Intentional Teaching is Better Teaching

In the second installment of our SoTL spotlight series, J Duncan (Senior Lecturer, School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering [SICE]) shares his path to becoming a SoTL researcher. J first became introduced to SoTL through a professional development collegium on teaching and learning offered by SICE in the early 2000s.

Now, J spends most of his time engaged in scholarly teaching and discussing teaching, as both of these activities impact his teaching practice within the classroom. For J, the dive into SoTL work is driven by being the best teacher he can be. He feels as educators, we “owe the students the best experience [we] can give them.” This is done by being aware of the literature on teaching and learning and implementing evidence-based teaching practices.

The first question J investigated on his own examined the alignment between his course goals, activities, and assessments. His subsequent SoTL work has evolved to investigate various aspects of team learning and active learning spaces. J’s current collaborative project examines the impact of immediate feedback on team conversation, engagement, and outcome within a class activity. For J, the practice of teaching provides the motivation to engage in SoTL, scholarly teaching activities provide the initial evidence for teaching practice, and collecting data on the practice within his own courses provides interesting results he can share with others. To learn more about J’s SoTL path, view the video below.

If you’re interested in becoming involved in SoTL work, J recommends connecting with others and suggests the CITL as a connection point. He admits, “I would not have known where to go to get those questions answered if we did not have a strong teaching & learning center here at IU.” J also suggests attending disciplinary conferences on teaching so that you can learn more about what others in your field are doing before jumping in yourself.

For more information on active learning spaces, visit Mosaic, IU’s active learning initiative. For more information on the programs and resources offered by the CITL for your SoTL work, visit our newly redesigned SoTL website. Subscribe to the blog to ensure you don’t miss upcoming spotlights.