1 subtle sotl engaging academics through a pedagogical action research network lin norton 1, james...

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Subtle SOTL Engaging academics through a

pedagogical action research network

Lin Norton1, James Elander2 and Angela Foxcroft1

1 Liverpool Hope University 2 University of Derby

13-14 May 2010London SOTL 8th International

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What do the experts think SOTL is?Kreber (2002) suggests 6 factors on which there is expert consensus:

1.‘Exploring relationships between teaching and learning, research, and integrating and applying knowledge’.

2.‘Effective teaching through the wisdom of practice and standards of disciplinary scholarship’.

3.‘Knowledge about teaching and learning through reflection on practice’.

4.‘Specific research skills, attitudes and products’.

5.‘Development of pedagogical content knowledge through reflection’.

6.‘Sharing of peer review of information and insight’.


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Why is SOTL important ? To be an expert in your own subject discipline and even

the world-leading researcher in an area is, on its own, not enough if you teach and facilitate student learning.

The scholarship of teaching and learning is important because it includes both ongoing learning about teaching and the demonstration of teaching knowledge (Kreber and Cranton, 2000).

It is also important because it can help raise the status of teaching, it can enable teachers to teach more knowledgeably and it can provide a framework in which teaching quality can be assessed (Trigwell and Shale, 2004).

Kreber (2005) puts forward the view that the scholarship of teaching and learning movement could, and should, become a catalyst for curricula changes in higher education.


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Why might SOTL need to be subtle? Actively engaging with the scholarship of teaching

and learning grounds reflective practice in a wider body of knowledge and experience, but there are many hurdles along the way: Persuading busy academics to get involved demands time

and an institutional commitment to see teaching development as important as subject research development, and therefore, equally rewarded.

For these reasons, top down managerial approaches do not tend to work, but I will make the case that carrying out pedagogical action research is a practical way of enabling us to engage with the scholarship of teaching and learning.


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Pedagogical Action Research (PAR) and its relationship with SOTLAction research: enables academics to reflect on their practice

systematically (Parker, 1997); enables academics to take control of their own CPD; can help academics transform their professional

perspective; is often collaborative and thus guards against being too

inward –looking and serving to confirm previously-held assumptions;

encourages an engagement with SOTL which emerges from the ‘need to know’ about the relevant literature when carrying out an action research study (Norton, 2009)


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Nailing my colours to the mast

I believe that the importance of helping students learn cannot be over-emphasized and I see this as only happening when all who are involved in universities acknowledge that there is a literature (theoretical and empirical) and a wisdom about the practice of teaching.

While not insisting that everyone who works in universities needs to become expert in the field, I do believe that the systematic study of the nature of student learning and teaching must become part of every academic’s knowledge base.


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A two year National Teaching Fellowship project funded by HEFCE and managed through the Higher Education Academy. http://www.hope.ac.uk/flyingstart.

Run jointly at Liverpool Hope University and at Derby University.

The Flying Start ProjectPractices, Communities and Policies to

Ease the Transition to University

Writing and Assessment.


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Flying Start’s three strands

1. The practice strand: developing a transition programme for university writing, supported by specially trained undergraduate mentors.

2. The community strand: bringing together teachers, lecturers and students in a pedagogical action research network (PARN) to share understandings of the issues students face in making the transition to university writing and research possible interventions

3. The policy strand: using the project outcomes to influence policy makers across the sectors.


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Creating the Flying Start Pedagogical Action Research Network Intended to be a cross sector network where teachers

and lecturers would work collaboratively on PAR projects within their subject disciplines

Took a long time! Very difficult to get school teachers involved One exception: an intervention study by A level History

teacher and Geography teacher (Norton, Keenan, Williams, Elander and McDonough, 2009) led to BERA conference presentation, published in Educationline, presentation at Liverpool Hope and ongoing relationship with some of the History and geography lecturers


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Changing the focus…

Concentration on establishing HE projects

Modest funding ( ca £3,000) with stipulation that there is : a cross sector involvement a report for the Flying Start website but conference paper

and a journal article would be preferable Involvement in the round table PARN network events Presentation at the Flying Start Symposium


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Success!SUCCESS!


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The research projects 12 projects from 5 institutions:

Derby, Hope, Edgehill, Queen Mary, University of London and Nottingham Trent Focus of research includes:

Ascertaining levels of writing skills, and actual writing experiences at 6th form/FE level and then designing interventions

Bridging the gap between university lecturers and FE tutors understanding of the learning contexts: evaluating a shadowing model

Developing and evaluating models of writing transition interventions Writing specialist led workshops University mentors one to one Masterclass- writing specialist led Online vs. face to face transition courses Development of material/guides for students entering HE


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The importance of research evidence All the projects are adopting (loosely) a pedagogical

action research model: “the fundamental purpose of pedagogical action research is to systematically investigate one’s own teaching/learning facilitation practice with the dual aim of modifying practice and contributing to theoretical knowledge”.

(Norton, 2009)

All are involved in collecting and evaluating research evidence in order to improve practice


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Modifying practice

All the Flying Start supported projects have an intended aim of making things better for students’ transition in academic writing to HE level

Such improvements cannot stand in isolation form the broader context (hence the policy strand) but at the level of the individual practitioner strand, several ways in which they can influence their own more immediate contexts and this links closely with SOTL


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Subtle SOTL Like all research dissemination this can

happen at a number of levels: Within the Institution (university/FE context)

research seminars, presentations to committees, in-house journal,

Beyond the institution: Journal papers Conferences subject – based and generic Chapters in edited books Conference proceedings On-line dissemination such as websites, blogs


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Dissemination depends on scholarship of teaching and learning Whatever the level of dissemination, there needs to be a

contextualisation, and linking with theoretical knowledge (SOTL literature)

Has the Flying Start PARN succeeded in encouraging academics to engage with SOTL?

Early days, but outcomes include: Round table networking events Flying Start Symposia (two) Conference papers Conference proceedings (Education-line)


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What did not work and what did? Unable to lure teachers in via the Pedagogical

Action Research network /SOTL approach HE network – definite signs of engagement with

SOTL in at least one university context (where pedagogical action research already accepted, but not always valued- the REF…)

Seeded individual professional relationships between lecturers and teachers but these have focussed on the practical ‘problem’ of easing transition for students and desire for practical solutions

More work needs to be done in encouraging specific engagement with SOTL


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References Kreber, C. (2002) ‘Controversy and consensus on the scholarship of teaching’,

Studies in Higher Education, 27 (2): 151-167. Kreber, C. (2005) ‘Charting a critical course on the scholarship of university

teaching movement’, Studies in Higher Education, 30 (4): 389-406. Kreber, C. and Cranton, P.A. (2000) ‘Exploring the scholarship of teaching’,

Journal of Higher Education, 71: 476-496. Norton, L.S. (2009) Action Research in Teaching and Learning. A Practical

Guide to Conducting Pedagogical Research in Universities. Abingdon: Routledge

Norton, L., Keenan, P., Williams, K., Elander, J and McDonough, G. (2009) Helping students make the transition from A level to degree level writing: a staged action research approach. Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Manchester, 2-5 September 2009. Now published in EDUCATION-LINE http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/184216.doc

Parker, S. (1997) Reflective teaching in the postmodern world: a manifesto for education in postmodernity, Buckingham: Open University Press.

Trigwell, K. and Shale, S. (2004) ‘Student learning and the scholarship of university teaching’, Studies in Higher Education, 29: 523-536.

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