What Research Methodologies does SoTL use?

The Components of a SoTL Project

  1. Identifying a teaching problem or learning challenge that interests you.
  2. Developing a research question from the identified problem or challenge
  3. Conducting a literature review
  4. Choosing the best research methodology
  5. Advice on applying for Research Ethics Board (REB) Approval
  6. Finding support or funding to provide you time and space to conduct the research.
  7. Considering a networking and dissemination strategy to share your research and invite discussion from colleagues

Hutchings, P., & CELatELON. (2013, September 11). Taxonomy of Questions from the Intro to Opening Lines. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCxPttq_e_Y&ab_channel=CELatElon

SoTL projects employ a diverse range of methodologies as can be seen in this list developed by The SoTL Advocate site developed by the Illinois State University:

o  Case studies

o  Content/discourse/text analysis of…

  • Student assignments
  • Student journals
  • Student course portfolios
  • Student reflections
  • Teacher reflections
  • Teaching portfolios
  • Video or audio recordings of class sessions

o  Experiments and quasi-experiments

o  Focus Groups

o  Interviews

o  Longitudinal tracking

o  Observational research

o  Questionnaires or surveys

o  Secondary analysis of institutional data (e.g., National Survey of Student Engagement data, alumni surveys, etc.)

o Think-alouds