Plan for a SoTL Project

by David Schenk, Conestoga College

Research Question

What are you curious about? >> How subject matter experts as guest speakers enhance the learning outcomes of students

What would you like to know about strategies that might hinder and/or help students to learn, in your course? >> How a guest speaker helps them learn

Do you want to know if an activity, assignment, or teaching strategy “works?”>> Yes..the strategy above

Do you have a question about how to help your students learn a particular skill? >> How do help students take what they have learned form a guest speaker and apply to real work situations

Describe the learning in a way that suggests how you might measure it using either qualitative or quantitative methods. >> you can measure with a pre and post class survey with the students

SoTL projects might investigate the impact of a modification to an existing strategy or assignment. Describe how the new approach differs from the old approach and why this modification might change student learning on this outcome. >> The activity of a pre and post survey asking students about the effectiveness of the guest speaker will provide a measurement and suggestions for future improvements if any.

Describe the evidence you would need to collect to answer questions about the impact or value of this teaching strategy. How would you convince others that this approach is better than other approaches? What comparisons should you make? Examine students; skill before and after the assignment? Compare students who complete the learning activity to another group of students – what comparisons would be meaningful? >> Evidence would be a survey from students from a class before this activity was implemented and after.   The survey would be ‘How comfortable are you about applying or entering the workforce’