Call for Proposals

All proposals will be submitted online using the form found on 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 United States.

SoTL Commons Review Board

Marva Barnett, University of Virginia
Dan Bernstein, University of Kansas
Todd Deal, Georgia Southern University
Peter Felten, Elon University
Barbara Mae Gayle, Saint Martin's University
James Groccia, Auburn University
Alex Hahn, University of Notre Dame
Joseph Harris, Duke University
Linda Hodges, Princeton University
Lisa Kornetsky, University of Wisconsin System
Donna Llewellyn, Georgia Institute of Technology
Jed Lyons, University of South Carolina
Kathleen McKinney, Illinois State University
Alison Morrison-Shetlar, University of Central Florida
Bonnie Mullinix, Furman University
Linda Nilson, Clemson University
Barbara Price, Georgia Southern University
Janet Rankin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jennifer Robinson, Indiana University
Diane E Sieber, University of Colorado
Rosemarie Stallworth-Clark, Georgia Southern University
Kay Walter, Valencia Community College
Maryellen Weimer, Pennsylvania State University – Berks

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.

Theme: “A Rite of Inquiry and a Passage for Learning”

The scholarship of teaching and learning is a momentum of questioning assumptions about teaching and how students learn by means of inquiry into the pedagogical process. SoTL can be a scholarly ritual of such inquiry that leads to a re-conceptualization of what teaching is, and is not, and what learning is and can be. This theme emphasizes that SoTL is perhaps the most ready, steady way to improve teaching and learning in higher education today, making this conference an intellectual “commons” for all wanting to learn more about the research of teachers into teaching and about the integration and application of SoTL in academic careers and communities. The theme evokes the idea that teachers are essentially life-long learners about teaching and that SoTL stimulates the inherent curiosity of faculty to learn, know, understand, and apply. With that inquiry and desire to know is the faculty’s experience with research methodologies that, in SoTL, are turned towards the teaching of the disciplines so they can be learned in the deepest ways possible. SoTL is inquiry and is a passage to a new, even transformed, vision of teaching.

Tracks

The following conference tracks comprise the concurrent sessions:

1. Research projects about teaching and student learning in higher education (in classroom, online, or blended contexts) and their research methodologies, evidence, analyses, implications, and applications.
   
   
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

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 set up before the start of the conference and will be available for viewing throughout the conference. At designated times 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.

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.

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
• 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 result of the review process will be provided to submitters within four weeks of reception of the proposals. Thus, the earlier proposals are received during the January 15 – March 31, 2007 submission period, the sooner the review results will be obtained. The presenters of all accepted proposals are to give confirmation to the conference chair (aaltany@georgiasouthern.edu) by June 1, 2007 that they will present at the conference in November. Presenters are responsible for their own conference registration and fee, travel and lodging.

Presenters must supply abstracts of their presentations by July 1, 2007 to the Conference Coordinator (rway@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/schools of presenters
• Abstract text: 100 – 150 words
• Content: summarize content of the presentation, including its objectives and learning outcomes for the audience. Provide any relevant resources such as book or article titles and web sites.

Presenters are asked to fully participate in the entire conference and attend sessions and events.

Presenters whose registration fee is not received by October 18, 2007 may be deleted from the conference schedule of sessions and program booklet.

Proposal Submission Form

Click to access the proposal submission form.