we talk about SoTL in different settings, moving from novice to experienced teacher with SoTL, and the opportunities created through educational technology and design because of COVID.  

Simply put, Michelle Yeo is one of our finest leaders in the scholarship of teaching and learning in Canada, and even internationally. And she's a terrific SoTL scholar. In this episode, Michelle chats with us about some of the structural changes in her office happening at Mount Royal University. We also hear a bit about her journey into SoTL, and some thoughts about her research, her collaborators, and some of her favourite initiatives, including a new three-year SoTL Development Program.  

Join us for the diverse, deep, and exceptionally fascinating reflections of Brett McCollum about his journey into the world of SoTL, ultimately serving as the Chair of SoTL Canada until 2020.  This multi-disciplinary chemist is festooned with teaching awards, including being named a Nesen Scholar of Teaching and Learning and 3M National Teaching Fellow, and in this episode it will be readily apparent why he's such a wonderful teacher.  We find out how he found his way into SoTL research. And he takes us on a tour of some engaging SoTL research he's done, examining how his chemistry students can transcend the classroom, and through the professional language of chemistry, become internationally-aware members of a global community of scholars. 

Melanie Hamilton, the incoming President of SoTL Canada and Vice-President (Canada) for iSoTL, talks about her plans and hopes for moving SoTL forward in our country and internationally.  She also tells us about her own research interests and how she got into SoTL. Her enthusiasm and experience are infectious...fair warning to listeners!

A 3M National Teaching Fellow chats with us about the 4M framework for understanding SoTL research...how fun is that?  Even more fun when it is Nicola Simmons from Brock University doing the chatting!  She discusses some of her work and how it fits into the mega, macro, meso, and micro framework. Then she adds a bit of a critique. And with everything from Wikipedia to collaborating with her daughter, Kit, this is an episode worth archiving.

Jay Wilson, teacher extraordinaire and SoTL scholar, takes us on a tour of one of his many adventures in teaching.  He assembled his students in a camp at a lake for an immersive learning experience in video production and post production.  Let's just say it came with some real challenges -- natural, technological, pedagogical. And in the end, it became case design SoTL research.

The human SoTL encyclopedia, Brad Wuetherick from Dalhousie University in Halifax, shares some powerhouse ideas about important issues and research questions in SoTL.  Among other things, we discuss

Micro, meso, macro, mega (global- pan disciplinary) research, and what it means to engage as an individual at each level

Using arts and humanities research methodologies to explore SoTL questions

How do we actually have impact through SoTL?   What does it look like to have REAL impact — people changing people, programs, institutional practice.

Threshold concepts on the edge

The magical Dr. Wendy James is the Manager of Professional  and Curriculum Development at the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning, and she leads SoTL initiatives on campus. In this episode Wendy talks with us about:

• The SoTL Research Clusters initiative at the University of Saskatchewan
• A couple of her favourite SoTL research cluster projects
• Extending the boundaries of SoTL to include K-12 educators, and professional roles SoTL can inspire.