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ASOTL
Welcome
Welcome to the Advancement of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ASoTL) research unit, part of the Teaching and Learning Support Service (TLSS) at the University of Ottawa.
"The Advancement of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research (ASoTL) unit was created in 2016 by TLSS to consolidate the expertise of recipients of the Chair in University Teaching and to support professors who have committed to advancing research in teaching and learning. The goal of this research unit is not only to recognize the values of leadership and excellence in university teaching but also to host researchers, affiliated researchers, doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers working in the field of university education, techno-education and, more generally, SoTL."
- Aline Germain-Rutherford, Vice-Provost, Academic Affairs
Contact us at .
Mission and vision
The mission of the Advancement of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ASoTL) research unit at the Teaching and Learning Support Service is to develop a culture of inquiry and foster pedagogical innovation, systematic inquiry and knowledge mobilization in higher education. The unit will provide a point of synergy between the first two goals of the University’s Destination 2020 strategic plan—a rich, inspiring student experience, which includes a commitment to teaching excellence, and research excellence. The final two goals of Destination 2020—francophonie and bilingualism and developing leaders through internationalization—further enrich and complement each other and the unit as we work with SoTL leaders within the university and with colleagues abroad.
The research unit will serve as hub for communication across an interdisciplinary community of scholarly teaching and learning educators, both at uOttawa and across higher education organizations.
Goals of the research unit:
• To advocate for engagement in systematic inquiry and evidence-based practices in teaching and learning
• To conduct research and develop institutional teaching and learning initiatives and lead in the knowledge mobilization of the scholarship of teaching and learning
• To connect cross-disciplinary teaching and learning projects and collaborative initiatives
• To support research on the scholarship of teaching and learning as well as related academic opportunities
Research
Ongoing research
Eileen O'Connor
The 2017 Chair in University Teaching focuses on building effective practices in work-integrated learning (WIL) at uOttawa. Building on previous collaborative work to develop a work-integrated learning toolkit for Ontario universities and colleges (2016), this chair will focus on adapting the toolkit template by consolidating and disseminating knowledge on effective practices within our wide range of work-integrated learning offered through programs, research and innovation at uOttawa. Specifically, the objectives of the chair are three-fold: collaborate on developing an inventory of uOttawa WIL opportunities; foster synergies through a forum for discussion and research on effective practices, challenges and opportunities for WIL at uOttawa; and create support tools for students to enhance their WIL experiences. Taken together, they will allow the chair to contribute to building capacity in WIL at uOttawa and to build partnerships with the community, government and industry as we respond to the growing interest for students to experience effective WIL in their programs. The 2017 Chair in University Teaching focuses on building effective practices in work-integrated learning (WIL) at uOttawa. Building on previous collaborative work to develop a work-integrated learning toolkit for Ontario universities and colleges (2016), this chair will focus on adapting the toolkit template by consolidating and disseminating knowledge on effective practices within our wide range of work-integrated learning offered through programs, research and innovation at uOttawa. Specifically, the objectives of the chair are three-fold: collaborate on developing an inventory of uOttawa WIL opportunities; foster synergies through a forum for discussion and research on effective practices, challenges and opportunities for WIL at uOttawa; and create support tools for students to enhance their WIL experiences. Taken together, they will allow the chair to contribute to building capacity in WIL at uOttawa and to build partnerships with the community, government and industry as we respond to the growing interest for students to experience effective WIL in their programs.
Alison Flynn
University students have to learn in many different formats (e.g., lecture, online, blended, flipped, labs) and manage many different course and life expectations (e.g., part-time jobs, clubs, sports, volunteer work, family). To be successful, students need to know and continually monitor their learning and develop autonomy and professional capacity skills; these are two undergraduate degree level expectations (UDLEs 5 and 6) and are components of self-regulated learning (SRL). Currently, few programs, courses or online resources address SRL skills. In this project, Alison Flynn is developing an SRL module that targets domain-specific SRL skills (i.e., SRL skills that are specific to a course or discipline) and will be integrated in courses at all levels and a practical participatory evaluation of the SRL initiative. The module also aims to help students identify their priorities and goals, and develop a growth mindset.
Aline Germain-Rutherford
2008–present: Research work on professional development and technology integration for language educators. This work is funded by the Centre for Modern Languages(ECML). https://www.ecml.at/TrainingConsultancy/ICT-REV/tabid/1725/language/en-GB/Default.aspx
2015–present: Co-researcher for LINguistic and Cultural DIversity REinvented (LINCDIRE), an international project that develops a learner-centred plurilingual and pluricultural pedagogical framework fusing Western and Aboriginal pedagogical approaches in language education. This project is funded by a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant. http://www.lincdireproject.org/
2016–present: Expert consultant for curriculum development for the Linking Learning and Belonging: A Collaborative Approach to Narrowing the Achievement Gap for High-Risk New Arrival Immigrant Teens project, funded by a US National Leadership Grant for Libraries and led by the Hartford Public Library in Connecticut.
Jovan Groen
Jovan’s doctoral research examines student perceptions of transformation and quality in higher education. It is guided by the discourses of Transformative Learning Theory (Mezirow 2000) and conceptions of quality higher education “as transformation” (Harvey and Green 1993).Jovan’s doctoral research examines student perceptions of transformation and quality in higher education.
Publications
Learning with technology
Carnegie J. Online assignment approach for large classes engages students, promotes higher-order skills and allows the efficient provision of instructive feedback. HAPS Educator 20: 52-57.
Carnegie J. Use of feedback-oriented online exercises to help physiology students construct well-organized answers to short answer questions. CBE – Life Sciences Education 14(3): 14:ar25,1-12. http://www.lifescied.org/content/14/3/ar25.full.pdf
Groen, J. F. (2014, February). Supporting Student Learning via Lecture Capture Technology. Presented at the annual Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy. Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.
Groen, J. F., Quigley, B., & Herry, Y. (2016). Examining the Use of Lecture Capture Technology: Implications for Teaching and Learning. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. 7(1).
Groen, J. F., & Vézina, N. (2014, October). Examining Learning Analytics: Who Benefits Most From Our Teaching Innovations? Presented at the conference of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Québec, QC.
Jalali A, Leddy J, Gauthier M, Sun R, Hincke M, Carnegie J. 2011. Use of podcasting as an innovative asynchronous e-learning tool for students. US-China Education Review A 6: 741-748.
Murphy, M.P.A. (2018). Blending' Docent Learning: Using Google Forms Quizzes to Increase Efficiency in Interpreter Education at Fort Henry. Journal of Museum Education. 43(1): 47-54.
Oran, A. 2017. Situating Video Feedback in a Model of Student Feedback Responses: A Collective Case Study Analysis Accepted for Poster Presentation at the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 2017 (Halifax, Canada), the Association for Biology Laboratory Education 2017 (Madison, USA), and in-house presentation at uOttawa (2017).
Oran, A. 2017 – Digital Video Feedback and Labs – The students like it, why don’t you? Accepted for a mini-workshop to train participants with digital feedback for ABLE2017 and publication in the Proceedings of the 39th Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education (Madison, USA).
Oran, A. 2017 – Customizable GORP for your individual laboratory needs. Accepted for a mini-workshop to train participants with this digital feedback application for teaching and learning; ALBE2017 (Madison, USA).
Quigley, B., & Groen J. F. (2015, May) Assessing the Pedagogical Implications of Lecture Capture Technologies in Higher Education. Presented at the conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education. Ottawa, ON.
Shaw, J., Kominko, S., & Terrion, J. Lennox. (2015). Using LectureTools to enhance student-instructor relations and student engagement in the large class, Research in Learning Technology, 23: 27197 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v23.27197
Taylor, M., Atas, S, & Ghani, S (2017). Experiences of students and professors in a graduate blended learning program: A case study of a Faculty of Education. International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning 9(1), 1-15.
Taylor, M., Ghani, S., Atas, S., & Fairbrother, M. (2018). A pathway towards implementation of blended learning in a medium sized Canadian university. International Journal of Online Pedagogy and Curriculum Design, 8(1), 60-76.
Taylor, M., Atas, S., & Ghani, S. (submitted). Cognitive presence in a graduate blended learning course. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning.
Taylor, M. & Bastien, M. (May, 2017). The ‘Bricks and Clicks’ Towards Success: A Discussion Paper on a Blended Learning Research Project at the University of Ottawa. University of Ottawa, Faculty of Education: https://tlss.uottawa.ca/site/files/docs/TLSS/research-unit/Bricks_and_Clicks_Web.pdf
Taylor, M., Vaughan, N., Ghani, S., Atas, S., & Fairbrother, M. (2018). Looking back and looking forward: A glimpse of blended learning in higher education from 2007-2017. International Journal of Adult and Vocational Education and Technology, 9(1), 1-14.
Terrion, J. Lennox & Aceti, V. (2012). Perceptions of the effects of clicker technology on student learning and engagement: A study of freshman chemistry students. Research in Learning Technology, 20(2).
Terrion, J. Lennox & Aceti, V. (2010). The potential for student engagement using clickers in a large introductory class. In R. Luppicini and A. K. Haghi (Eds.) Cases on Digital Technologies in Higher Education: Issues and Challenges, pp. 126-138. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Active learning
Carnegie J. The use of limericks to engage student interest and promote active learning in an undergraduate course in functional anatomy. Anatomical Sciences Education 5: 90-97.
Carnegie J. 2013. The creation and implementation of interactive opportunities to promote learning between lectures. Student Learning: Improving Practice. Chris Boyle (ed.). Nova Science Publishers Inc/New York, pp. 43-57.
Groen, J., Murphy, M.P.A., and Vezina, N. (2019). Active Learning Classrooms in Flux: Lessons Learned from a First Year in Action. Paper Presented at the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Annual Conference, 11-14 June 2019.
Murphy, M. P. A. (2019). Should we prepare students for active learning classrooms? An unresolved question and two provocations. International Journal for Academic Development.
Murphy, M. P. A. (2019). Active learning as destituent potential: Agambenian philosophy of education and moderate steps towards the coming politics. Educational Philosophy and Theory. 28pp.
Murphy, M.P.A. & Rose, D. (2019). Curator's Curiosities: Active Learning as Interpretive Pedagogy. Journal of Museum Education. 44(1), 81-88.
Murphy, M.P.A. (2018). Crowds, Carousels, and Pot Lucks: How Active Learning Pedagogy Can Spark and Strengthen Class Discussions. Workshop led at the Carleton University Educational Development Centre.
Murphy, M.P.A. (2017). Using Active-Learning Pedagogy to Develop Essay-Writing Skills in Introductory Political Theory Tutorials. Journal of Political Science Education. 13(3): 346-354.
Murphy, M.P.A. (2017). Active Learning in Political Theory: Traditional & Active Learning Classrooms. Paper Presented at the Queen's University Showcase on Teaching and Learning, 3 May 2017.
Murphy, M.P.A. (2019). Space Matters, Too!: A Call to Attention for Purpose-Built Active Learning Classrooms in the SoTL of Political Science and International Relations. Paper Presented at the International Studies Association Northeast Regional Conference, 8-9 November 2019.
Murphy, M.P.A., Germain-Rutherford, A., Groen, J, and Vezina, N. (2019). Active Learning Classrooms in Action: Balancing Pedagogy, Technology, and Use of Space. Paper Presented at the Global Summit on Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age, 8-10 October 2019.
Murphy, M.P.A. (2019). Space Matters, Too! Political Science SoTL and Active Learning Classrooms. Paper Presented at the American Political Science Association annual conference, 27 August-1 September 2019.
Student focus
Rocchi, M., Pelletier, L., Cheung, S., Baxter, D., & Beaudry, S.G. (2017). Assessing Need-Supportive and Need-Thwarting Interpersonal Behaviours: The Interpersonal Behaviours Questionnaire (IBQ). Personality and Individual Differences, 104, 423-433. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.08.034
Rocchi, M., Beaudry, S.G., Anderson, C., & Pelletier, L. (2016). Research Participation Pools - Exploring the Non-Participants. Teaching of Psychology, 43, 285-293. doi: 10.1177/0098628316662756
Terrion, J. Lennox (2013). The experience of post-secondary education for students in recovery from addiction to drugs or alcohol: Relationships and recovery capital. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30(1), 3-23. Impact Factor: 1.160. doi: 10.1177/0265407512448276
Terrion, J. Lennox (2012). Student peer-mentors as a navigational resource in higher education. In S. Fletcher and C. Mullen (Eds.) The SAGE Handbook of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, pp. 383-395. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Terrion, J. Lennox & Daoust J-L. (2011-2012). Assessing the impact of supplemental instruction on the retention of undergraduate students after controlling for motivation. Journal of College Student Retention, 13(3), 311-328.
Terrion, J. Lennox & Leonard, D. (2010). Motivation of paid peer mentors and unpaid peer helpers in higher education. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 8(1), 85-103.
Terrion, J. Lennox & Philion, R. (2008). The electronic mentor journal as reflection-on-action: A qualitative analysis of communication and learning in a peer-mentoring program. Studies in Higher Education, 33(5), 583–597. DOI: 10.1080/03075070802373073
Evaluation
Carnegie J.A. & Leddy, J.J. 2017. Student justification of responses to multiple-choice questions. HAPS Educator 21: 6-16. http://dx.doi.org/10.21692/haps.2017.002
Carnegie J. Does correct answer distribution influence student choices when writing multiple choice examinations? Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 8 (Article 11): 1-13. http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol8/iss1/11
Merriam, H. and A.E. Oran. 2016. Digital Badges – Empowering stakeholders by improving student assessment and engagement. Accepted for presentation at the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (2016). http://stlhe2016sapes.ca/program.cfm
Second language education
Burrows, T. & Stepanczuk, D. (2013). Gauge of readiness for Internet-based language learning: An 800 pound GORILLa. The JALT CALL Journal, 9(2).
Burrows, T. (2013). English and integrated water resources management: A training program for the Mekong River Commission. Asian EFL Journal, 15(4).
Burrows, T. & Hamilton, T. (2015, March). Exploring language learner autonomy with Myanmar students through self-study portfolios. Paper presented at the Jean Paul Dionne Symposium, Ottawa, Canada.
SoTL
Simmons, N., & Groen, J. F. (2015, June). The SoTL Canada Symphony: Conducting the Orchestra. Presented at the annual conference of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Vancouver, BC.
Simmons, N., Groen, J., Gill, A., Miller-Young, J., Verwoord, R., & Marquis, B. (2017, June) Building Capacity through Collaboration: SoTL Canada’s Collaborative Writing Groups. Presented at the annual conference of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Halifax, NS.
Other
Maheux-Pelletier, G., Rukholm, V., Groen, J. F., & Vézina, N. (2017). Nested Within or Swallowed Up: Le dilemme des chercheurs francophones en pédagogie postsecondaire au Canada. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 8(2).
Jamieson, S. & Terrion, J. Lennox. (2016). Building and mobilizing social capital: A phenomenological study of part-time professors. Stream: Inspiring Critical Thought, 8(2), 57-70. ISSN 1916-5897. Available at: <http://journals.sfu.ca/stream/index.php/stream/article/view/201>. Date accessed: 29 may 2017.
Terrion, J. Lennox (2013, November 23). Re-Visioning the Large Class as a Forum for Interpersonal Relationships. TEDx Talk, University of Ottawa. http://gg.gg/18e3y
Oran, A.E. 2016. Journal Clubs and Lab Courses: the Prose and Cons. Article 58 in Tested Studies for Laboratory Teaching,Volume 37 (K. McMahon, Editor). (in press) Proceedings of the 37th Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE). http://www.ableweb.org/volumes/vol-37/v37reprint.php?ch=article#
Murphy, M. P. A. (Forthcoming, 2019). The rise, fall, and afterlife of learning styles: an essay on Megarianism and emancipation in educational potentiality. Studies in Philosophy and Education.
Activities
ASoTL activities
Jean Paul Dionne Symposium workshop: "Developing an elephant's skin in the journal publication process" (M. Taylor, D. Trumpower, S. Ghani & J. Groen; March 2, 2018)
Jean Paul Dionne Symposium poster presentation: "A negotiated approach to a SOTL reading group for graduate students in the disciplines" (T. Burrows, March 2, 2018)
Jean Paul Dionne Symposium poster presentation: "A pathway towards implementation of blended learning at the University of Ottawa" (S. Ghani, M. Fairbrother & M. Taylor; March 1, 2018)
TLSS Lecture Series: "Conducting research on your teaching and learning of your students: Putting SoTL into practice" (A. Flynn, J. Lennox-Terrion, E. O’Connor, M. Taylor; February 15, 2018)
Education Research Unit: Adult and Higher Education Seminar on Blended Learning (February 7, 2018)
Development of a research project on blended and online teaching (BOLT) with Canada's Collaboration for Online Higher Education Research (COHERE)
Human Anatomy Physiology Society. (2020). Journal of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society: Special Conference Edition. https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.hapsweb.org/resource/resmgr/educator_archive/2020HAPS-SpecialEdition-Full.pdf
SoTL activities at uOttawa
Teaching and Learning Support Service
Perspective Symposium: A forum for dialogue and to showcase the work of our featured professors. Learn more about Perspective.
Roop Kesarwani Lecture: This annual talk promotes excellence in university teaching by inviting speakers who are renowned experts. Learn more about the Roop Kesarwani Lecture.
Department of Innovation in Medical Education
DIME rounds: Monthly showcase of the latest research and innovations in medical education. Learn more about DIME rounds.
Meredith Marks Day: Showcase of local research and innovations in medical education. Learn more about Meredith Marks Day.
Members
Are you passionate about university teaching? The Advancement of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ASoTL) research unit is the focal point at uOttawa for a community of practice dedicated to research on university education. If you’re passionate about teaching and learning at universities, we’re currently welcoming expressions of interest from potential associate or affiliated members to join our core members. Contact us at or complete the membership application form.
Core members
The core members of the research unit are the past and present Chairs in University Teaching.
In addition to SoTL research, advocacy and outreach in their role as chairs in university teaching, these core members serve as the steering committee for the unit.
2018 – Rebecca Tiessen
Faculty of Social Sciences
International Development and Global Studies
Full Professor
https://uniweb.uottawa.ca/members/777
Rebecca Tiessen is Full Professor in the School of International Development and Global Studies and University Chair in Teaching at the University of Ottawa. Her research focuses on internationalization of higher education, global service learning and study abroad, international volunteering and gender and development. Her most recent book: Learning and Volunteering Abroad for Development: Unpacking Host Organization and Volunteer Rationales was published by Routledge in 2018.
2017 – Eileen O’Connor
Faculty of Health Sciences
School of Human Kinetics
Associate Professor
health.uottawa.ca/people/oconnor-eileen
Eileen O’Connor is an associate professor in the School of Human Kinetics and obtained her PhD in history at uOttawa. She is an engaged scholar in the field of experiential learning. Currently co-investigator on a SSHRC partnership grant to enhance community–campus engagement, she collaborates to develop capacity for work-integrated learning (WIL). Professor O’Connor also pursues socio-historical research on sport, health and gender and supervises graduate students in these fields. She has received a number of distinctions, including the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Faculty of Health Sciences in 2007, the uOttawa Community Service Learning – Outstanding Professor Achievement Award in 2009, an OCRI National Capital Educator’s Award in 2010 and a uOttawa Excellence in Education Prize in 2016.
PROJECT
The 2017 Chair in University Teaching focuses on building effective practices in work-integrated learning (WIL) at uOttawa. Building on previous collaborative work to develop a work-integrated learning toolkit for Ontario universities and colleges (2016), this chair will focus on adapting the toolkit template by consolidating and disseminating knowledge on effective practices within our wide range of work-integrated learning offered through programs, research and innovation at uOttawa. Specifically, the objectives of the chair are three-fold: collaborate on developing an inventory of uOttawa WIL opportunities; foster synergies through a forum for discussion and research on effective practices, challenges and opportunities for WIL at uOttawa; and create support tools for students to enhance their WIL experiences. Taken together, they will allow the chair to contribute to building capacity in WIL at uOttawa and to build partnerships with the community, government and industry as we respond to the growing interest for students to experience effective WIL in their programs.
2016 – Alison Flynn
Faculty of Science
Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences
Associate Professor
www.flynnresearchgroup.com/chair/
PROJECT
University students have to learn in many different formats (e.g., lecture, online, blended, flipped, labs) and manage many different course and life expectations (e.g., part-time jobs, clubs, sports, volunteer work, family). To be successful, students need to know and continually monitor their learning and develop autonomy and professional capacity skills; these are two undergraduate degree level expectations (UDLEs 5 and 6) and are components of self-regulated learning (SRL). Currently, few programs, courses or online resources address SRL skills. In this project, Alison Flynn is developing an SRL module that targets domain-specific SRL skills (i.e., SRL skills that are specific to a course or discipline) and will be integrated in courses at all levels and a practical participatory evaluation of the SRL initiative. The module also aims to help students identify their priorities and goals, and develop a growth mindset.
Please feel free to explore the project and connect with Alison if you would like to get involved or share suggestions!
2014 – Maurice Taylor
"Blended learning is a 21st century pedagogy that can help transform higher education"
Faculty of Education
Full Professor
education.uottawa.ca/en/people/taylor-maurice
uniweb.uottawa.ca/#!uottawa/members/657/profile
Maurice Taylor is a full professor at the Faculty of Education, where he teaches and supervises graduate students in adult learning, adult development and blended learning.
PROJECT
One of the recommendations from a recent University of Ottawa report suggests that our university adopt blended learning at large scale. This type of instructional model blends online and in-class learning. To help move this initiative forward, Maurice Taylor, from the Faculty of Education will be conducting a three-year study that investigates the current conditions across different faculties for large-scale adoption and the best practices in blended learning here at the University and other leading provincial universities. Results will help determine action plans and develop tools aimed at transforming instructional practices and teaching innovation.
2013 – Jenepher Lennox-Terrion
Faculty of Arts
Department of Communication
Professor
arts.uottawa.ca/communication/en/people/lennox-terrion-jenepher
Jenepher Lennox-Terrion is a full professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Ottawa. The winner of several teaching awards, Professor Lennox-Terrion strives to improve the student experience of her own students through innovative, creative and outstanding teaching. She has also participated in numerous departmental, faculty and university-wide initiatives to promote student engagement and to enhance the learning experience of students throughout the University. She is interested in the experiences of vulnerable populations and much of her work strives to connect with community organizations serving those in need. Her research focuses on human relationships in a variety of contexts, including the university classroom, addiction recovery programs and peer mentoring. In 2012, she was named a University of Ottawa chair in university teaching. In this role, she is conducting a multi-year study of excellence in the large class. Her research seeks to assess the degree to which highly rated professors of large classes use verbal and nonverbal communication to build connection with students—and to catalogue how they do it. Professor Lennox-Terrion co-authored with Professor Sherry Ferguson the book Communication in Everyday Life: Personal and Professional Contexts (2014, Oxford University Press Canada) and has published widely in scholarly journals.
PROJECT
Given the place of large classes in today’s universities, understanding how they can be best delivered is significant. The development of positive relationships between instructor and students through the professor’s verbal and nonverbal communication, or teacher immediacy, is important to learning. Therefore, this study will assess the degree to which highly rated professors of large classes demonstrate teacher immediacy and catalogue how they do it. The study will also produce guidelines for teaching large classes focused specifically on building teacher immediacy and, ultimately, positive classroom relationships.
2012 – Jacqueline Carnegie
Faculty of Medicine
Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Associate Professor
med.uottawa.ca/cellular-molecular/people/carnegie-jacqueline
PROJECT
Undergraduate students explore pathophysiology beginning with the disease rather than the patient. This project involves the creation of learning modules, each with a video to acquaint students with a patient (student actors). The goals are to facilitate learning by personalizing the study of diseases, promote learning through application and encourage patient-oriented storage of disease-related information in long-term memory.
Published online learning tools
Carnegie J. Breathing: It’s Not Just About Oxygen. MedEdPortal. Available from: http://services.aamc.org/30/mededportal/servlet/s/segment/mededportal/find_resources/browse/?subid=3135
Short communications
Carnegie J. 2011. MyLab / Mastering Success Story: Using Mastering A&P. Pearson Education.http://catalogue.pearsoned.ca/assets/ca/mylabmastering/SuccessStory_MasteringAP.pdf
Carnegie J, Iafolla M & Weinstangel H. 2010. CDM Questions: Software allows students to practice new question style online before summative exams. JIAMSE 20 2s:173.
Carnegie J, Leddy J, De Jesus C, De Jesus J & Crawford M. 2008. The development of self-directed basic science learning modules for new medical students. CAME Newsletter 18 (2): 3-5. http://www.came-acem.ca/docs/newsletters/18_2/newsletter_18_2_en.pdf
Carnegie J. 2007. Enzymatic Snippet – Pac-ManTM Style. HAPS-Educator 12 (1): 9-10.
2012 – Scott Findlay
Faculty of Science
Department of Biology
www.uottawa.ca/environment/people/findlay-scott-0
mysite.science.uottawa.ca/findlay/contact.html
PROJECT
The project on synthetic science will provide the opportunity for undergraduate students to contribute by conducting scientific research through extracting information from published studies using validated protocols, populating electronic databases with these data and using the resulting synthesized data to test scientific hypotheses. This approach overcomes the logistical barriers associated with limited laboratory time and facilities, creating the potential to train students to think like scientists by doing actual science.
Associate members
Associate members collaborate with the unit on SoTL initiatives and research ideas. They are actively engaged in SoTL as teachers, researchers or leaders in promoting a scholarly approach to university teaching.
Association with the unit provides increased visibility for members and their research as well as a community of like-minded SoTL researchers for networking, exposure to ideas, collaboration and creation.
Associate members are invited to join the unit based on ongoing SoTL projects and can be full-time professors, part-time professors, academic staff or graduate students. Individuals from outside the University of Ottawa, including government and NGO employees or private citizens, can also apply for associate membership. Once appointed, an individual maintains associate membership for five years.
Current Associate Members
Aline Germain-Rutherford, in her capacity as Vice-Provost, Academic Affairs, serves as head of the Teaching and Learning Support Service and ASoTL. In addition, she conducts SoTL-oriented research in the areas of second language acquisition and the student experience.
Jovan Groen’s professional background is in educational development and curriculum analysis in higher education, including with Teaching and Learning Support Service. Beyond his involvement in several SoTL projects related to the use of technology in teaching and the influence of classroom design on instructional practice and student learning, Jovan’s research work examines student perceptions of transformation and quality in higher education.
Tylor Burrows serves as co-ordinator of the ASoTL research unit, in addition to being a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Education. His SoTL-related research investigates leadership for educational development as a phenomenon distributed across a university organization.
Alp Oran is a lab and course coordinator with an interest in teaching, learning, and assessment. In addition to designing and publishing peer-reviewed articles on biology laboratory education, he is currently engaged in a multi-institutional initiative examining graduate student development in teaching and learning.
Michael P. A. Murphy is a doctoral candidate in Political Science at the University of Ottawa, and a recipient of a 2018 excellence award for teaching assistants. He has published SoTL work on active and blended learning in the Journal of Political Science Education and the Journal of Museum Education. His disciplinary research has been published in the Journal of Political Power, the Canadian Political Science Review, and Sport in Society. He has presented at conferences on philosophy, pedagogy, politics, religion, and history. For the period 2019-2020, Michael is Member-at-Large for the Active Learning in International Affairs Section (ALIAS) of the International Studies Association.
Simon Beaudry is the Senior Manager of the INSPIRE laboratory facilities, a shared interdisciplinary research environment designed to facilitate all types of research on human behaviour, from focus groups to neuroscience. He is an alumnus of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Ottawa and holds a PhD in experimental social psychology. During his doctoral studies, he developed an expertise in human motivation applied to various contexts such as intimate relationships, healthy eating, and pro-environmental behaviours. His SoTL research now focuses on student motivation in the classroom and professors’ interpersonal behaviours that create an optimal learning climate. Professor Beaudry is also active in knowledge mobilization to the community, particularly high schools, and he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in quantitative methods, research methods, and social psychology. He has been recognized by several teaching awards, notably the 2014 Part-Time Professor of the Year award of the Faculty of Social Sciences.
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology and obtained my Ph.D. degree in Biology at uOttawa for my work in the field of Comparative Physiology. I engage primarily in scholarly activities that are directed at advancing the quality of undergraduate biology education through professional development, and student-professor collaborations in SoTL. Ongoing projects include (1) communities of practice as a learning system for professional development, (2) development and assessment of “Scientific Teaching” approaches in large enrolment courses, and (3) the reflections on the role of technology in support of teaching and learning in the classroom. Through these, I aim to provide students, and teachers alike, an educational environment that fosters intellectual and personal development within community. I am the recipient of an André Lalonde Science Professor of the Year Award, a National Capital Educator’s Award and a uOttawa Teaching and Learning Support Services - Innovative Use of Educational Technology Excellence Award. I am active in professional organizations that promote professional development in science education.
Michael A. O’Neill has been teaching political science and public administration at the School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, since 1998 which he combines with a professional practice in public service professional training and development. Michael has a longstanding interest in teaching and learning in higher education, an interest that he is now pursuing through graduate studies in education at University of Ottawa. Michael is the author of several research articles linking his fields of practice with considerations of teaching and learning. Beginning in 2015 Michael has chaired an international panel on teaching and training in public administration under the auspices of the International Research Society for Public Management. Michael's current research project focuses on curriculum design and labour market alignment.
Faculty of Science
Department of Biology
Assistant Professor
Dr. Adam Oliver Brown is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology and a cross-appointed professor to the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Brown has a teaching practice and research program based on fostering meaningful independent learning in science students, through engaging rhetorical discourse and the use of cognitive learning scaffolds. As a skilled science communicator, Adam has also written, produced and hosted a large number of TV and radio media productions of science for adult and children alike. He is an affiliate member of the uOttawa Institute for the Environment and an associate member of the world-renowned science communication team at the McGill Office for Science and Society in Montreal.
Faculty of Science
Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology
Replacement Professor
https://med.uottawa.ca/bmi/en/people/dambrosio-lisa
Lisa D’Ambrosio is Replacement Professor at the Faculty of Medicine where her focus is on the development and implementation of best pedagogical practices in undergraduate education. She obtained her PhD in Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto and is currently completing her MEd at the University of Ottawa where her SoTL research interests are centered on the improvement of teaching and learning in undergraduate science. Dr. D’Ambrosio was the 2018 recipient of the Denis Williamson Teaching Award from the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology in recognition of her commitment to leadership and innovation in education.
Department of Education
Part-Time Professor
Olga Fellus holds a Ph.D. in Education – Teaching, Learning, and Evaluation. She also has an M.Ed. in TESOL and an M.A. in Translation and Interpreting. Her Ph.D. work focuses on teenage newcomers’ identity-making as learners of English and school mathematics. Previously a teacher educator, she taught classroom discourse, research methods, and English for Academic Purposes. She was the editor of the AERA Educational Change SIG https://www.aera.net/SIG155/Lead-the-Change-Series">Lead the Change series. Among her recent publications are her 2017 paper One is not born a mathematician: In conversation with Vasily Davydov; and her 2019 paper Connecting the dots: Toward a four-dimensional conceptualization and operationalization of identity in mathematics education, published in ZDM Mathematics Education
Other associate members:
Andrew Sowinski
Elaine Beaulieu
Shehzad Ghani
Umar Ruhi
Affiliated Members
Any interested parties may become affiliated members of the research unit. All affiliate members receive information by email on current ASoTL activities and resources.
Affiliated members who would like to join activities and events but are unable to be physically present at uOttawa can be accommodated using internet technologies.
SoTL
What is SoTL?
*Video from the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University
Defining SoTL
The Scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) is an emergent research-based and improvement-oriented perspective on instruction in higher education.
This movement towards scholarly teaching is often credited to Ernest Boyer, whose 1990 report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, entitled Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professorate, argues for teaching as a fundamental, yet challenging, scholarly activity for which “pedagogical procedures must be carefully planned, continuously examined, and relate directly to the subject taught....Further, good teaching means that faculty, as scholars, are also learners” (pp. 23–24).
While there is no standard definition (see these definitions of SoTL published by the University of Illinois, for example), according to SoTL Canada, invariably “[t]he Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has at its core the goal of improving student learning. This is achieved through scholarly inquiry about learning, about teaching, and about how to best make public the resulting findings.”
Why do SoTL?
Engaging in SoTL has advantages for students, faculty members and disciplinary groups.
Students can benefit from SoTL through an educational experience that is research-based and continuously improved. Further, students can be co-researchers on SoTL projects and thus gain an understanding of both research methods and the challenges of teaching in the disciplines. Doctoral students who teach and are hoping to become professors can strengthen both their research and teaching portfolios through SoTL publications.
Faculty members can strengthen their research and teaching portfolios though SoTL publications, which in turn can be used for award applications and in tenure or promotion processes. More practically, engaging in SoTL can contribute to higher course evaluations by encouraging professors to use new pedagogies in their teaching contexts or to tackle issues that have come up in the course of their teaching.
Schools and departments can benefit from the SoTL research of their faculty members, in addition to their own SoTL research at the program level. SoTL provides an avenue for program review and assessment and contributes to recognition of the quality and innovation of educational activities across and within schools and departments.
Doing SoTL
If you're interested in starting SOTL research but not sure how, contact the research unit to get started!
The Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario has an introductory guide on researching teaching and student outcomes.
Kinds of SoTL research
The following overview of different genres of S0TL research is adapted from How could I do SoTL: Selected examples of several of the different genres of SoTL by Craig E. Nelson at Indiana University. Click here to see the original article, with examples.
Reports on particular classes
- Examples of successful and novel pedagogical approaches as described by instructors who have used them
- Before and after: Qualitative or quantitative assessments of changes in practice
Reflections on several or many years of teaching experience, implicitly or explicitly informed by other scholarship on teaching
- Essays developing good ideas
- Summaries of expert knowledge gained by self-reflection and experimentation In ones own teaching
- Integration of larger frameworks with classroom and curriculum practice
Larger contexts: Comparisons of courses and of student change across time
- Qualitative studies designed to explore a key issue
- Quantitative comparisons of different courses or sections
- Comparisons of a wide array of different courses using a common assessment instrument
Summaries and analyses of sets of prior studies
- Annotated bibliographies.
- Brief, annotated summaries of key findings in the research literature
- Formal (quantitative) meta-analyses
Doing SoTL
The Vanderbilt University Centre for Teaching provides a brief tutorial on the following steps involved in doing SOTL.
- Getting Started
- Conducting a Lit Review
- Doing Ethical Research
- Identifying Evidence
- Planning the Project Design
- Analyzing Data
- Going Public
- Considering Quality
Ethical considerations
The University of Ottawa, as well as funding bodies such as SSHRC, NSERC and CIHR, requires that research conducted by students, staff, and/or faculty be conducted responsibly.
Consult the publication Navigating the IRB: The Ethics of SoTL for a more detailed discussion of institutional review boards and ethics in SOTL research.
For more on ethics guidelines and processes at uOttawa visit the Office of Research Ethics and Integrity website.
Publishing
Discipline-specific journals
The University of Central Florida's Faculty Centre for Teaching and Learning provides a comprehensive list of SOTL journals, including disciplinary journals, at http://www.fctl.ucf.edu/ResearchAndScholarship/SoTL/journals/
General SoTL-oriented journals
- Teaching and Learning Inquiry
- Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- Teaching in Higher Education
- International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- Transformative Dialogues: Teaching and Learning Journal
- Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching (CELT)
- Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- Active Learning in Higher Education
- Insight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching
- International Journal for Academic Development
- Learning and Instruction
Conferences
- Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education
- Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
- International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- SOTL Commons Conference
- Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy
- Lilly Conference Series on College and University Teaching and Learning
Funds and awards
uOttawa Teaching and Learning Support Services
University of Ottawa Chairs in University Teaching
Teaching | Learning Grants Program
Other uOttawa opportunities
University of Ottawa Excellence in Education Prizes
Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa Award for Excellence in Teaching
Association of Part-time Professors University of Ottawa: Part-time Prof of the Year Award
Provincial
Ontario Human Capital Research and Innovation Fund
Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario
National
3M National Teaching Fellowship
3M Scholarship of Leadership in Education Grant Program
TransCanada Learning Innovation and Collaborative Inquiry Research grant program
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
D2L Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning
Disciplinary
American Accounting Association – Innovation in Accounting Education Award
Chemical Institute of Canada Award for Chemical Education
Communication Studies Donald H. Ecroyd Award for Outstanding Teaching in Higher Education
Computer Science and Engineering Teaching Award
Computer Science Taylor L. Booth Education Award
American Society for Criminology Teaching Award
Electrical Engineering Mac Van Valkenburg Early Career Teaching Award
Canadian Mathematical Society, Excellence in Teaching Award
Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award
SoTL reading
*Video from the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University
Following are some selected readings about SoTL which are available online:
New SoTL Scholars
Bernstein, D. 2010. Finding your place in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 4(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2010.040204
Elgie, S. (2014). Researching Teaching and Student Outcomes in Postsecondary Education: An Introduction. Second edition. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. Available at: http://www.heqco.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/Research%20Guide%20II%202014.pdf
Felten, P. (2013). Principles of good practice in SoTL. Teaching and Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal, 1(1). Available at: http://tlijournal.com/tli/index.php/TLI/article/download/39/14
Healey, M., Matthews, K. E., & Cook-Sather, A. (2019). Writing Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Articles for Peer-Reviewed Journals. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 7(2), 28-50. Available at: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/TLI/article/view/57600/53332
Hubball, H. & Clarke, A. (2010). Diverse methodological approaches and considerations for SoTL in higher education. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 1(1). Available at: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol1/iss1/2
Jhangiani, R.S., Troisi, J.D., Fleck, B. Legg, A.M. & Hussey, H.D. (2015). A compendium of scales for use in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. APA Society for the Teaching of Psychology: Early Career Psychologists Committee. Available at: http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/compscalessotp
Knapper, C. (2004, May). Research on college teaching and learning: Applying what we know. In Teaching Professor Conference, Philadelphia. Available at http://cll.mcmaster.ca/scholarship/pdf/research_on_college_teaching.pdf
McGinn, M. K. (2018). Teaching and Researching Ethically: Guidance for Instructor-Researchers, Educational Developers, and Research Ethics Personnel. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(1). Available at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol9/iss1/2
O’Brien, M. (2008). Navigating the SoTL landscape: A compass, map and some tools for getting started. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 2(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2008.020215
Leading SoTL
Fanghanel, J., Pritchard, J., Potter, J., & Wisker, G. (2016). Defining and supporting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): A sector-wide study. Executive summary: preliminary contribution. York: Higher Education Academy. Available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/sotl-executive-summary.pdf
Ginsberg, S. M., & Bernstein, J. L. (2012). Growing the scholarship of teaching and learning through institutional culture change. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 11(1). Available at: http://josotl.indiana.edu/article/download/1806/1803
Knapper, C. (2008, April). Changing teaching practice: Strategies and barriers. In Taking stock: Symposium on teaching and learning research in higher education, University of Guelph, Ontario. Available at: http://cll.mcmaster.ca/scholarship/pdf/strategies_and_barriers.pdf
Margy MacMillan, M. L. S., Manarin, K., & Mitchell, M. (2011). Opening the door to SoTL: Teaching evaluations as part of the inquiry cycle. Transformative Dialogues: Teaching & Learning Journal Volume, 5(2). Available at: http://www.kpu.ca/sites/default/files/Teaching%20and%20Learning/TD.5.2.1.Macmillan_etal_Teaching_Evaluastions.pdf
Marquis, E. (2015). Developing SoTL through Organized Scholarship Institutes. Teaching and Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal, 3(2), 19-36. Available at: http://tlijournal.com/tli/index.php/TLI/article/download/82/51
SoTL Theorizing
Bloch-Schulman, S., Conkling, S.W., Linkon, S.L., Manarin, K., & Perkins, K. (2016). Asking bigger questions: An invitation to further conversation. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 4(1). Available at: http://tlijournal.com/tli/index.php/TLI/article/view/132
Gurung, R. A. (2014). Getting foxy: Invoking different magesteria in the scholarship of teaching and learning. Teaching and Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal, 2(2). Available at: http://tlijournal.com/tli/index.php/TLI/article/download/80/50
Miller-Young, J. & Yeo, M. (2015). Conceptualizing and Communicating SoTL: A Framework for the Field. Teaching and Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal, 3(2), 37-53. Indiana University Press. Available at: http://tlijournal.com/tli/index.php/TLI/article/download/96/65
Active Learning Examples
Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2009). Active learning: An introduction. ASQ higher education brief, 2(4), 1-5. Available at: http://asq.org/edu/2009/08/best-practices/active-learning-an-introduction.%20felder.pdf
Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23), 8410-8415. Available at: https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/early/2014/05/08/1319030111.full.pdf
Islim, O. F. (2017). Technology-supported collaborative concept maps in classrooms. Active Learning in Higher Education, 1469787417723231. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1469787417723231
Kehler, A., Verwoord, R., & Smith, H. (2017). We are the Process: Reflections on the Underestimation of Power in Students as Partners in Practice. International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(1). Available at: https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/ijsap/article/view/3176/2759
Luttikhuizen, P. C. (2018). Teaching evolution using a card game: negative frequency-dependent selection. Journal of Biological Education, 52(2), 122-129. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00219266.2017.1420677
Manarin, K., McGrath, A., & Carey, M. (2016). Original Undergraduate Research in Classroom Contexts: Student Perceptions of a Scaffolded Approach. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching, 9, 11-18. Available at: https://celt.uwindsor.ca/index.php/CELT/article/view/4402
Millenbah, K. F., & Millspaugh, J. J. (2003). Using experiential learning in wildlife courses to improve retention, problem solving, and decision-making. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 127-137. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3784366.pdf?casa_token=ZlLabJo74hgAAAAA:nVPQy-aUEG-gXdIkt8GFxok-ACjl6Z4kfGOS7lPOKPSFx6ZsHn8WHaIENZERH_tY-99rz1T_2nBFNZyNTCXxqEW_J-3RBon64w85n6VgR5I0a4l44sU:nVPQy-aUEG-gXdIkt8GFxok-ACjl6Z4kfGOS7lPOKPSFx6ZsHn8WHaIENZERH_tY-99rz1T_2nBFNZyNTCXxqEW_J-3RBon64w85n6VgR5I0a4l44sU
Perkins, D. V., & Saris, R. N. (2001). A “jigsaw classroom” technique for undergraduate statistics courses. Teaching of psychology, 28(2), 111-113. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1207/S15328023TOP2802_09?casa_token=m9PtPLIIqPMAAAAA:xerbZ233Xj1I4K5VuJ4Uk3cXKnputqKA5jmUnxxaS3K8m62w1Go0xe-bx1cajAlfAzd33L4Fxv4D:xerbZ233Xj1I4K5VuJ4Uk3cXKnputqKA5jmUnxxaS3K8m62w1Go0xe-bx1cajAlfAzd33L4Fxv4D
Stentoft, D. (2017). From saying to doing interdisciplinary learning: Is problem-based learning the answer?. Active Learning in Higher Education, 18(1), 51-61. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1469787417693510
Towns, M. H., Kreke, K., & Fields, A. (2000). An action research project: Student perspectives on small-group learning in chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education, 77(1), 111. Available at: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed077p111
Wheat, C. A., Sun, Y., Wedgworth, J. C., & Hocutt, M. M. (2018). Active University Teaching and Engaged Student Learning: A Mixed Methods Approach. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 18(4). Available at: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/josotl/article/view/22784/31875
