About
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
“At Illinois State University, we have agreed to conceptualize SoTL as “systematic reflection/study on teaching and learning [of our ISU students] made public.” The ISU definition of SoTL was the product of a long discussion in 1998-1999 by a group of administrators, faculty, staff, and students to represent all colleges and other units and constituencies on campus.”
The Cross Chair
K. Patricia Cross endowed the Cross Chair in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University in honor of her father, Clarence L. Cross, a beloved teacher of physics at ISU for over 30 years. The office of the Cross Chair supports and enables the demonstration of Illinois State University’s commitment to the promotion of scholarship and research in teaching as a discipline.
The Cross Chair will enhance innovation and research in teaching, increase Illinois State’s ability to attract outstanding teaching scholars to campus, and help establish a balance of distinction in scholarship work in teaching among all disciplines. The endowment will foster opportunities for interaction and relationships with prestigious national forums. In addition, under the coordination of the Cross Chair, faculty SoTL Scholar-Mentors are selected to assist in the support of SoTL on campus and beyond.
National and International
SoTL is not a short-term or local initiative or line of scholarship. There are journals, conferences, institutes, grants, etc. on SoTL at the national and international levels. These structures and activities are embedded both in specific disciplines (most disciplines have a peer-reviewed, college-level pedagogical journal, for example) and in organizations that cut across disciplinary borders such as The International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL), the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE), the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and many other higher education institutions around the world. Federal governments in Canada, the UK, and Australia have funded SoTL initiatives.