Reconciling Apples & Oranges: A Constructivist SoTL Writing Program

Abstract

Faculty new to SoTL, especially when they consider writing for publication, often react by focusing on how different it is-apples and oranges-from their familiar disciplinary processes and products. Although there are indeed significant differences between individual disciplines and SoTL, appealing to the similarities can demystify SoTL as disciplinary experts reach out of their comfort zones and into areas of research and writing that often make them doubt themselves. We fill a gap in the SoTL literature by describing how to go from data analysis to publication in SoTL. We also report on our descriptive study delving into the complexities of participants' experiences, helping us come to a greater understanding of how to support this work.

Writing about Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

“…Some writing groups are designed for particular groups, e.g., doctoral students (Wilmot 2018), faculty of color (Rockquemore and Laszloffy 2008), or women (Grant 2008). A few are aimed specifically at people who want to write about their scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) projects (Chick et al 2014;Felten, Moore, and Strickland 2009; Moore 2018). One group followed Wendy Belcher's (2009) book Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks to structure a SoTL writing program (Weaver, Robbie, and Radloff 2014).…”

“…One way to be both engaging and informative is to use the main title to stand out and the subtitle to inform. Nancy Chick provides a good example in her co-authored article, "Reconciling Apples & Oranges: A Constructivist SoTL Writing Program" (Chick et al 2014). Daniel Feldman (2004) coined the intriguing title for his editorial: "The Devil Is in the Details: Converting Good Research into Publishable Articles."…”

Increasing research productivity and professional development in psychology with a writing retreat.

“…Were articles to reference within the manuscript gathered ahead of time? Moving forward, we endeavor to leverage the abovementioned writing retreat model and conduct a thorough program evaluation, inclusive of detailed pre- and posttest data, consistent with that done by Chick and colleagues (2014). We also endeavor to prospectively examine productivity at points in time that do not coincide with the structured writing retreat as a pseudocontrol group.…”

“…For example, Rosser, Rugg, and Ross (2001) describe writing retreats as a “necessary and responsible way to respond to the demands of research” (p. 13) and offer 10 components of a successful retreat, among them being: be goal-oriented, create tasks prior to the retreat, select an environment favorable to writing, ensure opportunities for mentoring of junior investigators, safeguard principal investigators’ writing time, and ensure appropriate technology is available. Chick and colleagues (2014) provide a comprehensive account of the curriculum and program assessment of their writing retreat model, which they termed the “Writer’s Collaborative.” This retreat program is noted for several strengths, among them being a systematic evaluation of participants’ writing confidence, preferences, and time-management techniques—all of which serve as useful pre- and post-retreat outcome data. Indeed, participants in the Writer’s Collaborative reported a 37% decrease in worries regarding the initiation of writing, a 12% decrease in feeling intimidated by colleagues about having their writing evaluated, and a 38% increase in appreciation of small writing groups.…”

Reviewing the Literature on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): An Academic Literacies Perspective

“…Experienced faculty "see knowledge in social and conversational terms" (Fister 2015, 92), but students and faculty new to SoTL may feel marginalised by such conversations and need support to build their confidence to participate. Many who come to SoTL are unfamiliar with how to synthesise the literature, as well as sometimes grappling with new methods and genres (Chick et al 2014). Hence, critically reviewing the literature is an important way of developing their identities as SoTL scholars (Healey, Matthews, and Cook-Sather 2019;2020).…”