Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

What is SoTL?
Join SoTL Email List
SoTL FLCs
Apply to a SoTL FLC
Research Symposium
SoTL Conferences and Journals
Past SoTL Events

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is a growing field of scholarship in higher education. SoTL fosters a scholarly approach to teaching, engages faculty in reflective practice about their work, and provides an avenue for a peer-reviewed source of evidence to reward teaching.

What is SoTL?

SoTL can be broadly defined as research or creative works that involve a systematic inquiry into the practice of teaching and learning.

Some of the many benefits of engaging in SoTL include:

Improving student learning through the exploration and development of best practice in teaching and learning
Furthering a culture of reflective, evidence-based teaching
Developing community among faculty across disciplines
Increasing the exposure of teacher-scholars at MSU Denver through public scholarship

Want to stay in the loop about SoTL?

Join our SoTL email list to be notified about upcoming events and resources.

SoTL Interest List

SoTL Faculty Learning Communities

We are currently recruiting for three SoTL FLCs starting in Summer/Fall 2025

Apply below by April 30 for best consideration

What are Focused Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) FLCs?

SoTL FLCs are small learning communities focused on scholarly exploration of a specific teaching and learning topic or question. Members of a focused SoTL FLC commit to working together during 2-3 semesters to conduct a SoTL study or create a piece of SoTL scholarship together.

Similar to other CTLD FLCs, a small group 3-5 of faculty/staff members work together to explore a common teaching issue in depth. However, in these focused SoTL FLCs, there is a clear expectation to develop a collaborative scholarly project (publication, manuscript, conference presentation, etc.) under the guidance of the FLC Facilitator.

Focused SoTL FLCS are outcome-based, rather than time-based. Each FLC has a small budget for books or materials, and members of the group receive a small stipend, dependent upon group size and paid out partly after a mid-point benchmark (such as project proposal/IRB approval), and partly after final completion (submission of manuscript or conference proposal).

Who should apply to participate as a member?

FLC member participants are not expected to be experts in SoTL. Rather, a variety of disciplines, backgrounds, and experience with SoTL research are desired for each project. Members are expected to be active contributors, and FLC facilitators will guide the group through the process.

The most important factor is your ability to work collaboratively on a project. Commitment could include (varies based on the project and methodology):

Regular (monthly or at times bi-weekly) meeting attendance and contributions
Reviewing literature in the field, contributing to an annotated bibliography
Implementing a teaching method within your course
Collecting and analyzing student data (surveys, interviews)
Contributing to a journal article or conference presentation

“Words cannot begin to express the gratitude I have for the chance to be a part of the faculty learning community focused on self-study. We have been able to accomplish scholarship opportunities to enhance our professional careers, but beyond that, great connections have been made.”

– Paris Prestridge, Professor, Assistant Professor of Health Professions

“As the facilitator of a faculty learning community focused on self-study methodology, I gained so much from my collaboration with my colleagues. It has been immensely rewarding to build a strong community of faculty with whom I shared deep reflections on my teaching. The cross-disciplinary community allowed us to share best practices and to learn that many of the teaching joys and challenges we experience are the same across departments.”

– Ingrid Carter, Professor, Elementary Education, School of Education