Call for Proposals

The professional quality and applicability of the concurrent sessions and posters is central to the SoTL Commons Conference. All presenters are encouraged and expected to prepare sessions or posters according to the highest professional standards for an international, academic conference audience. Thus, the submission and review process is designed to accept only those proposals which are original SoTL research, or are about important aspects of SoTL, and that will be presented in innovative, engaging, effective ways.

All proposals must be submitted online using the form found at the bottom of this page. Please read session, proposal, and submission information carefully in order to avoid delays and to give proposals the best opportunity for acceptance. All proposals will go through a blind, peer-review process by the SoTL Commons Review Board consisting of faculty knowledgeable about the scholarship of teaching and learning who are located at various colleges and universities around the world. Proposals that simply discuss a teaching idea or practice without research and evidence to document the results are not appropriate for this conference. For a complete listing of the SoTL Commons Review Board download the pdf document below.

2011 SoTL Commons Review Board

Purpose

The purpose of the conference is to be a real and virtual “commons” for college and university teachers, scholars, administrators, faculty developers, and others interested in the scholarship of teaching and learning as a focused, but expansive, evidence-based path for the improvement of teaching effectiveness and student learning outcomes.

Tracks

The following conference tracks comprise the concurrent sessions:

1. Research projects about specific teaching and student learning (in classroom, online, or blended contexts) in a higher education context and the research questions, methodologies, evidence, analyses, results, implications, and applications. It must be indicated in the proposal (and finalized abstract) if the presentation is about a research project in progress, or if is about a completed research project.
   
   
2. Non-research analysis or synthesis of the nature, role and meaning of the scholarship of teaching and learning; its integration or recognition in an academic cultures; how to initiate and develop SoTL projects; ways to promote, foster and support those engaging in such scholarship; how SoTL can directly improve student learning outcomes; how SoTL has transformed an academic community/culture; the connects between SoTL and other forms of scholarship; the problems and benefits of international collaboration in doing SoTL, and many other possibilities.

Session Formats

Presentation Session (1 – 2 people): 45 minutes

A focused, interactive session is encouraged with clear objectives and learning outcomes for the audience.

Panel Session (3 – 5 people): 45 minutes or 75 minutes

Rather than a series of short, individual presentations, panel sessions should be genuinely interactive among the panelists, and between the panelists and the audience. The panelists can develop different perspectives or discuss various aspects of the topic.

Poster Sessions: 90 minutes

Posters will be set up and will be available for viewing during the conference. At the designated poster session the presenters need to be with their posters to discuss them with people examining the posters.

There will be moderators for the presentation and panel sessions who will contact the presenters prior to the conference to discuss introductions and the content of the presentations. At each session, a moderator will begin and end the session on time, introduce the presenter(s) and the session topic, and distribute and collect session assessment forms to the attendees.

Roundtable Sessions: 45 minutes.

An open forum where a presenter introduces topic (15 minutes) followed by a group discussion.

Evaluation of Proposals

Each proposal will be reviewed by a minimum of two reviewers who will recommend one of three options: 1) acceptance of the proposal, 2) revision of the proposal, or 3) rejection of the proposal. The reviewers will also provide comments for improvement, suggestions for recommended revisions, or why proposals might not be accepted. These comments will be given to the submitters of the proposals.

Proposals that simply present a teaching practice or idea, but without any research regarding its effects upon student learning, are not appropriate for this conference. While proposals in any academic discipline or field are welcome, proposals that are overly local or narrow, or that would not be of interest or benefit for an international audience are also not appropriate.

The reviewers will examine and evaluate proposals in these areas:

• Clear connection between the title of the session and its content (titles should be less than 10 words, compelling to attract an interdisciplinary audience, and align with session content)
• Significance and relevance of the topic for this conference which is strongly focused on SoTL
• Clarity and value of the objectives for the session
• Means of engaging the audience in the session
• Expressed learning outcomes for attendees

Acceptance of proposals

The presenters of all accepted proposals are to give confirmation to the conference chair ( aaltany@georgiasouthern.edu ) by January 31, 2011 that they will present at the conference in March 2011. Presenters are responsible for their own conference registration and fee, travel and lodging. The one-day registration fee is not available to presenters, only to people not presenting at the conference.

Presenters must supply finalized abstracts of their presentations by January 31, 2011 to the Conference Coordinator (skluge@georgiasouthern.edu). These abstracts will be used in the Conference Program Booklet and in the Conference Proceedings. The format for the abstract is as follows:

• Presentation topic and names, institutions/affiliations, and email addresses of presenters
• Abstract text: maximum of 150 words
• Abstract content: summarize content of the presentation, including its objectives and learning outcomes for the audience; the content of the abstract must match what will actually be presented

Presenters are asked to fully participate in the entire conference and attend sessions and events as much as their schedules allow.

Presenters whose registration fee is not received by February 15, 2011 may not be included in the conference schedule of sessions and program booklet.

Proposal Submission Form

Submit a Proposal 

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