Share your SoTL Research Plan

A response to the Share Your SoTL Research Plan Activity
created by Heather Somerville (@hsomerville)

Number of views: 129

Part 1:

This module has been more difficult than other modules for me. I had a difficult time conceptualizing what I might want to research in my SoTL. The AHA moment for me was in examining the resources on D2L and finding student misconceptions as a starting point for SoTL. I used that resource to consider where I see misconception in my social science courses. Through this I realized I start every year asking students for their opinions and beliefs about Belonging, Equity, Diversiy, and Inclusion in Canada. I then spend the next 14 weeks showing them all the areas for improvement and strengths we have as a nation. My gap was that I never followed up with the same questions to see if their beliefs and opinions change. The goal is to improve cultural sensitivity, and although many of my assignments help with this, I never thought about systematically collecting the data and measuring change quantitatively. I never considered that it might be possible to do this! I’m looking forward to embedding this type of data and reflective practice into more of my teaching and encouraging my peers to do the same. I’m beginning a new role in January, and I believe through this, I will have the opportunity to help my peers implement informal SoTL projects into their work. They may find joy in looking for success in ways other than formal assessment.

I chose a changing tree image to represent my SoTL. Ideally, I want to collect data at the start and at the end. If I’ve done my work right, I will see change and evolution in my students and their cultural sensitivity.

Part 2: My file has been uploaded to the SoTL folder.