Reflective Tasks and their role in changing practice and perceptions among Staff: An analysis of responses to a Certificate of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Rita KizitoJenny Clarence-Fincham

The presentation

About the study & study questions

The programme

Reflective tasks & SOTL

Methodology & tentative findings

*N.B. This presentation covers the conceptual development and preparative work of the study

• An introspective study examining the critical relationship between reflective tasks and their role in changing academic staff perspectives and practices through an analysis of participant responses to a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) certificate programme at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (South Africa).

• The findings will inform a re-examination and reconceptualization of the approaches used in our educational development unit – the Centre for Teaching, Learning & Media (CTLM) - as we plan for future professional development activities for academic staff at NMMU.

About the study

…in two cities

The context – six campuses

Intr

od

uct

ion

to t

he

Sch

ola

rsh

ip o

f Te

ach

ing

& L

ear

nin

g

Not compulsory

Can be completed over 1 year

Not accredited

1 Being a university teacher: the higher education context and

practices

2 Technologically –supported teaching & learning in a blended

framework

3 Understanding higher education curricular

4 The development of responsive curricular

5 Writing to Learn and Learning to Write: Academic Literacies in

Teaching and Learning

6 How to Integrate Academic Literacies (reading & writing) and

Multilingualism in Teaching & Learning

7 Teaching, learning and assessment in large classes

8 Authentic assessment of student learning

9 The teaching portfolio: developing teaching for learning

10 Scholarship of teaching and learning: professionalising teaching,

demystifying research

Professional Development of academic staff

Induction/orientation

PG Dip in HE practice

The Programme

What are the differences in the way ‘reflective tasks’ were experienced by the participants during and after attending the programme?

Did their participation in these reflective tasks have any effect on their perceptions or practices in relation to university teaching (and learning)? If so, in what ways ? If not, why?

What are the implications of these findings for provision of the Introduction to SoTLC programme in the future ?

The research questions

Reflective tasks

The reflective task incorporates a core reflective process in relation to specific aspects of practice ( Grace et al, 2006)

“Reflection has been identified as a key process in the scholarship of teaching and learning” ( Kreber, 2006, p.90).

Reflective Practice & Practitioner (Schön 1983)

Reflective tasks

Reflective thinking (Dewey, 1933)

Reflective processes ( Grace et al. , 2006)

The emergence of SOTL

Early 1990’s

Increasing pressure on institutions globally to retain sufficient funding in the context of diminishing resources

Need to provide evidence of a commitment to the development of critical thinking, lifelong learning and student independence

Teachers expected to be more innovative and to provide increasing support and individual guidance despite decreasing resources

In the SA context increasing student numbers and widening access to Higher Education add to the total picture

Ongoing dominance of research over teaching

Very few staff formally prepared to teach

Limited opportunities for staff development in relation to teaching

Early beginnings

Scholarship reconsidered

“Scholarship means engaging in original research

… looking for connections, building bridges

between theory and practice, and communicating

one’s knowledge effectively [ and where]. . . good

teaching means that faculty, as scholars, are also

learners” - Boyer (1990)

9

Where are we now ?Multiple understandings of SOTL but general agreement Boyer’s Scholarship reconsidered (1990) forms an early conceptual platform for further development

Scholarly teaching and SOTL

Scholarly teaching

Viewing teaching as a profession and the knowledge base on teaching and learning is considered to be the academic’s “second discipline” (McKinney, 2007, p. 9) in which expertise is developed. Scholarly teachers read and apply the literature base about teaching; reflect on their teaching practices; use classroom assessment to assess student learning; try out new ideas and discuss their teaching practice with others.

Scholarship of teaching and learning

We develop a scholarship of teaching when our work as teachers becomes public, peer-reviewed and critiqued … it is exchanged with members of our professional communities so they, in turn, can build on our work’ (Shulman, 2000).

Exploring the scholarship of teaching: perspectives

As discovery research: journal articles, conference presentations, textbooks on disciplinary teaching– Knowledge of effective ways to represent subjects– Drawing strands together in coherent and purposeful way – Ways of making subject accessible and meaningful to students

Is the scholar of teaching also an effective teacher?

As teaching excellence: teaching awards, evaluations• Extensive knowledge about teaching & learning

Are ‘excellent’ teachers able to articulate what they do in educational terms?

As application of educational theory and research to teaching practices • Combination of reflection on theory and research and experience-based knowledge on

teaching • Acquisition of knowledge about teaching through reflection on practice and research on

disciplinary teaching (Kreber & Cranton 2000)

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) is still a site of contention ( Manarin & Abrahamson, 2016; Kreber, 2015)

Legitimate research area Tool, vehicle,

framework for improving practice

So what is SOTL?

So the SOTL goes beyond good and scholarly teaching. It involvesthe systematic study of teaching and learning; the outcomes ofwhich are shared publically, reviewed and evaluated critically bymembers of the relevant community/discipline, can be applied inpractice, and provide a foundation for further research (Hutchings& Shulman, 1999)

SOTL involves a critical reflection on the kinds of research undertaken (Lebowitz and Bozalek, 2015).

Our perspective is all this and more ….SOTL: through a transformational lens

SOTL viewed through the lens of transformational learning theory “widens the perspective on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning to include critical reflection and critical questioning of not only individual’s practice, but also the context within which teaching takes place, that is the social and institutional norms and expectations that inform and constrain teaching and learning [and in which] assumptions, beliefs, norms and values of the discipline, the institution, the community and the state are directly and critically questioned. Such as approach has the potential to yield a deep shift in perspective on teaching and learning at both an individual and a social level” (Cranton, 2010:76).

Sources of data Evaluation data from the Introduction to SOTL(C) NMMU Moodle site An analysis of completed assignments ( the reflective tasks) ( with

permission from participants

Main source of data Semi-structured interviews with volunteering participants who have

completed some tasks in the certificate programme

Sample of 10-13 participants

Method of Analysis Constant Comparison (Glaser & Strauss, 1967.

The methodology

Tentative Findings from evaluations

Role of SOTL as an activity for improving practice‘’… helps one to think about research in the context of improving one's teaching and learning” (reflection in action)“..it can influence teaching practice in terms of the T&L policy pertaining to humanizing pedagogy” ( possibility )“…it's so important that we really do reflect and improve our teaching to make learning relevant”“It is necessary for any HE teacher to continuously reflect in order to professionally and personally develop and also student success”

Role of SOTL as a research activity“…it opens up new research/publish possibilities”

Limitations Based on participant responses based on their ability to “look back” and reflect on-

action, not necessarily in-action (Schön 1983)

References

Boyer, E. 1990. Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Princeton ,NJ:

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Cranton, P. 2010. A transformative perspective on the Scholarship of Teaching and

Learning. Higher Education Research and Development,, 30 1:75 – 86.

Dewey, J. (1933). A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative

process. DC Heath.

Fanghanel, J., McGowan, S., Parker, P., McConnell, C., Potter, J., Locke, W., & Healey, M.

(2016). Literature Review. Defining and supporting the Scholarship of Teaching and

Learning (SoTL): a sector-wide study.

Grace, S., Pilkington, R., Rush, L., Tomkinson, B., Willis, I., Evans, E., ... & Wareham, T.

(2006). The role and effectiveness of reflective practices in programmes for new

academic staff: a grounded practitioner review of the research literature. UK:

University of Manchester.

Hutchings, P., C. Bjork. And M. Babb (2002) The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

in Higher Education: an annotated bibliography. Political Science and Politics 35: 2:

233-236.

References

Hutchings, P., & Shulman, L. S. (1999). The scholarship of teaching: New elaborations, new

developments. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning,31(5), 10-15.

Kreber, C 2015, 'Furthering the ‘theory debate’ in the scholarship of teaching: A proposal

based on MacIntyre’s account of practices' Canadian Journal of Higher Education, vol 45,

no. 2, pp. 99-115.

Kreber, C., and P. A. Cranton. 2000. Exploring the Scholarship of Teaching. The Journal of

Higher Education, 71: 4: 476-495. Ohio State University Press. Stable URL:

Lebowitz, B. and V. Bozalek 2015. The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning from a social

justice perspective. Teaching in Higher Education, DOI 10.1080/13562517.2015.1115971.

Manarin, K., & Abrahamson, E. (2016). Troublesome Knowledge of SoTL.International

Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 10(2), 2.

References

McKinney, K. (2007). Enhancing learning through the scholarship of teaching and learning.Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company.

Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action (Vol. 5126). Basic books.