The Use of a Learning Management System (LMS) to Serve as the Virtual Common Space of a Network for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in an Academic Department

William Bettger,Lorraine Jadeski,Genevieve Newton,Nicolette Bradley,Kerry Ritchie,Scott Merrett

doi:10.3390/educsci3020136

William Bettger, Lorraine Jadeski + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci3020136

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Journal: Education Sciences	Publication Date: May 15, 2013
Citations: 4	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Guelph, York University

Abstract

Traditionally, undergraduate curriculum committees, consisting of appointed faculty and student representatives, have served as the sole departmental vehicle for investigating, discussing and promoting the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) within an academic department. However, with the universal demand for greater accountability on all aspects of evidence-based teaching and on the totality of student learning and career outcomes, some academic departments have encouraged the formation of additional organizations to support their SoTL mandate. In the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, the approach taken was to combine the interests of the faculty who had a sustained interest in the “scholarship of knowledge translation and transfer” in the health sciences with those who had a developing interest in SoTL. These faculty members would then form the foundation of a “network” which has been called the K*T3net. The virtual common space of the network is on a Learning Management System (LMS) site which is accessed by all faculty members in the network and by a growing number of staff and senior PhD students in the department. The features and potential uses of the K*T3net website will be discussed. The development of the K*T3net has already supported the proposal for a new undergraduate course on SoTL and is opening the possibility for graduate students to add a SoTL component to their thesis research.

Highlights

Over the past decade, there has been an increasing call for change in the way universities view and enact their teaching and research mandates
While the proposed changes are highly desirable for the education of undergraduate and graduate students and for society at large, faculty are generally not trained in graduate school or post-doctoral activities to be competent in the scholarship of teaching and learning or of knowledge transfer and translation [6,7,8]
With pressures mounting for rapid change in universities, how can existing faculty, staff and students, facilitate and guide that change? How can they create a multi-dimensional common space for learning at the grassroots level and have the institutional infrastructure and policies needed to encourage and reward this activity [9]?

Summary

Introduction

There has been an increasing call for change in the way universities view and enact their teaching and research mandates. Voices at the local university [1] and at the national/international [2] levels have eloquently articulated the need for a more accountable, scholarly and learner-centered approach to undergraduate education. While the proposed changes are highly desirable for the education of undergraduate and graduate students and for society at large, faculty (in the natural sciences disciplines in particular) are generally not trained in graduate school or post-doctoral activities to be competent in the scholarship of teaching and learning or of knowledge transfer and translation [6,7,8]. With pressures mounting for rapid change in universities, how can existing faculty, staff and students, facilitate and guide that change? How can they create a multi-dimensional common space for learning at the grassroots level (in order to foster and support professional development in these new areas of scholarship) and have the institutional infrastructure and policies needed to encourage and reward this activity [9]?

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Discussion

Conclusion