How Experienced SoTL Researchers Develop the Credibility of Their Work

Jennie Billot,Tamela Evans,Brent Carnell,Cheryl Amundsen,Susan Rowland

doi:10.20343/teachlearninqu.5.1.8

Abstract

Teaching and learning research in higher education, often referred to as the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), is still relatively novel in many academic contexts compared to the mainstay of disciplinary research. One indication of this is the challenges those who engage in SoTL report in terms of how this work is valued or considered credible amongst disciplinary colleagues and in the face of institutional policies and practices. This paper moves beyond the literature that describes these specific challenges to investigate how 23 experienced SoTL researchers from five different countries understood the notion of credibility in relationship to their SoTL research and how they went about developing credibility for their work. Semi-structured interviews were facilitated and analyzed using inductive analysis. Findings indicate that notions of credibility encompassed putting SoTL research into action and building capacity and community around research findings, as well as gaining external validation through traditional indicators such as publishing. SoTL researchers reported a variety of strategies and approaches they were using, both formal and informal, to develop credibility for their work. The direct focus of this paper on credibility of SoTL work as perceived by experienced SoTL researchers, and how they go about developing credibility, is a distinct contribution to the discussions about the valuing of SoTL work.

Highlights

There is a solid body of knowledge on how teachers experience higher education teaching, there is minimal literature that focuses on how researchers, in general, understand being a researcher. Åkerlind’s (2008a) empirical study about the experience of being a disciplinary researcher noted that while researchers recognize the structural requirement to undertake research, their motivation is based more on the personal satisfaction they gain through doing research
We argue that Åkerlind’s characterization fits Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) researchers well, with the added proviso that personal satisfaction is often derived from directly influencing teaching and learning
We show the links between individual SoTL researchers and their researchers develop the credibility of their work

Summary

Introduction

There is a solid body of knowledge on how teachers experience higher education teaching, there is minimal literature that focuses on how researchers, in general, understand being a researcher. Åkerlind’s (2008a) empirical study about the experience of being a disciplinary researcher noted that while researchers recognize the structural requirement to undertake research, their motivation is based more on the personal satisfaction they gain through doing research. Åkerlind’s (2008a) empirical study about the experience of being a disciplinary researcher noted that while researchers recognize the structural requirement to undertake research, their motivation is based more on the personal satisfaction they gain through doing research. Researchers are influenced by increasing institutional demands for accountability, especially through externally driven assessment regimes, which are more pronounced in some countries than others. Sometimes this results in tensions between personal interest, extending one’s own reputation, contributing to the scholarly field, and responding to external or institutional criteria. We argue that Åkerlind’s characterization fits SoTL researchers well, with the added proviso that personal satisfaction is often derived from directly influencing teaching and learning

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