Nancy's Note (Nov 2025)

I was in the Canadian Rockies for a week last month, first attending the annual SoTL Symposium in Banff and then participating in a 10-group collaborative SoTL lit review program down the road in Canmore. The mountains were glorious, and seeing snow again made me giddy -- see one of my many photos, left -- but I was also happy to be immersed in SoTL for a whole week. 

What’s SoTL?  The scholarship of teaching and learning is a multidisciplinary field focused on enhancing our understanding of and improving student learning in higher education.  SoTL inquiries take place in the classroom (F2F or virtual), in the lab, during office hours, in study groups, in the library, and in the many other contexts that make up students’ experiences of learning.  SoTL projects involve collecting and analyzing evidence, artifacts, and/or data about students' learning experiences and going public with what you learn, typically through publication and presentation. And SoTL has been central to my work for over 25 years now.

I’ll be bringing these experiences to TWU starting in January with the launch of my hybrid SoTL program, called “Scholarship Reimagined.” Participants will learn how to develop a SoTL project in 4 fully virtual modules.  Learn more and apply here by December 5.

If you’re not yet used to scanning the Monday morning Bulletins and monthly Newsletters from The Faculty Commons, you may have missed some of my other news: you can also apply for my mid-career faculty program and/or my “slow read” book group on first-generation college students (details here); form a teaching square or faculty learning community (here); or request my help through the various services I offer (here). I’m also still eager to meet with you to learn about how I can best support TWU faculty. Reach out, and let’s get coffee!

November 2025