Second annual SoTL Hackathon registration open

The Biggio Center is thrilled to offer the second annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, or SoTL, Hackathon on Friday, July 22, in the brand new ACLC Building. This popular event is open to faculty of all ranks, including Postdocs and GTAs, and designed for a range of expertise levels from those brand new to SoTL to experienced SoTL researchers. Continue reading below for more information about the hackathon and SoTL. Breakfast, lunch and hackysacks will be provided. Space is limited to 40.

Register here and reach out to biggio1@auburn.edu with any questions.

This day-long, interactive workshop will introduce faculty to the “what, why and how” of SoTL with a special focus on identifying a research question, developing appropriate methods and discovering where and how to access and interpret data related to teaching and learning. Led in the first half by an interdisciplinary team of facilitators, participants will engage with a range of SoTL case studies and facilitated team-based challenges designed to introduce new and experienced faculty to the field of SoTL. In the second half of the workshop, faculty will use a SoTL project framework to “hack” a problem related to teaching or learning in their own classes. At the end, participants will be invited to join an ongoing community of practice that will help them refine, implement, and ultimately publish their SoTL project over the course of the next year.

Why do SoTL? In addition to empowering you as a teacher to solve problems related to anything from student motivation to low test scores to the impact of innovations on student learning, the value of SoTL is now formally recognized by many colleges and departments as both legitimate research and as evidence of teaching effectiveness. For some this scholarship can count towards tenure and promotion. For many non-tenure track faculty, this is the only kind of scholarship that can count in annual reviews and towards promotion. Without an educational research background it can feel intimidating to attempt this kind of research on top of one's teaching workload. This event offers a quick, yet substantive, dive into this field of research and will help individuals assess its potential value to their professional duties and goals.