International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Volume 2, Number 2, July 2008

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Research Article

Excerpt

Using Scholarly Research in Course Redesign: Teaching to Engage Students with Authentic Disciplinary Practices

This action research study describes a course redesign using scholarly research in two ways. Traditional disciplinary research was used to inform the design of the curriculum, and SoTL was used to measure the success of the course design in achieving its objectives for student learning. The objective of the course redesign was to better engage students in applying the authentic disciplinary practices of the field. Research was then conducted on the pedagogical process to determine the success of the new course design in achieving its objectives. The research project documented: how the authentic disciplinary practices were taught to students; student attitudes toward the knowledge gained; and how the students subsequently put this knowledge into practice. The success of the course design in engaging student with authentic disciplinary practices was documented. Conclusions and implications for evidence-based research into the improvement of teaching effectiveness applied to other disciplines are discussed.

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Bio

Rachel G. Ragland
Lake Forest College
Lake Forest, Illinois, USA
ragland@lakeforest.edu

I am an Assistant Professor of Education at Lake Forest (IL) College where I teach courses including secondary curriculum design and methods of secondary social studies, supervise student teachers and interns, and serve as the Department’s Director of Clinical Partnerships and the College’s Assessment Committee Chair. I hold a B.A. and M.S. from the University of Pennsylvania and an Ed.D from Teachers College, Columbia University. My research interests include history education, professional development, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. I currently serve as co-editor for the H-NET Humanities and Social Sciences Online Discussion Network on Teaching American History (H-TAH), a reviewer for the Journal of Social Studies Research, and on grant projects funded by the Teagle Foundation and NEH.
Website: http://www.lakeforest.edu/academics/faculty/ragland

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