The purpose of this session is to present an inquiry approach used to transform higher education teachers’ learning about teaching and learning into a cyclical process of pedagogical reasoning. Participants attending the session will be invited to discuss the approach and to reflect on how to apply such an approach to their own practice.
Designed for higher education teachers, the MPES (Microprogramme de 3e cycle en pédagogie de l’enseignement supérieur) is a 9-credit faculty development program which attracts faculty and college teachers, doctoral and post-doctoral students, as well as educational and faculty developers. Learning trajectories in the MPES last over a period of one to three years and include a compulsory course (Teaching and Learning in Higher Education) and two selected courses from a list of five possible choices (Active Learning Methods; Authentic Assessment of Learning; Technology and Distance Learning; Learning in Higher Education; Innovating in Higher Education). Central to all courses are four learning outcomes, one of which is adopting a scholarly approach to teaching. In order to achieve this outcome, each course engages teachers in a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project. Such a project is based on an iterative process of reflecting on one’s practice, gaining theoretical and evidence-based knowledge about teaching and learning in their discipline, designing tasks likely to foster learning, and planning strategies to assess teaching and learning. Adapted from the SoTL literature (Boyer, 1990; Kreber, 2002; O’Brien, 2008; Rege Colet, McAlpine, Fanghanel & Weston, 2011; Shulman, 2005; Weston & McAlpine, 2001), this inquiry approach is used to cultivate a process of pedagogical reasoning that is situated in one’s practice, informed by research, and that contributes to the advancement of their practice and the quality of student learning. The presentation will focus on the design of this SoTL approach and its use across learning trajectories in the MPES.