SoTL at Georgia Southern: perceptions, engagement and impact

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the state of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) at our institution, including SoTL perceptions, engagement and impact. A link to an online anonymous survey (31 questions) in Qualtrics was distributed to all academic units.The final sample consisted of 90 faculty and administrators from a population of 1,327, reflecting a response rate of almost 7%. Over half of the participants engaged in SoTL research. More often they presented their work at conferences than in publications. Perceptions of support at departmental and Faculty Center levels were positive, but negative at the institutional level. Qualitative data indicated the legitimacy of SoTL and lack of support as major barriers to SoTL research.There was strong agreement among participants that SoTL positively impacted course design, types of assessments used, personal expectations and quality of student learning.